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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 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Mathematical Modeling of Decarburization in Levitated Fe-Cr-C Droplets

Using carbon dioxide to replace oxygen as an alternative oxidant gas has proven to be a viable solution in the decarburization process, with potential for industrial applications. In a recent study, the transport phenomena governing the carbon dioxide decarburization process through the use of electromagnetic levitation (EML) was examined. CO{sub 2}/CO mass transfer was found to be the principal reaction rate control step, as a result gas diffusion has gained significant attention. In the present study, gas diffusion during decarburization process was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling coupled with chemical reactions. The resulting model was verified through experimental data in a published paper, and employed to provide insights on phenomena typically unobservable through experiments. Based on the results, a new correction of the Frössling equation was presented which better represents the mass transfer phenomena at the metal-gas interface within the range of this research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Cooling efficiency of a spot-type personalized air-conditioner

Here, this study defined Cooling Efficiency ( CE ) of a Spot-type Personalized Air-Conditioning (SPAC) device as the ratio of the additional sensible heat removal from human body induced by SPAC and the device's cooling capacity. CE enabled the investigation of SPAC performance on the occupant's sensible heat loss (Q s ) and thermal sensation by its quantitative relation with the change of PMV level ( ΔPMV ). Three round nozzles with the diameter of 0.08 m, 0.105 m, and 0.128 m, respectively, discharged air jets at airflow rates from 11.8 L s –1 to 59.0 L s –1 , toward the chest of a seated or standing human body with a clothing of 0.48 clo. This study developed a validated CFD model coupled with the Fanger's thermoregulation model, to calculate Q s in a room of 26 °C ventilated at a rate of 3 ACH. According to the results, Q s , CE and draft risk ( DR ) at face had significant positive linear correlation with the SPAC device's supply airflow rates (R2 >0.96), and a negative linear correlation for ΔPMV. With DR = 20% at face, CE was always under 0.3, and ΔPMV was around -1.0–1.1. Interestingly, both CE and ΔPMV had the least favorable values for the air jet produced by the nozzle with the diameter of 0.105 m independent of body posture. In conclusion, although SPAC could lead to additional Q s by sending air at a higher airflow rate from a smaller nozzle, the improvement in cooling efficiency and thermal sensation had a limit due to draft risk.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Conjunctive management of surface and groundwater resources under projected future climate change scenarios

Our study introduces a mixed integer linear fractional programming (MILFP) method to optimize conjunctive use of future surface water and groundwater resources under projected climate change scenarios. The conjunctive management model maximizes the ratio of groundwater usage to reservoir water usage. Future inflows to the reservoirs were estimated from the future runoffs projected through hydroclimate modeling considering the Variable Infiltration Capacity model, and 11 sets of downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 global climate model projections. Bayesian model averaging was adopted to quantify uncertainty in future runoff projections and reservoir inflow projections due to uncertain future climate projections. Optimized conjunctive management solutions were investigated for a water supply network in northern Louisiana which includes the Sparta aquifer. Runoff projections under climate change scenarios indicate that runoff will likely decrease in winter and increase in other seasons. Ultimately, results from the developed conjunctive management model with MILFP indicate that the future reservoir water, even at 2.5% low inflow cumulative probability level, could counterbalance groundwater pumping reduction to satisfy demands while improving the Sparta aquifer through conditional groundwater head constraint.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Establishing a process-structure-property-performance framework for SLS additive manufacturing through integrated multiscale modeling

This study presents a comprehensive suite of high-fidelity computational models that integrate multiscale and multiphysics simulations to capture the full Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) additive manufacturing process—from initial melting and solidification to mechanical response under external loads. Process simulations are linked with mechanical analysis through Representative Volume Elements (RVEs), establishing a process-structure–property-performance framework. The interaction between laser light and polyamide 12 (PA12) powder is modeled, accounting for laser characteristics and the optical, thermal, and geometrical properties of the powder. The heat source is incorporated into a heat transfer model, coupled with crystallization kinetics and densification models to predict material density and crystallinity. The porosity distribution from the densification model and crystallinity interpolated from experimental data are used to construct the RVEs. A multi-mechanism constitutive model is then calibrated using mechanical tests to predict the stress–strain response. Simulation results show good agreement with experimental data in terms of porosity, crystallinity, and mechanical performance when sufficient laser power (62 W or higher) is used. This research supports the inverse design of 3D-printed structures by introducing a high-fidelity framework that combines multiscale and multiphysics modeling with experimental calibration for predictive and performance-driven additive manufacturing.

SLS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Approximate analytic solutions to coupled nonlinear Dirac equations

Here, we consider the coupled nonlinear Dirac equations (NLDEs) in 1+11+1 dimensions with scalar–scalar self-interactions g 1 2 /2($\bar{ψ}$ψ) 2 + g 2 2 /2($\bar{Φ}$Φ) 2 + g 2 3 ($\bar{ψ}$ψ)($\bar{Φ}$Φ) as well as vector–vector interactions g 1 2 /2($\bar{ψ}$γμψ)($\bar{ψ}$γμψ) + g 2 2 /2($\bar{Φ}$γμΦ)($\bar{Φ}$γμΦ) + g 2 3 ($\bar{ψ}$γμψ)($\bar{Φ}$γμΦ). Writing the two components of the assumed rest frame solution of the coupled NLDE equations in the form ψ=e –iω1t R 1 cosθ,R 1 sinθΦ=e –iω2t R 2 cosη,R 2 sinη, and assuming that θ(x),η(x) have the same functional form they had when g3 = 0, which is an approximation consistent with the conservation laws, we then find approximate analytic solutions for Ri(x) which are valid for small values of g 3 2 /g 2 2 and g 3 2 /g 1 2 . In the nonrelativistic limit we show that both of these coupled models go over to the same coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation for which we obtain two exact pulse solutions vanishing at x → ±∞.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Reconciliation of asynchronous satellite-based $\mathrm{NO_2}$ and $\mathrm{XCO_2}$ enhancements with mesoscale modeling over two urban landscapes

Fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO 2ff ), the main driver of global warming and climate change, is often co-emitted with nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and precursors to ground-level ozone from anthropogenic sources like power plants or vehicles. In urban and suburban areas, satellite-based NO 2 can be used as a proxy to track the emissions of CO 2ff . Because of NO 2 ’s shorter lifetime, urban NO 2 plumes are more distinguishable from backgrounds and more sensitive to variations in emissions. However, the combination of these two gases is limited by the asynchrony among NO 2 and CO 2 monitoring satellites. We used CO 2ff simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model to reconcile the tropospheric NO 2 vertical column density (VCD) from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) and column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of carbon dioxide enhancements (ΔXCO 2 ) from Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3) Snapshot Area Maps (SAMs) over a multicity area, Washington D.C.-Baltimore (DC-Balt), and a basin city, Mexico City. NO 2 /CO 2ff ratios over DC-Balt are smaller than Mexico City, indicative of stricter emission restrictions, a more combustion-efficient vehicle fleet, and higher combustion efficiency due to lower altitude in DC-Balt. For single-track cases, the spatial correlations between NO 2 and ΔXCO 2 over Mexico City are stronger than DC-Balt because the NO 2 and CO 2 are mostly trapped in the valley of Mexico City, while DC-Balt is severely affected by distant sources (i.e., US East Coast cities). Using multi-track averaging, spatial correlation coefficients increase with the number of days used for averaging. The correlations reached a maximum when averaging >12 continuous images for DC-Balt and > 10 continuous images for Mexico City. This finding indicates that multi-track averaging using modeled CO 2ff as a proxy is helpful to filter the noise in single-track images, to cancel the interference from distant sources, and to magnify correlations between NO 2 and CO 2ff . Mexico City showed stronger spatial correlations but weaker temporal correlations than DC-Balt due to biomass burning hot spots and large transport errors caused by the trapping effects of the surrounding mountains. Tracking the 20-day moving average of CO 2ff emissions using TROPOMI NO 2 seems technically feasible, considering the relationship between correlation coefficients and the number of available satellite images.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Exact-Factorization-Based Surface Hopping without Velocity Adjustment

While surface hopping has emerged as a powerful method for simulating non-adiabatic dynamics in large molecules, the ad hoc nature of the necessary velocity adjustments and decoherence corrections in the algorithm somewhat reduces its reliability. Here we propose a new scheme that eliminates these aspects by combining the nuclear equation from the quantum-trajectory surface-hopping approach with the electronic equation derived from the exact-factorization approach. Furthermore, the resulting method, denoted QTSH-XF, yields a surface-hopping method on firmer ground than previous and is shown to successfully capture dynamics in Tully models and in a linear vibronic coupling model of the photoexcited uracil cation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Abundant Nitrate and Nitric Acid Aerosol in the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere

The tropospheric and stratospheric nitrate aerosol is simulated by a sectional aerosol model coupled to the Community Earth System Model. The simulated nitrate mass fractional contribution to aerosols is significantly higher in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) than that at the surface. Both in situ measurements and simulations show that nitrate aerosol accounts for about 30%–40% of the aerosol mass at the tropopause of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) region. Furthermore, simulated condensed nitric acid particles account for ~20% of the annual mean aerosol mass at the tropical tropopause, and over 95% in the UTLS at the South Pole in June-July-August. Here, our study suggests that the extremely cold ambient conditions in the UTLS of the tropics, ASM and polar regions thermodynamically favor the condensation of ammonia and nitric acid. The widely distributed nitrate aerosol in the global UTLS may be overlooked by climate models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating Cloud Feedback Components in Observations and Their Representation in Climate Models

This study quantifies the contribution of individual cloud feedbacks to the total short-term cloud feedback in satellite observations over the period 2002–2014 and evaluates how they are represented in climate models. The observed positive total cloud feedback is primarily due to positive high-cloud altitude, extratropical high- and low-cloud optical depth, and land cloud amount feedbacks partially offset by negative tropical marine low-cloud feedback. Seventeen models from the Atmosphere Model Intercomparison Project of the sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project are analyzed. The models generally reproduce the observed moderate positive short-term cloud feedback. However, compared to satellite estimates, the models are systematically high-biased in tropical marine low-cloud and land cloud amount feedbacks and systematically low-biased in high-cloud altitude and extratropical high- and low-cloud optical depth feedbacks. Errors in modeled short-term cloud feedback components identified in this analysis highlight the need for improvements in model simulations of the response of high clouds and tropical marine low clouds. Our results suggest that skill in simulating interannual cloud feedback components may not indicate skill in simulating long-term cloud feedback components.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Investigation of the Sensitivity of Tropical Cyclogenesis to Aerosol Intervention

Abstract As risks from tropical cyclones (TCs) are fueled by climate change escalation, there is an urgent need for transformational solutions to complement traditional approaches. Seeding TCs using aerosols can be a promising method to reduce cyclone intensity, supported by theoretical understanding of the microphysical effects of aerosols on TC clouds. The ideal time to intervene effectively in TCs is likely during their initial stage, before TC wind speeds reach their peak. However, studies exploring potential aerosol effects on TC formation remain scarce. This study investigates how a TC embryo responds to the addition of aerosols of varying sizes using the Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a spectral‐bin microphysics model. We found that aerosols of different sizes and concentrations distinctively affect the pre‐TC vortex's microstructure and dynamics. Fine and ultrafine aerosols enhance the latent heat of condensation, freezing, deposition, and riming, initially intensifying the vortex. However, this results in enhancement of the cold pool, thereby reducing inflow and surface fluxes, subsequently weakening the vortex. Coarse aerosols produce the opposite effect to that of fine and ultrafine aerosols. Coarse aerosols lead to a slower initial acceleration owing to enhanced warm rain. However, the resulting weaker cold pool is insufficient to effectively reduce the strength of the vortex at the later stage. This study provides critical insights into how aerosols of varying sizes and concentrations modulate the energy cascade and impact the evolution of a TC embryo, laying the groundwork for further research on TC risk management through aerosol intervention.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Induced Ferromagnetism at BiFeO 3 /YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 Interfaces

We report that transition metal oxides (TMOs) exhibit many emergent phenomena ranging from high-temperature superconductivity and giant magnetoresistance to magnetism and ferroelectricity. In addition, when TMOs are interfaced with each other, new functionalities can arise, which are absent in individual components. Here, we report results from first-principles calculations on the magnetism at the BiFeO 3 /YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 interfaces. By comparing the total energy for various magnetic spin configurations inside BiFeO 3 , we are able to show that a metallic ferromagnetism is induced near the interface. We further develop an interface exchange-coupling model and place the extracted exchange coupling interaction strengths, from the first-principles calculations, into a resultant generic phase diagram. Our conclusion of interfacial ferromagnetism is confirmed by the presence of a hysteresis loop in field-dependent magnetization data. Lastly, the emergence of interfacial ferromagnetism should have implications to electronic and transport properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Flow boiling in geometrically modified microchannels

Microchannels are a promising solution for high-heat-flux thermal management scenarios, including high-performance microelectronics cooling and power electronics cooling. However, thermohydraulic instabilities result from the rapid vapor bubble formation. The prior literature has examined several methods, including constricted inlet microchannels, expanding microchannels, and auxiliary jetting microchannels, to mitigate the effect of these instabilities. Computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer (CFD/HT) modeling of the flow boiling phenomena in these microchannel configurations has seen limited examination, and one-to-one numerical comparisons of the different mitigation strategies have not been performed. In the present investigation, CFD/HT analyses using a three-dimensional (3D) volume of fluid model coupled with a phase-change model for the interfacial heat and mass transfer were performed for multiple microchannel configurations (constricted inlet, expanding, and auxiliary jetting microchannels). A benchmark case of a rectangular microchannel was examined to quantify baseline thermohydraulic performance. Results demonstrated slight to significant thermal performance improvements for all cases, and significant pressure benefits for the expanding and jetting cases, consistent with experimental results in the literature. Bubble dynamics and visualization for the baseline and alternative configurations are provided to give insight into their underlying physics, and the differences in performance were investigated and compared with available literature.

Broughton, Justin (ORCID:000000026848457X)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Multiscale and multidimensional modeling of particle acceleration and transport in solar flares

Multi-messenger, multi-viewpoint, and time-resolved observations of solar flares are now providing unprecedented constraints on particle acceleration sites, energy conversion, and energy transport. The interpretation of current observations, including microwave imaging spectroscopy from EOVSA, hard x-ray (HXR) imaging from Solar Orbiter/STIX, gamma-ray diagnostics from Fermi, and in situ measurements from Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter, collectively demands modeling frameworks that go beyond traditional spatially unresolved, one-zone models or single-mechanism descriptions. This review surveys multiscale and multidimensional modeling approaches, including kinetic, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), and macroscopic particle models, that are being developed to meet the need. Kinetic simulations reveal that three-dimensional (3D) effects, including field-line chaos and self-generated turbulence, are essential for sustained power-law particle acceleration. MHD simulations now capture flux-rope eruptions, plasmoid-unstable current sheets, and turbulent flare regions in realistic magnetic topologies. Macroscopic models coupling MHD with energetic-particle models produce spatially resolved electron distributions and synthetic HXR and microwave emissions for direct comparison with observations. Despite these advances, outstanding challenges remain in bridging kinetic and global scales, improving MHD simulations and macroscopic particle models, and achieving quantitative model-observation closure.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

An uncertain future change in aridity over the tropics

Abstract An ensemble of climate models from phase six of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project shows that temperature and potential evapotranspiration (PET) are projected to increase globally towards the end of the 21st century. However, climate models show a spatially heterogeneous change in precipitation over the tropics. Consequently, future changes in aridity (a measure of water availability) are complex and location-dependent. We assess future changes in aridity using three climate models and several single-forcing experiments. Near-term (2021–2040) changes in aridity are small, and we focus instead on its long-term (2081–2100) changes. We show that the increase in greenhouse gases (GHG) primarily explains the spatial pattern, magnitude and ensemble spread of the long-term future changes in aridity. On this timescale, the effects of changes in emissions of anthropogenic aerosols are moderate compared to the effects of increases in atmospheric GHG concentrations. Model diversity in the responses to GHG concentration is large over northern Africa and North and South America. We suggest the large uncertainty is due to differences between models in simulating the effects of an increase in GHG concentrations on surface air temperature over the North Atlantic Ocean, on the interhemispheric temperature gradient, and on PET over North and South America.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2016

Large-Eddy Simulation of an n-Dodecane Spray Flame Under Different Ambient Oxygen Conditions

An n-dodecane spray flame was simulated using a dynamic structure large eddy simulation (LES) model coupled with a detailed chemistry combustion model to understand the ignition processes and the quasi-steady state flame structures. This study focuses on the effect of different ambient oxygen concentrations, 13%, 15% and 21% at an ambient temperature of 900 K and an ambient density of 22.8 kg/m3, which are typical diesel-engine relevant conditions with different levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The liquid spray was treated with a traditional Lagrangian method. A 103-species skeletal mechanism was used for the n-dodecane chemical kinetic model. It is observed that the main ignitions occur in rich mixture and the flames are thickened around 35 to 40 mm off the spray axis due to the enhanced turbulence induced by the strong recirculation upstream, just behind the head of the flames at different oxygen concentrations. At 1 ms after the start of injection, the soot production is dominated by the broader region of high temperature in rich mixture instead of the stronger oxidation of the high peak temperature. Multiple realizations were performed for the 15% O2 condition to understand the realization to realization variation and to establish best practices for ensembleaveraging diesel spray flames. Two indexes are defined. The structure-similarity index analysis suggests at least 5 realizations are needed to obtain 99% similarity for mixture fraction if the average of 16 realizations are used as the target at 0.8 ms. However, this scenario may be different for different scalars of interest. It is found that 6 realizations would be enough to reach 99% of similarity for temperature, while 8 and 14 realizations are required to achieve 99% similarity for soot and OH mass fraction, respectively. Similar findings are noticed at 1 ms. More realizations are needed for the magnitude-similarity index for the similar level of similarity as the structure-similarity index

Pei, Yuanjiang↗
DOE OSTI2015

Large eddy simulation of a turbulent non-reacting spray jet

We performed Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of a turbulent non-reacting n-Heptane spray jet, referred to as Spray H in the Engine Combustion Network (ECN), and executed a data analysis focused on key LES metrics such as fraction of resolved turbulent kinetic energy and similarity index. In the simulation, we used the dynamic structure model for the sub-grid stress, and the Lagrangian-based spray-parcel models coupled with the blob-injection model. The finest mesh-cell size used was characterized by an Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) cell size of 0.0625 mm. To obtain ensemble statistics, we performed 28 numerical realizations of the simulation. Demonstrated by the comparison with experimental data in a previous study [7], this LES has accurately predicted global quantities, such as liquid and vapor penetrations. The analysis in this work shows that 14 realizations of LES are sufficient to provide a reasonable representation of the average flow behavior that is benchmarked against the 28-realization ensemble. With the current mesh, numerical schemes, and sub-grid scale turbulence model, more than 95% of the turbulent kinetic energy is directly resolved in the flow regions of interest. The large-scale flow structures inferred from a statistical analysis reveal a region of disorganized flow around the peripheral region of the spray jet, which appears to be linked to the entrainment process.

Hu, Bing↗
DOE OSTI2015

Large Eddy Simulation of an n-Dodecane Spray Flame Under Different Ambient Oxygen Conditions

An n-dodecane spray flame was simulated using a dynamic structure large eddy simulation (LES) model coupled with a detailed chemistry combustion model to understand the ignition processes and the quasi-steady state flame structure at different ambient oxygen concentrations, 13\%, 15\% and 21\% at ambient temperature of 900 K and ambient density of 22.8 kg/m3, which are typical diesel-engine relevant conditions with different levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The liquid spray was treated with a traditional Lagrangian method. A 103-species skeletal mechanism was used for n-dodecane chemical kinetic model. It is observed that the main ignitions occur in rich mixture and the flames are thickened around 35 to 40 mm off the spray axis due to the enhanced turbulence induced by the strong recirculation upstream just behind the head of the flames at different oxygen concentrations. At 1 ms after start of injection, the soot production is dominated by the broader region of high temperature in rich mixture instead of the stronger oxidation of the high peak temperature. Multiple realizations were performed for the 15\% O$_2$ condition to understand the realization to realization variation and to establish best practices for ensemble-averaging diesel spray flames. Two indexes are defined. The structure-similarity index analysis suggests at least 5 realizations are needed to obtain 99\% similarity for mixture fraction if average of 16 realizations are used as the target at 0.8 ms. However, this scenario may be different for different scalars of interest. It is found that 2 realizations would be enough to reach 99\% of similarity for temperature, while 8 and 14 realizations are required to achieve 99\% similarity for soot and OH mass fraction, respectively. Similar findings are noticed at 1 ms. More realizations are needed for the magnitude-similarity index for the similar level of similarity as the structure-similarity index.

Pei, Yuanjiang↗
DOE OSTI2014

Modeling Climate-Water Impacts on Electricity Sector Capacity Expansion: Preprint

Climate change has the potential to exacerbate water availability concerns for thermal power plant cooling, which is responsible for 41% of U.S. water withdrawals. This analysis describes an initial link between climate, water, and electricity systems using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) electricity system capacity expansion model. Average surface water projections from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 3 (CMIP3) data are applied to surface water rights available to new generating capacity in ReEDS, and electric sector growth is compared with and without climate-influenced water rights. The mean climate projection has only a small impact on national or regional capacity growth and water use because most regions have sufficient unappropriated or previously retired water rights to offset climate impacts. Climate impacts are notable in southwestern states that purchase fewer water rights and obtain a greater share from wastewater and other higher-cost water resources. The electric sector climate impacts demonstrated herein establish a methodology to be later exercised with more extreme climate scenarios and a more rigorous representation of legal and physical water availability.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗