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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 973 records · Page 54

Prototyping and Manufacturing of Magnetic Gearbox Components using Innovations in Castings

In a previous collaboration with Emrgy (CRADA agreement NFE-17-06532), a housing component of Emrgy’s 10 kW gearbox was casted out of aluminum alloys using impression molds prepared using 3D printed techniques. (Henderson, 2018). After comparison with Emrgy’s existing hardware and material testing, the 3D printed impression molds were verified to represent a valid approach to advance technology readiness and commercialize Emrgy’s technology.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Field Evaluation of the Caney Shale as an Emerging Unconventional Play, Southern Oklahoma

The Mississippian-age Caney Shale is an emerging unconventional oil and gas (UOG) resource play in the southern Midcontinent and is prospective in the Anadarko, Ardmore, Marietta and western Arkoma basins. This play is enigmatic in that time equivalent Fayetteville Shale in the eastern Arkoma basin and Barnett Shale in the Ft. Worth Basin are major unconventional plays, whereas Caney Shale production is sparse and unpredictable (Cardott, 2017). In the Anadarko, Ardmore and Marietta basins, the Caney Shale is in the oil window, but its resource potential has not been adequately assessed. The Caney reservoir is about 60-300 m thick, is rich in total organic carbon, contains a large oil resource base, and has a strong natural gas drive; however, development has been hampered by high clay content and reactivity of the formation with water. The main objective of this initial four-year research project was to address these issues by establishing a Caney Shale Field Laboratory in the Ardmore Basin of southern Oklahoma to (a) conduct a comprehensive field characterization (b) perform field experiments, and (c) validate cost-effective technologies that will lead to a comprehensive and efficient development strategy plan for Caney Shale.

02 PETROLEUM↗

Test and Validate Distributed Coaxial Cable Sensors for in situ Condition Monitoring of Coal-Fired Boiler Tubes

This project aims to test, validate, and advance the technology readiness level (from TRL5 to TRL7) of a novel low-cost distributed stainless-steel/ceramic coaxial cable sensing (SSC-CCS) technology for in situ monitoring of the boiler tube temperature in existing coal-fired power plants. The novel SSC-CCS sensing technology and associated condition-based monitoring (CBM) software to be demonstrated in this project will lead to an improved understanding of the boiler tube failure mechanisms and a prognostic system to improve the overall performance, reliability, and flexibility of the nation’s coal-fired power plant fleet. A boiler tube monitoring system with distributed coaxial cable temperature sensors and a sensor acquisition system was constructed. The high-temperature coaxial cable sensor with a length of 1.3m was made by using a quartz tube (1mm inner diameter (ID) and 6mm outer diameter (OD)) to concentrically separate a 304 stainless-steel (SS) rod (1mm OD) and SS tube (7.94mm OD and 6.16mm ID). The sensor acquisition system includes a vector network analyzer (VNA), a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier, multiple switches and a USB hub. The distributed stainless-steel quartz coaxial cable sensor (SSQ-CCS) had a linear response to temperature with a resolution uncertainty of σ = 0.77℃. To withstand the harsh conditions of 3,300 steam pressures and 800℃ high temperatures, the sensor was shielded by a protective tube made of the same material as the boiler tube. The protection tube had an OD of 1.5 inches and a thickness of 0.25 inches. In the laboratory tests, the sensor showed good sensitivity and fast response. The drift was bounded between +0.33% and -0.67% during a test at 600℃ for 350 hours, indicating good stability of the sensor. A field test was conducted where four sensors were welded on four superheat tubes (SH-Ts) at a coal-fired power station over 400 days. Conventional thermocouples were welded to the superheater tubes alongside the coaxial cable sensors for the purpose of comparison. Two sensors were capable of distributed sensing, with three multiplexed sensing sections. The other two sensors were single section. During the 400-day test period, the power plant experienced startups and shutdowns. At the steady state operations, the temperature of the boiler tube is about 600℃ (1112°F). The sensors recorded the entire coal-firing processes (start-up, steady state, and shut-down) and the glitch event. A GSM modem and a Watchdog were added to the system to ensure reliable data recording. The GSM modem sent daily messages to plant managers and Clemson team to inform the status of the sensor system. If the system was not normally working, the Watchdog would reboot the system automatically. The new coaxial cable based distributed sensing technology has been proven to be successful in both laboratory and field tests. A comprehensive four-stage multi-physics computational framework has been developed to assist the design, optimization, installation, and operation of SSQ-CCS. With the consideration of various operation conditions, we predict the distributions of flue gas temperatures within coal-fired boilers, the temperature correlation between the boiler tube and SSQ-CCS, and the safety of SSQ-CCS. A conditional-based monitoring system is implemented as well. The computational framework developed in this work can guide the future operation of coal-fired plants and other power plants for the safety prediction of boiler operations.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Findings on subtask 1.6 – basin electric carbon storage research project: novel monitoring techniques

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) led a study to validate novel and emerging technologies as commercial monitoring techniques for application in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) injection operations. This applied research was conducted at Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s (Basin Electric’s) active CO 2 -injection operations in Beulah, North Dakota, in two phases. The EERC previously completed a set of baseline (preinjection) activities in Phase 1, which included 1) design of an automated, integrated, modular (AIM) monitoring station; 2) time-lapse electromagnetic (EM) field surveys; 3) drone-based surveillance studies; 4) time-lapse monitoring with seismic methods; and 5) advanced wellbore-monitoring methods.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Modular Staged Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (SPOC) Power Plant for Coal and Biomass – Integration of Combustor Boiler and DCC

Critical to the future of power generation is the development of a power plant that will be capable of flexible operation to meet the needs of the modern grid, providing resilient, low-emissions power to a grid that is increasingly seeing a large penetration of intermittent wind and solar. The modular Staged, Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (SPOC) process envisioned by and under development at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) has the potential to achieve these goals. The process offers: 1) a modular plant design for improved operational flexibility; 2) fuel-staging combined with pressurized oxy-combustion, which leads to smaller plant size, higher plant efficiency, and lower cost for pollutant and greenhouse gas removal compared with traditional carbon-capture equipped coal power plants; and 3) small modular boilers and pollutant removal units that can be fabricated in shop and assembled on site, further reducing plant capital costs. Under DOE's support (DE-FE0031925), WUSTL is advancing the development of the critical components for the SPOC power plant, including the integrated combustion system and the direct contact cooler (DCC) from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to TRL-5, which would allow these technologies to be subsequently incorporated into a pilot plant. This talk will present an overview of the SPOC technology, CFD modeling and validation for burner and boiler development, and recent results to evaluate critical components for system integration needed to advance its TRL.

Magalhaes, Duarte↗

Development of the Modular Staged Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (SPOC) Power Plant for Coal and Biomass

Critical to the future of power generation is the development of a power plant that will be capable of flexible operation to meet the needs of the modern grid, providing resilient, low-emissions power to a grid that is increasingly seeing a large penetration of intermittent wind and solar. The modular Staged, Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (SPOC) process envisioned by and under development at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) has the potential to achieve these goals. The process offers: 1) a modular plant design for improved operational flexibility; 2) fuel-staging combined with pressurized oxy-combustion, which leads to smaller plant size, higher plant efficiency, and lower cost for pollutant and greenhouse gases removal compared with traditional carbon-capture equipped coal power plants; and 3) small modular boilers and pollutant removal units that can be fabricated in shop and assembled on site, further reducing plant capital costs. Under DOE's support (DE-FE0031925), WUSTL is advancing the development of the critical components for the SPOC power plant, including the integrated combustion system and the direct contact cooler (DCC) from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to TRL-5, which would allow these technologies to be subsequently incorporated into a pilot plant. This talk will present an overview of the SPOC technology, CFD modeling and validation for burner and boiler development, and recent results to evaluate critical components needed to advance its TRL.

Magalhaes, Duarte↗

Large Scale Field Demonstration Evaluation Plan

This Evaluation Plan defines practical, commissioning-oriented test protocols for in-field assessment of grid-forming (GFM) inverter-based resources (IBRs) deployed under the UNIFI Consortium Field Demonstration. The demonstration’s overarching objective is to validate multi vendor GFM technologies at impactful unit/plant scale, assess interoperability and grid-service performance, and evaluate the applicability of the UNIFI Specifications for Grid-forming Inverter-based Resources in real utility environments, including integration with operational systems and protection schemes.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Fuel Cell Transit Bus Evaluations: Joint Evaluation Plan for the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Transit Administration (Report and Appendix)

This document describes the fuel cell transit bus evaluations performed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This document provides a description of the demonstration sites, funding sources, and data collection activities for fuel cell transit busevaluations currently planned from FY10 through FY12.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Multibody aircraft study, volume 1

The potential benefits of a multibody aircraft when compared to a single body aircraft are presented. The analyses consist principally of a detailed point design analysis of three multibody and one single body aircraft, based on a selected payload of 350,000 kg (771,618 lb), for final aircraft definitions; sensitivity studies to evaluate the effects of variations in payload, wing semispan body locations, and fuel price; recommendations as to the research and technology requirements needed to validate the multibody concept. Two, two body, one, three body, and one single body aircraft were finalized for the selected payload, with DOC being the prime figure of merit. When compared to the single body, the multibody aircraft showed a reduction in DOC by as much as 11.3 percent. Operating weight was reduced up to 14 percent, and fly away cost reductions ranged from 8.6 to 13.4 percent. Weight reduction, hence cost, of the multibody aircraft resulted primarily from the wing bending relief afforded by the bodies being located outboard on the wing.

Moore, J. W.↗

Multibody aircraft study, volume 2

The potential benefits of a multibody aircraft when compared to a single body aircraft are presented. The analyses consist principally of a detailed point design analysis of three multibody and one single body aircraft, based on a selected payload of 350,000 kg (771,618 lb), for final aircraft definitions; sensitivity studies to evaluate the effects of variations in payload, wing semispan body locations, and fuel price; recommendations as to the research and technology requirements needed to validate the multibody concept. Two, two body, one, three body, and one single body aircraft were finalized for the selected payload, with DOC being the prime figure of merit. When compared to the single body, the multibody aircraft showed a reduction in DOC by as much as 11.3 percent. Operating weight was reduced up to 14 percent, and fly away cost reductions ranged from 8.6 to 13.4 percent. Weight reduction, hence cost, of the multibody aircraft resulted primarily from the wing bending relief afforded by the bodies being located outboard on the wing.

Moore, J. W.↗

The software-implemented fault tolerance /SIFT/ approach to fault tolerant computing

SIFT is an experimental computer designed for highly reliable flight-control service in advanced air transports. Its development was intended to integrate and demonstrate the latest techniques in fault-tolerant computing. During its development, several new problems of some generality were uncovered and solved. The technology developed for the validation of its design is seen as being perhaps as important as the design itself. The SIFT design is described, as is the way in which the design and its validation were shaped by the requirements of its intended application. Attention is also given to reliability and fault tolerance. The most significant feature of the hardware design is the absence of elements that can generate multiple faults, such as shared clocks or data buses. It is noted that the software is realized in only 800 lines of code, of which 80% are in a high-level language.

Goldberg, J.↗

Adaptive control experiment with a large flexible structure

A large space antenna-like ground experiment structure has been developed for conducting research and validation of advanced control technology. A set of proof-of-concept adaptive control experiments for transient and initial deflection regulation with a small set of sensors and actuators were conducted. Very limited knowledge of the plant dynamics and its environment was used in the design of the adaptive controller so that performance could be demonstrated under conditions of gross underlying uncertainties. High performance has been observed under such stringent conditions. These experiments have established a baseline for future studies involving more complex hardware and environmental conditions, and utilizing additional sets of sensors and actuators.

Ih, Che-Hang Charles↗

SP-100 nuclear space power systems with application to space commercialization

The purpose of this paper is to familiarize the Space Commercialization Community with the status and characteristics of the SP-100 space nuclear power system. The program is a joint undertaking by the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and NASA. The goal of the program is to develop, validate, and demonstrate the technology for space nuclear power systems in the range of 10 to 1000 kWe electric for use in the future civilian and military space missions. Also discussed are mission applications which are enhanced and/or enabled by SP-100 technology and how this technology compares to that of more familiar solar power systems. The mission applications include earth orbiting platforms and lunar/Mars surface power.

Smith, John M.↗

Ocean Drifter Project

Four drifting buoys were fabricated from mostly local hardware plus animal locating transmitters. The first two working models were dropped from a Wallops aircraft, to test the mechanical integrity and to test the ability of the whole system to withstand the drop and provide usable data. There are two temperature sensors on board, one to measure sea surface temperature and the other to measure air temperature. An onboard computer controls the transmissions, sending three water temperature readings for each air temperature reading in order to differentiate one from the other after data reduction. Guidelines for the development and test of optical drifting buoys include: air deployable and expendable, reasonable cost for multiple deployment, 1 year lifetime, use of existing technology and a minimal validation parameter set.

Mason, C. D.↗

Test Bed For Telerobots

Assembly of electromechanical and electronic equipment (including computers) constitutes test bed for development of advanced robotic systems for remote manipulation. Combines features not found in commercial systems. Its architecture allows easy growth in complexity and level of automation. System national resource for validation of new telerobotic technology. Intended primarily for robots used in outer space, test bed adapted to development of advanced terrestrial telerobotic systems for handling radioactive materials, dangerous chemicals, and explosives.

Matijevic, Jacob R.↗

Field trials of a NASA-developed mobile satellite terminal

Various field trials have been performed to validate and optimize the technologies developed by the Mobile Satellite Experiment (MSAT-X). For each of the field experiments performed, a brief description of the experiment is provided, followed by a summary of the experimental results. Emphasis is placed on the two full scale land mobile and aeronautical mobile experiments. Experiments planned for the near future are also presented.

Dessouky, Khaled↗

The Orbiter Experiments (OEX) Program

The objective of the Orbiter Experiments (OEX) program is to obtain research quality flight data for the augmentation and advancement of space transportation technologies. This includes the validation and advancement of analytical theories and of ground-test methods and techniques. The following topics are discussed: aerothermodynamic design tool development and validation; the freestream environment; trajectory reconstruction; atmospheric reconstruction; the Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS); the Shuttle Upper Atmosphere Mass Spectrometer (SUMS); and aerodynamic forces and moments. The discussion is presented in vugraph form.

Throckmorton, David A.↗

Feasibility study of an orbiting laboratory for testing CSI technology

A concept for an orbiting laboratory for testing Controls-Structures Integration (CSI) technology is described. The CSI-Star concept reflects a lower cost, higher risk approach. The concept supports demonstration and validation testing for critical CSI technologies at a cost of $20M to $26M with a 1-year reliability of approximately 0.9. The Ball Aerospace QuickStar bus is the carrier for the CSI test article. QuickStar is launched as a secondary payload on the McDonnell Douglas Delta 2. The QuickStar/Delta 2 approach is flight proven. The CSI test article is a 20 foot, 1 Hz, truss beam which is deployed from the QuickStar bus. The test article is well instrumented for quality system identification. The laboratory provides three layers of active control consisting of global vibration suppression along the truss beam, vibration isolation between the beam and instrument platforms, and vibration compensation through the use of gimbaled platforms which point lasers relative to optical sensor targets. The configuration simulates the dynamics of multi-instrument science platforms such as those of the Earth Observation System (EOS) while maintaining strong ties to astrophysics missions such as the Optical Interferometer. Uplink/downlink services and a reprogrammable computer provide flexibility for long-term investigations by members of the CSI community (NASA, DoD, academia, and industry). CSI-Star fills the gap between short-term experiments, which have been conducted primarily on the Shuttle, and future science missions which require the technology. The on-orbit maturity of CSI technology must be established to obtain acceptance by project managers and to promote injection of the technology into future science missions.

Bicos, Andrew S.↗