Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “SHAFT”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Clean Energy Technology Applications on US Mine Land: Technical Analysis

As the United States transitions toward a clean energy economy, an opportunity exists for redeveloping the more than 17,000 mine land sites located across the nation with clean energy technologies, which have a combined potential for generating more than 85 GW of clean electricity. This report provides an overview of the potential of demonstrating and deploying clean energy projects on current and former mine land. Clean energy project refers to a project that demonstrates one or more of the following technologies: solar; microgrids; geothermal; direct air capture; fossil-fueled electricity generation with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration; energy storage, including pumped storage hydropower and compressed air energy storage; and advanced nuclear technologies. The report discusses the following technologies and their potential for creating jobs and generating tax revenue that would result in direct and indirect benefits to the local economy: Solar photovoltaics (PV) is being developed on current and former mine land in various parts of the world, including the United States. This approach is attractive because it requires limited infrastructure investment and would utilize the bare surfaces of mines and tailing ponds. Solar resource availability may be greater in the southern regions, including the Interior and Appalachian Basins and the southwestern United States. However, since some mine land sites include areas of significant change in elevation, the deployment of PV on mine land may require sophisticated planning to account for shading and irradiance, or may require regrading of the areas. PV does not create significant environmental risks and generally does not face public resistance; Geothermal systems are often spatially and genetically associated with ore deposits, and in some cases, they have been discovered while in search for epithermal mineral resources. Numerous diverse geothermal applications have been employed at mine land around the world, including power generation, mineral extraction from geothermal brines, process heating, direct use for other mining operations, and direct use for non-mining operations and subsurface energy storage, including geothermal heat pumps. Case studies highlighting these applications provide key lessons relating to identifying drivers and barriers to geothermal resource deployment and can be used to create screening tools for identifying the types and locations of mine land most amenable to utilizing geothermal resources; Carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration technologies include direct air capture (DAC) and enhanced weathering. DAC technologies include air contactors, regeneration systems, and CO 2 compression systems. Captured CO 2 can be converted to valuable feedstocks or possibly injected into abandoned subsurface mines where it would be absorbed by alkaline rock waste and mine tailings or by the porous minerals along the walls of the mine. DAC systems can be coupled with energy sources such as wind, solar, grid, or geothermal. Many DAC systems require a source of water or steam; however, some are expected to be net producers of water. Local impacts of DAC systems are expected to be low, and are related to land footprint, material disposal, and upstream impacts of energy and material production; Compressed air energy storage is an established energy storage technology in salt caverns. It has the potential for implementation in underground mines by pressurizing and storing a large amount of air using electrical compressors when excess electricity is available. When a need for discharge emerges, the air is used to spin turbines and produce the necessary volume of electricity. Abandoned or unused mine openings, including shafts, adits, access tunnels, and mined workings of any orientation, offer potential for vast amounts of compressed air energy storage if the site characteristics meet operational requirements; Pumped hydropower storage can be implemented in surface and subsurface mines. In surface mine applications, both reservoirs may be located in a mine pit or artificial reservoirs made of excavated materials. In subsurface mines, the lower reservoir may be implemented by waterproofing and flooding mine shafts and tunnels. The water is then pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir during periods of low load and high production, and it is discharged through the turbines during periods of peak demand. The potential environmental damages associated with acidity of mine water or the presence of toxic chemicals incentivizes the development of closed-loop technologies, in which water circulates inside the pumped hydropower facility without being discharged into the external water basins; Advanced nuclear energy technologies include small modular reactors, which can be deployed locally to produce electricity and heat. Such units require seismic stability and a supply of cooling water, but population constraints may exist in some areas. Therefore, remote mine land could represent an optimal location for siting advanced nuclear energy technologies.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Gripper Test Assembly Status of Fabrication and Assembly Report – FY2023

The Gripper Test Assembly (GrTA) is an experimental test article designed for use at the Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop (METL) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The GrTA will test mechanical components intended for use in compact in-vessel fuel handling machines (FHM) for sodium cooled fast reactors (SFR). The GrTA will test radial and thrust ball bearings, radial and thrust roller bearings, ball screws and nuts, spline shafts and ball nuts, radial spur gears, and universal joints submerged in liquid sodium at high temperatures (250°C-650°C). These components will be tested in a prototypic, full-scale gripper head and under prototypic SFR fuel handling loads. The design of the GrTA was completed in FY2022 and has progressed into fabrication and initial assembly. All custom manufactured components have been fabricated and delivered to ANL following inspection. All custom gears have been fabricated and delivered to ANL. Bearings, ball screws, and spline shafts have been purchased to allow for initial assembly in air, and sodium compatible versions have either been purchased or are in design at appropriate manufacturers. The drive motor systems that operate the various functions of the GrTA have been purchased and delivered to ANL. Instrumentation and control hardware has been purchased and delivered to ANL as well. All sodium facing components of the GrTA have been assembled and show proper fit. The three main functions of the GrTA are to raise or lower a gripper head under prototypic fuel handling loads, rotate the gripper head while carrying a fuel handling load, and extend or retract gripper jaws that lock a fuel assembly to the gripper head. All three functions have been demonstrated in air, while under no load. The GrTA project will move forward next fiscal year by completing the initial assembly, incorporating the drive system and I&C, and preparing the assembly for introduction to sodium.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Methodology to Generate Decay Gamma Sources for the Second Target Station Full Target Assembly

This report details the specifics of applying the Position-Averaged Method to the target wedges and staves. The methodology used to calculate the decay gamma sources for a single target wedge to the calculation of the Second Target Station (STS) target assembly activation and the resulting decay gamma source terms are detailed in this report. The methodology has been applied to the entire STS target assembly including all of the target wedges, staves, shaft, and drive. The target staves and shaft have been vertically segmented to ensure the decay gamma source gradient is sufficiently captured. MCNP ® Code Version 6.2.0 with the RNUCS patch coupled with CINDER2008 from the AARE V1.0 package are the main tools used to calculate the decay gamma source terms.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Development of a self-lubricating high-efficiency hybrid seal composed of carbon nanotube-coated metal meshes for CSP turbomachinery (SETO CPS #36333 Final Report)

In turbomachinery, internal leakage flow accounts for up to 3% of the total thermodynamic cycle energy loss. Tradeoff must be made between the sealing efficiency (smaller clearance) and the friction and wear issues for interfering with the shaft (larger clearance). This ORNL-Danfoss joint effort developed a novel hybrid seal composed of carbon nanotube (CNT)-coated metal meshes. The CNT growth process was based on a self-catalyzing chemical vapor deposition and these multiwall CNTs were well aligned with high crystallinity. This hybrid material structure takes advantage of the CNT’s low-friction nature and uses the metal mesh as an extendable backbone. Full-scale experimental seals were designed, fabricated, and optimized for sealing performance and durability. The CNT-coated metal mesh seal demonstrated superior gas sealing efficiency to the baseline labyrinth seal and significantly improved shaft surface protection compared with the state-of-the-art superalloy brush seal on the static rig and full-scale compressor dynamometer tests. The CNT-metal mesh seal is low-cost and scalable and can potentially benefit wide applications, including CSP and other power generation, marine, automotive, and HVAC.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Development of High Temperature (>700°C) Molten Salt Pump Technology for Generation 3 Solar Power Tower Systems

Bearings are required for long-shafted pumps historically used in concentrating solar thermal power applications. For molten chloride salts, bearings for such service conditions are not commercially available, nor has a design been demonstrated to work. Therefore, a project was sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office for the development and demonstration of a submerged bearing for use in chloride salt pumps. This project’s tasks covered the tribological testing of candidate materials and the design, fabrication, testing, and post-test analysis of full-scale salt-compatible bearings. This work expands upon previous work. The effects of potential particulate in the salt were investigated through tribological bench testing. Through 11 tests, the MgO particulate size and concentration in a molten chloride salt were varied, and the effects on friction, wear rate, and wear characteristics were recorded. Novel journal bearings for chloride salt service were designed and fabricated based on these results. The bearings were of a relevant scale (i.e., for a 1.5 in. pump shaft) to demonstrate the technology with respect to further scale-up. The bearings were made of Haynes 244 and Yttria Partially Stabilized Zirconia. A custom bearing test rig, salt tanks, and associated infrastructure (e.g., heaters, tanks, transfer lines, gas flow control) were designed, procured, and installed. A few issues were encountered in the system fabrication process, resulting in delay of the project schedule. The system was successfully fabricated and assembled. Heating, cover gas, and pump motor systems were integrated into the control logic. This progress of the bearing test system represents a significant step forward towards demonstrating this promising technology. Nevertheless, the project ended before testing of the full-scale bearings could be performed.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Status Update for the Bearing Test Article Design Development – FY2025

Argonne National Laboratory’s (ANL) Mechanism Engineering Test Loop (METL) team has completed the design of a new Bearing Test Article (BTA) to test mechanical bearings for sodium fast reactor (SFR) mechanism applications. Recognition of the need for further bearing testing arose due to failure of rolling element bearings during testing of components for in-vessel fuel handling machines (FHMs) conducted at ANL in the METL facility. While the initial concept of the BTA arose from a need for bearing testing for FHM applications, the BTA design is configurable to test bearings of various sizes, types, and materials submerged in liquid sodium. Requirements for loading, shaft speed, temperature, and bearing size range were chosen based on requirements for SFR fuel handling. Modular components in the test bearing housings and shaft sleeves allow the design to accommodate a wide range of bearing sizes without modification to the larger assembly. Loading will be applied with screw jacks on the air side of the test article that will be adjusted to apply radial, thrust, or combined loading conditions. Applied force will be measured by load cells in-line with the loading mechanisms. In FY25 we have completed the design of the test article that will be fabricated and undergo testing at the METL facility. Drawing packages for the fabrication of the test article have been drafted and are being reviewed to add part tolerances and we have started ordering off-the-shelf components. The report will summarize the development of the Bearing Test Article design starting with an overview of the entire test article, then a more detailed examination of the bearing test section, loading mechanisms, test article ports and seals, and support structures, including analysis that went into significant design choices.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Channel cut polishing machine

A device for polishing of a multi-surface workpiece is described. The device includes a base and a vertical motion platform that moves along two support rods, which carries a motor that drives a rotating shaft. The support rods extend from the base. A polishing tool is attached to the motor shaft. The workpiece being polished is placed on a linear motion stage during the polishing process.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Atom Source Preliminary Support Analysis

The MAGIS-100 atom sources currently sit in the shaft with no support as the project design progresses. There was need for preliminary designs for a support system which could stand up to the shaft environment. Each source sits approximately 22 inches from the back wall, measured from its center.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

System and method for testing missile components

A testing system for testing a missile component having a sense axis includes a centrifuge, a support arm, an orientation assembly, and a controller. The centrifuge rotates the orientation assembly about a vertical axis in a substantially horizontal plane. The orientation assembly includes a first motor, a first gimbal, and a gimballed support. The first motor has a first rotatable shaft defining a first gimbal axis. The first gimbal is coupled with the first rotatable shaft to rotate about the first gimbal axis while the centrifuge rotates the orientation assembly about the vertical axis such that missile component is simultaneously rotated about both the vertical axis and the first gimbal axis to simulate a missile launch of the missile component. The gimballed support is coupled with the first gimbal for supporting the missile component such that the sense axis of the missile component is not parallel to the substantially horizontal plane. The orientation assembly may also include a second gimbal that is rotated about a second gimbals axis by a second motor.

Prewitt, Steven Forrest↗
DOE OSTI2021

Transmission mounted electrical charging system PTO gear arrangement

A system includes a planetary gear assembly having a ring gear, a plurality of planet gears coupled to a carrier, and a sun gear coupled to a main shaft. The system further includes a driven gear coupled to the carrier, a countershaft gear coupled to the driven gear, a motor/generator coupled to the main shaft, and an actuator structured to change a coupling of the ring gear based on a position of the actuator.

Stoltz, Thomas Joseph↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nonsteady Load Responses to Daytime Atmospheric Turbulence Eddies on the DOE 1.5 MW Wind Turbine at NREL

Field data collected from the NREL/GE 1.5MW wind turbine (WT) and met tower (MetT) at the NREL Wind Technology Center near Boulder, CO June-October 2018 were analyzed to quantify the impacts of turbulence eddies on the load responses measured from sensors on the main shaft, blade and tower. The passage of individual mountain-generated eddies from the met tower to the WT were critically determined by correlating the optimal time shifts in signal between MetT and nacelle anemometers with mean advection time. Loading responses from mountain eddy passage were compared with atmospheric eddies from the north/south, unimpeded by the mountains, and found to be similar. Whereas time variations in torque were highly correlated with time changes in horizontal eddy velocity, the out-of-plane bending moments on the main shaft (directly forcing the main bearing) were uncorrelated with horizontal eddy velocity. This result is consistent with a previous LES study indicating that the main bearing is forced by asymmetrical interactions between the WT rotor and turbulence eddies, while power fluctuations respond primarily to advective eddy velocity. Surprisingly, the nacelle anemometer produced statistics very similar to the MetT.

ENGINEERING,WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nonsteady Load Responses to Mountain-Generated Turbulence Eddies on the DOE 1.5 MW Wind Turbine at the National Wind Technology Center

Field data collected from the NREL/GE 1.5MW wind turbine and met tower at the NREL Wind Technology Center near Boulder, Colorado from June-October 2018 were analyzed to quantify the impacts of turbulence eddies on the load responses measured from sensors on the main shaft, blade and tower. The passage of individual mountain-generated eddies from the met tower to the wind turbine were critically determined by correlating the optimal time shifts in signal between met tower and nacelle anemometers with mean advection time. Loading responses from mountain eddy passage were compared with atmospheric eddies from the north/south, unimpeded by the mountains, and found to be similar. Whereas time variations in torque were highly correlated with time changes in horizontal eddy velocity, the out-of-plane bending moments on the main shaft (directly forcing the main bearing) were uncorrelated with horizontal eddy velocity. This result is consistent with a previous LES study indicating that the main bearing is forced by asymmetrical interactions between the rotor and turbulence eddies, while power fluctuations respond primarily to advective eddy velocity. Surprisingly, the nacelle anemometer produced statistics very similar to the met tower.

ENGINEERING,WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Data-Driven Scalable Emulation of Hydropower Using Real-Time Hardware-in-the-Loop

This presentation covers Motivation: (1) With the increased grid integration of inverter-based resources, hydropower plays a crucial role in maintaining the bulk power system reliability and resilience; and (2) A more dynamic response and new control designs are required to meet the grid requirements. To evaluate any modification, control-prototyping, performance validation and de-risking grid integration of hydropower, a high-fidelity environment is required. Also covers Objectives: (1) To develop data-driven emulation of hydropower using hardware-in-the-loop for different size, types of hydro plants; and (2) To characterize hardware and obtain accurate dynamic response for shaft speed, torque, and power. Provide a mechanical power interface with emulated dynamics of a hydro-turbine shaft that can be coupled to electrical generators for mechanical and electrical PHIL.

electrical↗
DOE OSTI2023

System and method for testing missile components

A testing system for testing a missile component having a sense axis includes a centrifuge, a support arm, an orientation assembly, and a controller. The centrifuge rotates the orientation assembly about a vertical axis in a substantially horizontal plane. The orientation assembly includes a first motor, a first gimbal, and a gimballed support. The first motor has a first rotatable shaft defining a first gimbal axis. The first gimbal is coupled with the first rotatable shaft to rotate about the first gimbal axis while the centrifuge rotates the orientation assembly about the vertical axis such that missile component is simultaneously rotated about both the vertical axis and the first gimbal axis to simulate a missile launch of the missile component. The gimballed support is coupled with the first gimbal for supporting the missile component such that the sense axis of the missile component is not parallel to the substantially horizontal plane. The orientation assembly may also include a second gimbal that is rotated about a second gimbals axis by a second motor.

Prewitt, Steven Forrest↗
DOE OSTI2024

Minimal contact slide for touch indication

A nozzle holder assembly for a three-dimensional printer comprises a mount, a printer nozzle, and a locking mechanism. The mount is operable to be secured to the three-dimensional printer. The printer nozzle shaft is movably coupled to the mount along a predetermined length. The locking mechanism is configured to fix the printer nozzle shaft relative to the mount at any position along the predetermined length.

Pino, Ruben A.↗
DOE OSTI2019

EGS Collab Testbed 2: Laser Scanned 4100 L Drift Map

The EGS Collab project is evaluating a site for Experiment 2 (hydraulic fracturing/shearing) at a depth of 1.25 km in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) on the 4100 Level. Two early test holes were drilled in an alcove (formerly known as Battery Charging Station) near Yates Shaft. Recently, we conducted a laser survey around the Testbed 2 to capture the details of the drift. This submission package includes the laser scanned drift map around the Testbed 2. The drift map data are presented in AutoCAD (*dxf), Leapfrog mesh (*.msh), and point cloud (*.csv) file formats. Note: The coordinate system used is local Homestake Mine Coordinate (HMC) system from an old gold mine that was in operation for over 100 years.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Correlating Impacts of Injected Fuels on Carbon Emissions in Blast Furnace with Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling

A major challenge for steelmaking is the reduction of CO 2 emissions. In this regard, the blast furnace (BF) is critical due to the high associated CO 2 levels. This investigation assesses the impact of tuyere‐injected fuels on BF CO 2 emissions. Specifically, computational fluid dynamics results obtained previously at Purdue University Northwest are analyzed to obtain CO 2 emissions when natural gas (NG), syngas, hydrogen, or hydrogen/NG are injected. CO 2 emissions are compared with those produced when 95 kg of NG/thm is injected. Among these scenarios, the largest CO 2 reduction occurs when 102 kg of syngas/thm (COG feedstock #1) is injected at 973 K, reducing CO 2 by 190.6 kg thm −1 . The largest CO 2 reduction obtained with NG occurs when 130 kg thm −1 is injected at 600 K, reducing emissions by 65 kg thm −1 . H 2 injection also reduces CO 2 , but requires careful adjusting to reach stable operation. For instance, injecting 35 kg of H 2 /thm reduces CO 2 by 52 kg thm −1 . Increasing gaseous injection rates can significantly reduce CO 2 emissions, with fuel preheating providing an addendum, but high injection rates can lead to unstable operation. Furthermore, results show a correlation between CO 2 emissions and average temperature of shaft region for multiple fuels and injection conditions.

Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2022

Loads assessment of a fixed-bottom offshore wind farm with wake steering

Wake steering via deliberate yaw offset is an emerging wind farm control technique that has the potential to mitigate wake losses and further increase wind farm energy yield. The loads impact of this technique has been studied, but there is limited insight into wind-farm-wide impacts of wake steering. Understanding such impacts is crucial to determining the feasibility of using wake steering in commercial wind farms. To that end, this work investigates the impacts of wake steering on the loads of all turbine components across all turbines in a wind farm operating under a broad set of inflow conditions, including inflow velocity, shear exponent, turbulence class, and inflow angle. This was done by performing FAST.Farm simulations of a 12-turbine wind farm array, excerpted from a larger hypothetical wind farm. The International Energy Agency Wind 15-MW reference wind turbine was modeled atop a monopile substructure, an open-source model that closely approximates the properties of similar commercial options. Wake steering was included via yaw offsets that were computed using an offline optimization with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory tool FLORIS. For each inflow case, the 12-turbine array was simulated with and without wake steering. Results were compared in terms of time-averaged means, standard deviations, ultimate loads, and damage-equivalent loads. The findings show that because wake steering is generally applied at rated wind speeds and below, it is unlikely to drive ultimate loads. For fatigue loads, wake steering does increase the overall fatigue accumulation for some load channels, such as blade-root and shaft bending. This is to be expected when overall power yield increases but may cause the damage accumulation to be more uniform throughout the array. The significance of the added fatigue loading is dependent on how frequent wake steering is utilized in the overall set of inflow conditions across the wind rose.

17 WIND ENERGY↗