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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 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

Creating a Voyager Thermal Model 39 Years Into the Flight Mission, Along With Model Correlation and Application

After 39 years of continuous operation in space, the output of the Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) power systems has decreased to the point where managing the power margin and maintaining thermal control has become increasingly difficult. As the total power dissipation in the bus has decreased, propellant line temperatures and margin above minimum Allowable Flight Temperature (AFT) have decreased, creating risk of the hydrazine freezing (at 1.6°C). This is further complicated by the lack of existing thermal models that can be used to assess propellant tank and line temperatures. In 2014, an effort was begun to create a Voyager spacecraft thermal model for that purpose. A steady-state Thermal Desktop model has been created from scratch over the past two years. Applied Sciences Laboratory (ASL) started the initial thermal model development under contract to Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The effort relied primarily on archived manufacturing drawings, limited documentation, interviews of senior engineers who worked on the Voyager design and implementation, and the experience of the Voyager Flight Operations team. Data from the Voyager System Thermal Vacuum (STV) tests is no longer available, making it necessary to correlate the model to more recent flight data and small in-flight tests. Correlation was achieved to within ±5°C for a hot case and a cold case (both data sets from 2014). However, the flight system has very few temperature sensors directly on propellant lines. Therefore, the task remains to determine how best to use the model, in conjunction with flight data, to make sure the Voyagers can continue to fly successfully.

Ledeboer, William C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

L'Ralph's Advanced Thermal Model Correlation Using Veritrek

Thermal model correlation uses data from thermal balance tests to better estimate uncertain input parameter values. During the correlation process, input parameters are modified in an iterative manner which can become computationally expensive since this requires that the high-fidelity thermal model be run for each iteration. Depending on the number of thermal balance test points there can be many sets of correlation parameters that satisfy correlation criteria; and having enough data to ascertain the best set of correlation parameters to use, further increases the computational expense. Reduced-order models (ROMs) provide computationally efficient surrogates of high-fidelity models and are often built to reduce development cycle times and cost. By leveraging the speed of reduced-order models and the Correlation Analysis feature in the Veritrek software, the typical computational expense of a traditional thermal model correlation process can be significantly reduced and having access to hundreds of thousands of iteration results provides an advanced means of intelligently determining the best set of correlation parameters to use. The L’Ralph thermal team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center explored the use of the Veritrek software for their thermal model correlation efforts. The ROM that was created allowed for the variation of 15 input parameters to match 70 temperature sensor readouts from 3 thermal balance plateus and required 125 runs of the high-fidelity Thermal Desktop® model to generate a ROM that could predict the detailed model’s results to within 0.2 K (RMS). The ROM was then used to find dozens of plausible correlation parameter values based on L’Ralph instrument test data within a few seconds. By providing several plausible correlation parameter combinations, Veritrek allowed the thermal team to explore different uncertain parameter value combinations and provided insight into how deterministic each input parameter was. This allowed for a more confident decision on the best set of correlation parameters to use, compared to traditional model correlation techniques. In this presentation, the L’Ralph thermal team will be presenting their experience with the Veritrek software and how the software was utilized to provide additional insights during the correlation process.

Daniel Bae↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

L'Ralph's Advanced Thermal Model Correlation Using Veritrek

Thermal model correlation uses data from thermal balance tests to better estimate uncertain input parameter values. During the correlation process, input parameters are modified in an iterative manner which can become computationally expensive since this requires that the high-fidelity thermal model be run for each iteration. Depending on the number of thermal balance test points there can be many sets of correlation parameters that satisfy correlation criteria; and having enough data to ascertain the best set of correlation parameters to use, further increases the computational expense. Reduced-order models (ROMs) provide computationally efficient surrogates of high-fidelity models and are often built to reduce development cycle times and cost. By leveraging the speed of reduced-order models and the Correlation Analysis feature in the Veritrek software, the typical computational expense of a traditional thermal model correlation process can be significantly reduced and having access to hundreds of thousands of iteration results provides an advanced means of intelligently determining the best set of correlation parameters to use. The L’Ralph thermal team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center explored the use of the Veritrek software for their thermal model correlation efforts. The ROM that was created allowed for the variation of 15 input parameters to match 70 temperature sensor readouts from 3 thermal balance plateus and required 125 runs of the high-fidelity Thermal Desktop® model to generate a ROM that could predict the detailed model’s results to within 0.2 K (RMS). The ROM was then used to find dozens of plausible correlation parameter values based on L’Ralph instrument test data within a few seconds. By providing several plausible correlation parameter combinations, Veritrek allowed the thermal team to explore different uncertain parameter value combinations and provided insight into how deterministic each input parameter was. This allowed for a more confident decision on the best set of correlation parameters to use, compared to traditional model correlation techniques. In this presentation, the L’Ralph thermal team will be presenting their experience with the Veritrek software and how the software was utilized to provide additional insights during the correlation process. "

Daniel Bae↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SERFE Thermal Performance Results

NASA has been developing a new spacesuit, called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for over a decade. This spacesuit is underdevelopment to support missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and also to the Moon. Improvements in the life and robustness of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) has been a major objective of these efforts. The Suit Water Membrance Evaporator (SWME) was chosen as the technology to provide cooling to the xEMU and has undergone several iterations of development over this period. An ISS flight experiment centered around the SWME and other thermal loop technologies was developed and has been under test in an ISS EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) rack since November of 2020. In addition to the SWME, The SWME EXPRESS Rack Flight Experiment (SERFE) contains several technology demonstrations from the xEMU project and has been demonstrating their performance in micro-gravity and over an extended duration. In addition to the SWME, these include two dissimilar water pumps, custom check valves, custom bypass relieve valves, a custom thermal control valve, development pressure and temperature sensors, and the Thermal Loop Controller. This paper presents thermal and fluids testing results of the system as a whole and of key components.

SERFE↗
NASA NTRS2022

Passive Cooling in Aerogel-Based Insulation Systems for Liquid Hydrogen Upper Stage Launch Vehicle Tanks

Spray-On Foam Insulation (SOFI) is typically used to protect the windward-facing side of flight tanks for space launch vehicle liquid hydrogen (LH2) stages. SOFI is an excellent insulator in ambient pressure environments, however, its performance pales in comparison to reflective-type systems such as Multi-Layer Insulation in the thermal radiation dominated vacuum environment of space. If a windward insulation system employing radiation shields could be devised to replace or supplement SOFI, the on-orbit heat load could be drastically reduced, and the residual propellants could then be used to facilitate secondary missions. Such insulation systems, utilizing aerogel blanket insulation, have been explored by the Cryogenics Test Laboratory at NASA Kennedy Space Center. Owing to its nano-porous structure, aerogel is an excellent adsorbent as well as an insulator at cryogenic temperatures and will readily uptake condensable background gasses such as air when protecting a surface near LH2 temperatures. When an adsorbed blanket is rapidly exposed to a vacuum, such as during the ascent of a rocket, it will release the background gas, producing a passive cooling effect that could potentially reduce or eliminate the heat load on the propellant tank for a time. This work discusses the setup and results of a test program carried out to determine the effectiveness and impact of this cooling effect as it pertains to LH2 upper stage tanks. A vertical-cylindrical liquid nitrogen (LN2) calorimeter test instrument acted as the upper stage analog. The cold-mass was wrapped with two layers of 10 mm thick aerogel blanket material, with and without aluminum heat shields depending on the test, and interspersed with numerous thermocouple temperature sensors. Gaseous argon was used as a stand-in for air as the condensable background gas. The test procedure mimicked vehicle cryo-loading/stabilization, and ascent phases, with the ascent phase accomplished using parallel vacuum pumps. Results show that the desorption cooling effect was enough to not only eliminate the heat load on the LN2 cold-mass entirely, but further refrigerated the liquid below its boiling point.

A.M. Swanger↗
NASA NTRS2023

SERFE PLSS Component Lessons Learned from ISS

NASA has been developing a new spacesuit, called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for over a decade. This spacesuit is under development to support missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and also to the Moon. Improvements in the life and robustness of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) has been a major objective of these efforts. The Suit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) was chosen as the technology to provide cooling to the xEMU and has undergone several iterations of development over this period. An ISS flight experiment centered around the SWME and other thermal control loop (TCL) technologies was developed and tested in an ISS EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) rack from November of 2020 to August of 2022. In addition to the SWME, the SWME EXPRESS Rack Flight Experiment (SERFE) contains several technologies from the xEMU project and demonstrated their performance in micro-gravity and over an extended duration. These included two dissimilar water pumps, custom check valves, custom bypass relieve valves, a custom thermal control valve, development pressure and temperature sensors, and the thermal loop controller. This paper presents PLSS component lessons learned after return of the SERFE flight unit in August of 2022. The SERFE team took the flight unit apart and handed hardware components over to hardware owners to see how parts of the TCL managed after almost 2 years on the ISS and 25 simulated EVAs (Exploration Extravehicular Activity) on orbit. The team performed inspection, testing, and analysis and provided lessons learned on PLSS components for NASA’s prototype spacesuit. This analysis included how well SWME maintained its heat rejection capability, as well as looked at the robustness of the other TCL hardware.

SERFE↗
NASA NTRS2023

SERFE PLSS Component Lessons Learned from ISS

NASA has been developing a new spacesuit, called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for over a decade. This spacesuit is under development to support missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and also to the Moon. Improvements in the life and robustness of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) has been a major objective of these efforts. The Suit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) was chosen as the technology to provide cooling to the xEMU and has undergone several iterations of development over this period. An ISS flight experiment centered around the SWME and other thermal control loop (TCL) technologies was developed and tested in an ISS EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) rack from November of 2020 to August of 2022. In addition to the SWME, the SWME EXPRESS Rack Flight Experiment (SERFE) contains several technologies from the xEMU project and demonstrated their performance in micro-gravity and over an extended duration. These included two dissimilar water pumps, custom check valves, custom bypass relieve valves, a custom thermal control valve, development pressure and temperature sensors, and the thermal loop controller. This paper presents PLSS component lessons learned after return of the SERFE flight unit in August of 2022. The SERFE team took the flight unit apart and handed hardware components over to hardware owners to see how parts of the TCL managed after almost 2 years on the ISS and 25 simulated EVAs (Exploration Extravehicular Activity) on orbit. The team performed inspection, testing, and analysis and provided lessons learned on PLSS components for NASA’s prototype spacesuit. This analysis included how well SWME maintained its heat rejection capability, as well as looked at the robustness of the other TCL hardware.

SERFE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Progress on the Development and Qualification of a 12-kW Hall-Effect, Solar Electric Propulsion Thruster

I. Motivation and Background Beginning in 2014, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began a project to increase the state of the art for the Hall-Effect Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technology. The resulting Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) project has developed a 12 kW Hall Current Thruster in support of the NASA mission to establish a permanent human presence in lunar orbit and to land the next American astronauts on the South Pole of the Moon. The project is led by the NASA Glenn Research Center, supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and development, qualification & flight hardware all provided by L3 Harris Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR).The AEPS project has completed the development testing of a high power, solar electric propulsion Hall Current thruster that will be used on the NASA Power & Propulsion Element (PPE) of the Gateway space station. NASA initially built three Technology Development Units to understand key characteristics of the hall-effect rocket with magnetic shielding. The design led to development testing on two Engineering Test Unit Thrusters and multiple critical components. The project has begun production of the three flight thrusters and entered qualification testing at the component and thruster levels. II. Approach NASA and AR teams completed all development phases of the project, including full development and integration testing of the Engineering Model hardware, Critical Design Review, and ground test equipment validation, as well as fabrication and acceptance testing of the initial qualification thruster. Qualification and verification of the environmental and life requirements of the AEPS design was initiated in the Fall of 2023 and will be accomplished on two thruster units and using a series of component-level tests during 2024 and 2025. Environmental testing will incorporate functional reference firings, shock, vibration, and Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) testing. Life verification will assess the thruster wear and performance over the lifetime of the Gateway spacecraft. Critical component qualification tests include cathode heater, magnet coils, magnet heaters, temperature sensors, and a cathode assembly that will undergo life cycle testing on multiple units. Flight thrusters will complete assembly and acceptance testing and be delivered to the PPE program in early 2025. III. Preliminary and Anticipated Results The program has completed the acceptance testing, including dynamic testing and hot fire characterization, of the first qualification thruster. In the Fall of 2023, the program entered the environmental qualification phase for thruster testing. This paper will present an overview of the AEPS thruster project, thruster capabilities and flight design, preliminary results from the thruster acceptance and qualification testing, component life cycle testing and flight hardware status.

Clayton Kachele↗
NASA NTRS2024

Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) Helmet and Extravehicular Visor Assembly (EVVA) Chamber B Thermal Vacuum Testing Results

NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) is the government reference next-generation spacesuit design and is engineered to protect astronauts from extreme lunar environmental temperatures. To evaluate the xEMU hardware thermal requirements, the xEMU Testing Team invented, designed, and executed a dual-suit, uncrewed thermal vacuum (TVAC) test at Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Chamber B. This paper details the test methodology, hardware setup, and results from the xEMU helmet and extravehicular visor assembly (EVVA). Two helmets/EVVAs were tested simultaneously in Chamber B, with different thermal environments and EVVA configurations. For the helmet/EVVA on the Short xEMU (SxEMU) test article, five thermal profiles were tested during five simulated EVAs, with four different visor and shade configurations. For the helmet/EVVA on the second xEMU, eleven unique thermal profiles were tested including both cold and hot environmental cases over the course of five continuous days of testing, with a single visor and shade configuration. The radiative thermal environment was controlled through exposure to liquid-nitrogen shrouds on the chamber walls and through two separate heater cages surrounding each respective test article. The thermal effects of the Exploration Informatics (xINFO) lights and camera on the helmet/EVVA was also tested. Twenty-two temperature sensors were used to collect data in critical locations in the xEMU helmet/EVVA assembly. This paper will document the testing results and compare the test data against the xEMU helmet/EVVA and system-level thermal models for model validation.

xEMU↗
NASA NTRS2024

Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) Lunar Boot Chamber B Thermal Vacuum Testing Results

NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) is the government reference next-generation spacesuit design and is engineered to protect astronauts from extreme lunar environmental temperatures. To evaluate the xEMU hardware thermal requirements, the xEMU Testing Team invented, designed, and executed a dual-suit, uncrewed thermal vacuum (TVAC) test at Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Chamber B. This paper details the test methodology, hardware setup, and results from the xEMU lunar boots. Eleven unique thermal profiles were tested including both cold and hot environmental cases over the course of five continuous days of testing. This paper will address only the cold environment testing results. The radiative thermal environment was controlled through exposure to liquid-nitrogen shrouds on the chamber walls and through a heater cage surrounding the boots. Notably, the xEMU boots also contacted the liquid-nitrogen chilled floor inside of Chamber B, which provided a conduction pathway to simulate the thermal effects of the lunar surface. Test hardware was developed to extend the water tubing from the Liquid Cooling Ventilation Garment (LCVG) into the boots to set the internal thermal boundary nominally provided by the astronaut’s foot. Thirty-three temperature sensors were used to collect data in critical locations in the xEMU boot assembly as well as for calorimetry to determine heat flux to and from the boots. This paper will document the testing results and provide a high-level interpretation of the testing results. To conclude, this paper will address possible forward work and knowledge gaps present in lunar boot thermal performance and testing.

xEMU↗
NASA NTRS2024

Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) Hard Upper Torso (HUT) Chamber B Thermal Vacuum Testing Results

NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) is the government reference next-generation spacesuit design and is engineered to protect astronauts from extreme lunar environmental temperatures. To evaluate the xEMU hardware thermal requirements, the xEMU Testing Team invented, designed, and executed a dual-suit, uncrewed thermal vacuum (TVAC) test at Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Chamber B. This paper details the test methodology, hardware setup, and results from the xEMU hard upper torso (HUT). Two HUTs, one composite HUT and one aluminum HUT, were tested simultaneously in Chamber B, with different thermal environments. For the aluminum HUT on the Short xEMU (SxEMU) test article, five thermal profiles were tested during five simulated EVAs. For the composite HUT on the second xEMU, eleven unique thermal profiles were tested including both cold and hot environmental cases over the course of five continuous days of testing. The radiative thermal environment was controlled through exposure to liquid-nitrogen shrouds on the chamber walls and through two separate heater cages surrounding each respective test article. Seventy-two temperature sensors were used to collect data in critical locations in the xEMU HUT assembly. This paper will document the testing results and compare the test data against the xEMU HUT and system-level thermal models for model validation.

xEMU↗
DOE OSTI2014

Multiphase fluid characterization system

A measurement system and method for permitting multiple independent measurements of several physical parameters of multiphase fluids flowing through pipes are described. Multiple acoustic transducers are placed in acoustic communication with or attached to the outside surface of a section of existing spool (metal pipe), typically less than 3 feet in length, for noninvasive measurements. Sound speed, sound attenuation, fluid density, fluid flow, container wall resonance characteristics, and Doppler measurements for gas volume fraction may be measured simultaneously by the system. Temperature measurements are made using a temperature sensor for oil-cut correction.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Building thermal model development of typical house in U.S. for virtual storage control of aggregated building loads based on limited available information

A building thermal model is an essential component for achieving optimal control of a building’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). A self-learning grey-box model has been developed by implementing data-driven techniques and utilizing limited available information about the building. In previous research, detailed foreknown knowledge/information, e.g. physical and thermal properties of building materials, as well as sufficient number of observation points, e.g. indoor temperature sensors in different zones, are available for making the decision of model structure and parameters searching range easier. The availability of measured data and a narrowed searching range of model parameters, e.g. resistance and capacity for each wall, made the adopted algorithms quickly achieve near optimal values, which closely approximate the actual heat transfer of a building. Meanwhile, the details of pre-processing of the key inputs were seldom explained. Compared to the previous research, in this study, the available information is assumed to be limited which can fill the requirement for large scale virtual storage control of real residential community in near future, where it may be impractically or over time-consuming to acquire the detailed information for each single house. The developed model is validated by comparing the results to measured data in a recently-built home typical of the southeastern United States.

Cui, Borui↗
DOE OSTI2018

Diagnostic Models for Wind Turbine Gearbox Components Using SCADA Time Series Data: Preprint

This paper presents a scalable, autonomous framework for diagnostics of wind turbine gearbox failures using a multi-feature supervisory control and data acquisition data set spanning multiple years. Because of the size of the data set studied, all algorithms were constructed to be scalable using a Spark-Hadoop data framework. An unsupervised approach was used to detect significant failures based on predetermined criteria. The initial criteria selected were an abnormal spike in turbine component temperature followed by a turbine power off, which helps reduce the number of potential false alarms. To detect abnormal spikes in component temperature, a model was introduced to adjust the temperature data for effects caused by ambient temperature and normal temperature increases when loaded. This study evaluates methods for normalizing temperature sensor data to identify anomalies. The models that performed the best were a linear regression and a multivariate polynomial regression. The proposed process for finding failures has tunable parameters that can be adjusted to be more or less sensitive. The combination of sensor data normalization and application of these criteria is successful in finding turbine failures resulting in downtime. The proposed methods can operate without failure or maintenance logs and can be utilized for offline analysis of large high-resolution data sets.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

HVAC control fine-grained occupancy pattern estimation

A thermal state of a plurality of zones of the building is updated according to a building thermal model and information received from temperature sensors of the building. Predicted occupant counts for an upcoming plurality of time slots for each of the plurality of zones are updated using actual occupancy counts for each of the plurality of zones. A misprediction type distribution for the upcoming plurality of time slots for each of the plurality of zones is updated, the misprediction type distribution indicating misprediction for true negatives, false positives, false negatives, and true positives. A total misprediction cost expectation is updated according to the predicted occupant counts and the misprediction type distribution. HVAC power for each of the plurality of zones is determined to optimize occupant thermal comfort weighted according to the predicted occupant counts while minimizing the total misprediction cost expectation. HVAC operation is controlled per the HVAC power.

Lin, Shan↗
DOE OSTI2023

Methodology to Account for Radiation and Temperature Influences on Optical Fibers compaction and Index of Refraction

The effects of radiation induced compaction and index of refraction change can cause significant drift in the measurements from intrinsic fiber optic temperature sensors. The work presented here aims to develop and test a methodology to measure these macroscopic properties that are responsible for the drift in order to correct the measurement. This report discusses the measurement methodology, theory, and sensor construction. Preliminary results from the first irradiation test using this sensor are provided here.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Inaugural Molten Salt Technologies Workshop Powering the Future

The inaugural “Molten Salt Technologies – Powering the Future” Workshop marked a significant convergence of minds from diverse industries, each harnessing molten-salt technologies in innovative ways. Participants from sectors such as solar, geothermal, and advanced nuclear energy, as well as those involved in cutting-edge applications like thermal transport and rare-earth metals extraction, gathered to discuss their shared technical challenges and opportunities. Industry leaders in metal extraction and recycling, alongside experts in high-temperature sensor technology and advanced material manufacturing, also brought their unique perspectives to the table. This workshop served as a crucial platform for these varied industries to delve into the engineering intricacies that molten salt technologies entail. Common challenges such as understanding the thermophysical properties of salts, tackling corrosion mechanisms in harsh environments, and enhancing material resilience under extreme conditions were at the forefront of discussions. These technical sessions highlighted the critical need for cross-industry collaboration to address issues like salt life-cycle process engineering, impurity mitigation, and the development of durable, high-performance materials. By bringing together academia, industry, and representatives from national laboratories and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the workshop facilitated a rich exchange of knowledge and experiences. This interaction not only fostered new partnerships but also strengthened the network among existing collaborators, setting the stage for joint solutions to the complex problems faced by all sectors using molten salt technologies. The event underscored the importance of collaborative efforts in overcoming common engineering challenges and advancing the application of molten-salt technologies across various industries. The workshop not only provided an essential forum for networking and idea exchange but also highlighted the collective drive towards innovative solutions that could benefit multiple fields.

Department of Energy↗