Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Technology Performance Exchange”

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 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

IS BLOCKCHAIN A SUITABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF DATA SHARED BY LIGHTING AND OTHER BUILDING SYSTEMS?

Increasing amounts of data are available from lighting and other building systems. In commercial buildings, these data can be used to improve system and energy performance, detect and diagnose faults, and facilitate maintenance. Building data are not only of interest to owners and operators of the building systems, however. Owners and operators of similar buildings, manufacturers of building systems, utilities, and city agencies also have interesting use cases. Energy data can, for example, be used to verify the performance of energy-conservation measures, issue renewableenergy certificates, and financially settle grid services. Increased data sharing, however, significantly expands the cyber-attack surface, creating new challenges. In this work, blockchain is explored as an option for ensuring the integrity of data that are shared by lighting and other building systems. Blockchain fundamentals and variants are briefly reviewed, and value propositions relevant to building systems are discussed. A recently developed blockchain applicability framework (BAF) that builds upon and addresses the limitations of previous applicability models is also briefly reviewed. The BAF is used to assess the suitability of blockchain over other technologies or approaches for building-data applications, using emerging connected lighting systems as an example use case.

blockchain, connected lighting system, data integr↗
DOE OSTI2025

SiC Receiver/Reactor by Additive Manufacturing for Concentrated Solar Thermocatalysis with Thermal Energy Storage (Final Technical Report - Public)

The direct use of solar thermal energy provides opportunities for low-cost heating sources for a variety of applications. Ultra-high temperatures around 1000°C are high value and highly useful for energy-demanding industries. Many materials cannot withstand these conditions. In the area of Sustainable Chemicals, further limitations on material stability exist. Combining state-of-the-art materials with new designs provides a promising pathway for harvesting solar thermal energy and performing high temperature chemical processes. However, conventional manufacturing limits the potential for design flexibility. In this project, Additive Manufacturing was combined with advanced materials and new chemical reactor designs. In addition, 24/7 energy is necessary for chemical processing, and designs for ultra-high temperature thermal storage were devised. Specifically, preliminary design of a novel solar thermal receiver was developed in this project and designed to work with thermocatalytic reactors for producing sustainable chemicals and fuels. An ultra-high temperature particle storage system and heat exchangers were proposed to transport ultra-hot air as thermal fluid for the system. On a broader scale, this system could be used to tap solar thermal energy for a centralized facility with capability of transferring that heat to various segments at a full range of temperatures to 1000°C. The project pushed the temperature boundaries past those in current use, and Additive Manufacturing was envisaged for fabricating the receiver to meet requirements of extreme environments. An extensive analysis of silicon carbide additive manufacturing was performed to compare the thermal and mechanical properties of complex geometries compared to conventional material and those manufactured via other methods. The Additive Manufacturing via Binder-Jet printing was optimized and characterized to provide high quality and reproducible components capable of withstanding the proposed extreme environments. The designs for the concentrating solar thermal cavity with ultra-hot air thermal fluid showed high performance in simulations, attributable to the complex optimized geometries of the 3D printed systems. The bright future of Additive Manufacturing with advanced materials developments should provide more options and even higher quality as the technology further develops. Current costs for Additive Manufacturing of advanced ceramics is relatively low, however post-processing of the materials for extreme environments is currently high. There is little industrial-scale infrastructure for these, but it is growing as niche applications become more mainstream. The results of the project can be translated into similar extreme environments for concentrating solar thermal energy as well as its integration with ultra-hot air thermal fluids. A number of industries that require ultra-high temperatures need to electrify or otherwise decarbonize for climate goals, and this project showed that theoretically there is a pathway to do so with direct concentrated solar thermal power.

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2004

IPv6 Test Bed for Testing Aeronautical Applications

Aviation industries in United States and in Europe are undergoing a major paradigm shift in the introduction of new network technologies. In the US, NASA is also actively investigating the feasibility of IPv6 based networks for the aviation needs of the United States. In Europe, the Eurocontrol lead, Internet Protocol for Aviation Exchange (iPAX) Working Group is actively investigating the various ways of migrating the aviation authorities backbone infrastructure from X.25 based networks to an IPv6 based network. For the last 15 years, the global aviation community has pursued the development and implementation of an industry-specific set of communications standards known as the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN). These standards are now beginning to affect the emerging military Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) community as well as the commercial air transport community. Efforts are continuing to gain a full understanding of the differences and similarities between ATN and Internet architectures as related to Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) infrastructure choices. This research paper describes the implementation of the IPv6 test bed at NASA GRC, and Computer Networks & Software, Inc. and these two test beds are interface to Eurocontrol over the IPv4 Internet. This research work looks into the possibility of providing QoS performance for Aviation application in an IPv6 network as is provided in an ATN based network. The test bed consists of three autonomous systems. The autonomous system represents CNS domain, NASA domain and a EUROCONTROL domain. The primary mode of connection between CNS IPv6 testbed and NASA and EUROCONTROL IPv6 testbed is initially a set of IPv6 over IPv4 tunnels. The aviation application under test (CPDLC) consists of two processes running on different IPv6 enabled machines.

Wilkins, Ryan↗
DOE OSTI2023

Two‐Membrane Dual Non‐Aqueous/Aqueous Electrolyte Flow Cell Operation for Electrochemical Conversion of CO 2 to Methyl Formate

Recently, tandem cathodic reactions have been demonstrated in non-aqueous solvents to couple CO 2 reduction to a secondary reaction to create novel species that are not produced in aqueous CO 2 electrolysis. One reaction that can be performed with high selectivity and durability is the electrochemical conversion of CO 2 to formic acid and in-situ esterification with methanol to produce methyl formate. However, the translation to a high-performance flow electrolyzer is far from trivial, as the non-aqueous catholyte leads to reactor challenges including flooding the gas diffusion electrode. Here, in this study, a two-membrane flow electrolyzer with both anion and cation exchange membranes was used with flowing methanol catholyte and aqueous anolyte. This design prevented methanol from flooding the cathode, which was a pervasive limiting issue for electrolyzers with a single membrane. Methyl formate production at 42.9 % faradaic efficiency was achieved with pure methanol in a flow electrolyzer with stable performance beyond 80 min. However, low-water-content catholyte compositions also led to increased cell resistance and lower operating current densities. Thus, with the present ionomer materials there is a tradeoff between methyl formate selectivity and current density depending on water concentration, highlighting a need for new ionomers tailored for desirable non-aqueous solvents such as methanol.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Structural, magnetic, optical, dielectric and electronic properties of R 2 NiIrO 6 (R = Pr and Nd): A comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation

Double perovskites are highly promising materials capable of exhibiting a wide variety of phenomena. In this work, we perform a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of polycrystalline R 2 NiIrO 6 (R = Pr and Nd) compounds. Both compounds were synthesised using the solid-state reaction method. Rietveld refinement confirmed a monoclinic structure with the P2 1 /n space group for both compounds. The scanning electron images showed the average grain sizes of 0.55 μm for R = Pr and 0.46 μm for R = Nd. Fourier transform infrared ra- diation spectra of the two compounds presented two intense bands at 470 cm -1 and 540 cm -1 . The optical measurements revealed that the band gaps of the compounds were in the visible absorption range. The field- cooled magnetisation - field hysteresis measurements indicated exchange bias properties in the synthesised compounds at low temperatures. Both temperature and frequency variation of dielectric constant and loss tangent measurements were conducted. The frequency-dependent ac conductivity measurements indicated that the conductivity increases with the increase of frequency as well as temperature. The Nd 2 NiIrO 6 compound showed lower ac conductivities compared to its isostructural Pr 2 NiIrO 6 compound. The atomic and electronic structures of Nd 2 NiIrO 6 and Pr 2 NiIrO 6 were explored using the spin-polarised calculations performed within the DFT+U method. Our results suggested that the inclusion of on-site correlations and repulsions for the d-states of atoms was necessary in order to obtain finite band gaps of Nd 2 NiIrO 6 and Pr 2 NiIrO 6 systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2024

A Feasibility Study of 4-D Tomography of Soft X-ray Magnetosheath Emissivities Using Multi-Spacecraft Measurements

Upcoming heliophysics missions utilize state-of-the-art wide field-of-view (FOV) imaging technology to measure and investigate the space plasma environment on a global scale. At Earth, remote sensing of soft X-ray emissions, which are generated via the charge exchange interaction between heavy solar wind ions and exospheric neutral atoms, is a promising means to investigate the global magnetosheath structure, its response to varying solar wind conditions, and the spatiotemporal properties of the dayside magnetic reconnection. Data analysis techniques such as optical tomography can provide additional structural and time-varying information from the observed target and thus enhance the mission’s scientific return. In this work, we simulate multiple and simultaneous observations of the dayside magnetosphere using soft X-ray imagers located at long-distance vantage points to reconstruct the time-dependent, three-dimensional (3-D) structure of the magnetosheath using a dynamic tomographic approach. The OpenGCCM MHD model is used to simulate the time-varying response of the magnetosheath to solar wind conditions and, subsequently, generate synthetic soft X-ray images from multiple spacecraft vantage points separated along a common orbit. A detailed analysis is then performed to identify the nominal set of spacecraft that produces the highest fidelity tomographic reconstruction of the magnetopause. This work aims to (i) demonstrate, for the first time, the use of dynamic tomography to retrieve the time-varying magnetosheath structure and (ii) identify a nominal mission design for multi-spacecraft configurations aiming for optical tomography.

3-D/4_d tomography↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modeling Tool Development and Validation for Solar Industry Process Heat Using Particle Thermal Energy Storage

U.S. industry sectors used 26.2 quadrillion Btu and accounted for 33% of total energy consumption in 2021 according to the Energy Information Agency. Industrial process heat accounts for 70% of industrial energy use with application temperatures ranging from 60 degrees -1100 degrees C. Industry processes, heavily relying on fossil fuels of cheap coal or natural gas, differ widely in operating conditions and load requirements which makes them difficult to standardize and imposes great challenges in decarbonization. Industry processes require reliable energy supply and vary widely in temperature ranges. Storing energy from renewable sources is necessary to improve reliability and to mitigate renewable intermittency when replacing carbon fuel-based heat supplies to achieve energy savings and reduce emissions. To this end, we have developed a particle-based thermal energy storage (TES) technology using low-cost and highly stable silica sand as a storage medium. The economic and performance-based analysis is key for renewable energy sources to reliably supply industry process heat and ultimately displace fossil fuels for decarbonization. The diversified industrial processes need case-by-case analysis and design. Therefore, an adaptive modeling tool is key for renewable power with energy storage to meet industry demands. Thus, a modeling tool to simulate a solar industry process heat system using the particle TES has been developed using the object-oriented equation-based language Modelica and the commercial platform of Modelon Impact. The Modelica-based software tool provides a general simulation environment for the design of reliable solar energy sources integrated with TES for various industrial process applications at different temperatures for economic competence with fossil fuels such as coal and natural gases. It uses both customized and standard component modeling modules in Modelon libraries for the flexibility to be adapted to a specific energy demand application. The particle TES system establishes a uniform energy supply platform with an efficient heat exchanger and particle thermal energy reservoir integrated with renewable powers. The particle TES system can provide a wide temperature range and can have a large storage temperature difference that increases storage energy density; therefore, it can be an adaptable energy storage system integrated with renewable power to supply 24/7 heat for industry decarbonization.

concentrated solar thermal↗
DOE OSTI2020

Verification and Validation of MFiX-PIC

This work is aimed at verification and validation (V&V) of particle-in-cell (PIC) approach in the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL) Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFiX-PIC) which was officially released in April 2019. Under verification, the results from MFiX-PIC are compared with exact or analytical solutions, while experimental results are used for benchmarking under validation. The test suite consists of the following cases: Terminal velocity. Particle advection in time-varying flow field. Particle settling in a dense medium. Evaporation. Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Minimum fluidization. Mini-circulating fluidized bed. The cases reported in a format consistent with the existing Verification and Validation Manual (Musser et al., 2018) explore a wide range of flow velocities and concentration regimes. Only one case considered in this work verifies the implementation of heat and mass transfer routines in MFiX-PIC, while a few other studies are currently underway to further expand the validation space in reacting flows. This study highlights the need for a rigorous analysis to objectively quantify the effect of model parameters. In addition, there is a scarcity of high-quality experimental data in the literature suitable for validating PIC methodology. Future efforts would include performing experiments which provide results for a valuable database. While designing such experiments, particle count should be significant to have sufficient particles per parcel while maintaining an optimal parcel to cell volume ratio. Also, datasets should have objectively assessed experimental uncertainty whereby confidence interval in those measurements become more explicit.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1992

Digital active material processing platform effort (DAMPER), SBIR phase 2

Applied Technology Associates, Inc., (ATA) has demonstrated that inertial actuation can be employed effectively in digital, active vibration isolation systems. Inertial actuation involves the use of momentum exchange to produce corrective forces which act directly on the payload being actively isolated. In a typical active vibration isolation system, accelerometers are used to measure the inertial motion of the payload. The signals from the accelerometers are then used to calculate the corrective forces required to counteract, or 'cancel out' the payload motion. Active vibration isolation is common technology, but the use of inertial actuation in such systems is novel, and is the focus of the DAMPER project. A May 1991 report was completed which documented the successful demonstration of inertial actuation, employed in the control of vibration in a single axis. In the 1 degree-of-freedom (1DOF) experiment a set of air bearing rails was used to suspend the payload, simulating a microgravity environment in a single horizontal axis. Digital Signal Processor (DSP) technology was used to calculate in real time, the control law between the accelerometer signals and the inertial actuators. The data obtained from this experiment verified that as much as 20 dB of rejection could be realized by this type of system. A discussion is included of recent tests performed in which vibrations were actively controlled in three axes simultaneously. In the three degree-of-freedom (3DOF) system, the air bearings were designed in such a way that the payload is free to rotate about the azimuth axis, as well as translate in the two horizontal directions. The actuator developed for the DAMPER project has applications beyond payload isolation, including structural damping and source vibration isolation. This report includes a brief discussion of these applications, as well as a commercialization plan for the actuator.

Blackburn, John↗
DOE OSTI2016

Iron loading effects in Fe/SSZ-13 NH3-SCR catalysts: nature of the Fe-ions and structure-function relationships

Using a traditional aqueous solution ion-exchange method under a protecting atmosphere of N2, a series of Fe/SSZ-13 catalysts with various Fe loadings were synthesized. UV-Vis, EPR and Mössbauer spectroscopies, coupled with temperature programmed reduction and desorption techniques, were used to probe the nature of the Fe sites. The major monomeric and dimeric Fe species are extra-framework [Fe(OH)2]+ and [HO-Fe-O-Fe-OH]2+. Larger oligomers with unknown nuclearity, poorly crystallized Fe2O3 particles, together with isolated Fe2+ ions, are minor Fe-containing moieties. Reaction rate and Fe loading correlations suggest that isolated Fe3+ ions are the active sites for standard SCR while the dimeric sites are the active centers for NO oxidation. NH3 oxidation, on the other hand, is catalyzed by sites with higher nuclearity. A low-temperature standard SCR reaction network is proposed that includes redox cycling of both monomeric and dimeric Fe species, for SCR and NO2 generation, respectively. The authors gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Program for the support of this work. The research described in this paper was performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2018

Computed Tomography Scanning and Geophysical Measurements of the Marcellus Formation from the Whipkey ST 1 Well

The computed tomography (CT) facilities and the Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Morgantown, West Virginia site were used to characterize core of the Marcellus Formation from a vertical well drilled in Greene County, Pennsylvania by the Energy Corporation of America. The core is from the Whipkey ST 1 well, in the Carmichaels Field, and is comprised primarily of the Marcellus Formation from depths of 7,719 to 7,910.8 ft. Core was provided by Tim Carr and Keithan Martin (West Virginia University and ORISE). The primary impetus of this work is a collaboration between West Virginia University (WVU) and NETL to characterize core from multiple wells to better understand the structure and variation of the Marcellus and Utica Shale Formations. As part of this effort, bulk scans of core were obtained from the Whipkey ST 1 well. This report, and the associated scans, provide detailed datasets not typically available from unconventional shales for analysis. The resultant datasets are presented in this report, and can be accessed from NETL's Energy Data eXchange (EDX) online system using the following link: https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/whipkey-well. All equipment and techniques used were non-destructive, enabling future examinations to be performed on these cores. None of the equipment used was suitable for direct visualization of the shale pore space, although fractures and discontinuities were detectable with the methods tested. Low resolution CT imagery with the NETL medical CT scanner was performed on the entire core. Qualitative analysis of the medical CT images, coupled with X-ray fluorescence (XRF), P-wave, and magnetic susceptibility measurements from the MSCL were useful in identifying zones of interest for more detailed analysis as well as fractured zones. The ability to quickly identify key areas for more detailed study with higher resolution will save time and resources in future studies. The combination of methods used provided a multi-scale analysis of this core and provided both a macro and micro description of the core that is relevant for many subsurface energy related examinations that have traditionally been performed at NETL.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Bipolar membrane polarization behavior with systematically varied interfacial areas in the junction region

The palette of applications for bipolar membranes (BPMs) has expanded recently beyond electrodialysis as they are now being considered for fuel cell and electrolysis applications. Their deployment in emerging electrochemical technologies arises from the need to have a membrane separator that provides disparate pH environments and to prevent species crossover. Most materials research for BPMs has focused on water dissociation catalysts and less emphasis has been given to the design of the polycation–polyanion interface for improving BPM performance. Here, soft lithography fabricated a series of micropatterned BPMs with precise control over the interfacial area in the bipolar junction. Polarization experiments showed that a 2.28× increase in interfacial area led to a 250 mV reduction in the onset potential. Additionally, the same increase in interfacial area yielded marginal improvements in current density due to the junction region being under kinetics-diffusion control. A simple physics model based on the electric field of the junction region rationalized the reduction in the overpotential for water dissociation as a function of interfacial area. Finally, the soft lithography approach was also conducive for fabricating BPMs with different chemistries ranging from perfluorinated polymer backbones to alkaline stable poly(arylene) hydrocarbon polymers. These polymer chemistries are better suited for fuel cell and electrolysis applications. The BPM featuring the alkaline stable poly(terphenyl) anion exchange membrane had an onset potential of 0.84 V, which was near the thermodynamic limit, and was about 150 mV lower than a commercially available variant.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of Convective Heat Transfer Coefficients With Supercritical CO 2 Using the Wilson-Plot Technique

This paper describes the measurement of convective heat transfer coefficients and friction factors for sCO 2 flowing in a smooth tube and compares the results with published correlations for validation. The paper also describes the Heat Exchange and Experimental Testing (HEET) rig recently designed and built at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE’s) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, WV. Here, the Wilson-plot technique used for measuring the heat transfer coefficients is described along with the data reduction process. The Wilson-plot technique was chosen as the basis for the design of NETL’s HEET rig. Advantages of the Wilson-plot technique include the (1) ability to measure high convective heat transfer coefficients accurately, (2) ability to measure average heat transfer coefficient for complicated heat exchange geometries like those produced using additive manufacturing, (3) ability to measure heat transfer coefficients on both sides of a heat exchanger independently, and (4) simplicity of experimental setup. Capabilities of the HEET rig include pressure to 24 MPa (3500 psig), temperature to 538 °C (1000 °F), mass flow rate to 1.5 kg/s (3 lb/s), and Re to 500,000. The rig is designed to operate with pure CO 2 or a mixture of CO 2 and up to 10% N2 by volume to study the impact of gas mixtures typical of direct-fired sCO 2 power cycles on the convective heat transfer and pressure drop. Preliminary tests in the HEET rig were performed with smooth stainless-steel tube and pure CO 2 , and the results were compared with published correlations for Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor. Over a Reynolds number (Re) range from 58,000 to 228,000, measured Nu was compared to predictions using the Dittus and Boelter equation (Kreith and Bohn, 1993, “Principles of Heat Transfer, West Publishing Company”) within 5% and measured friction factors were compared to predictions using the McAdams correlation (“McAdams, 1954, “Heat Transmission,” 3rd ed., McGraw Hill, New York)” for smooth tube to be within 5%.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Search for Extant Life on Mars: A Human Exploration Objective

A search for evidence of extant life on Mars should be conducted prior to and as part of human exploration missions. Potentially habitable environments for modern life occur on Mars. Despite a vigorous campaign of exploration of the surface over the last 3 decades, no mission has attempted to search for signatures of extant life since the Viking landers in 1976. Finding an example of extant life beyond Earth would be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. This is especially important because (once discovered) the biochemistry and metabolism of the life form can be studied. Earth and Mars exchange materials over geologic time because impacts eject rock and crustal materials into space that are eventually deposited on other planets and moons [1]. Therefore, Earth and Mars could share life with a common origin and similar biochemistry; if this is the case, life on Mars likely experienced billions of years of evolution in isolation from Earth. Alternatively, Mars may host a distinct genesis of life which could be evident from its different biochemistry. Either discovery would change our understanding of life in the solar system and beyond. The Mars 2020/Perseverance sample collection mission is not optimized for finding extant life because the site for sample collection, Jezero Crater, was chosen for its ancient habitability and likelihood to host fossil evidence of life. Furthermore, the samples collected will not be returned for at least a decade. Within that period, technology development for human exploration will likely be underway and it is possible that humans will land on Mars without an updated knowledge of extant life on Mars, which may pose a risk both to those mission crews and to Earth when they return. Thus, it is important to perform a search for extant life on Mars prior to humans landing at a site where life may persist. Salts and shallow ground ice are particularly important environments to evaluate for extant life prior to human missions because they may be encountered and interacted with by human crews.

C.R. Stoker↗
DOE OSTI2023

Computed Tomography Scanning and Geophysical Measurements of the CarbonSAFE Seal Integrity Wells in the Illinois Basin

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) researchers in Morgantown, West Virginia, utilized computed tomography (CT) facilities and the Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) to evaluate the integrity of three cores (Geophysical Monitor #2 (GM2), Verification Well #1 (VW #1), and Wabash #1 for the Illinois Basin Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) efforts. This work was carried out in collaboration with the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) as part of their efforts to analyze cores from two field locations, including the Illinois Basin-Decatur Project (IBDP) and second stage Illinois Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (IL-ICCS) sites at Decatur, Illinois, and the Wabash CarbonSAFE project at the Wabash Valley Resources Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plant in Terre Haut, Indiana. The results of this study are presented in several formats and are available online on the Energy Data eXchange (EDX). The rock characterization was conducted using non-destructive techniques, allowing for future analysis of the cores. While the equipment used did not provide direct visualization of shale pore space, it allowed for detection of fractures and discontinuities. Low resolution CT imagery with the NETL medical CT scanner was performed on the entire core. Qualitative analysis of the medical CT images, coupled with x-ray fluorescence (XRF), P-wave, and magnetic susceptibility measurements from the MSCL were utilized to identify areas of interest for further study as well as fractured zones. The ability to quickly identify key areas for more detailed study with higher resolution will save time and resources in future studies. The combination of methods used provided a multi-scale analysis of this core and provided both a macro and micro description of the core that is relevant for many subsurface energy-related examinations traditionally performed at NETL.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2011

Modeling Geometric Arrangements of TiO2-Based Catalyst Substrates and Isotropic Light Sources to Enhance the Efficiency of a Photocatalystic Oxidation (PCO) Reactor

The closed confined environments of the ISS, as well as in future spacecraft for exploration beyond LEO, provide many challenges to crew health. One such challenge is the availability of a robust, energy efficient, and re-generable air revitalization system that controls trace volatile organic contaminants (VOCs) to levels below a specified spacecraft maximum allowable concentration (SMAC). Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO), which is capable of mineralizing VOCs at room temperature and of accommodating a high volumetric flow, is being evaluated as an alternative trace contaminant control technology. In an architecture of a combined air and water management system, placing a PCO unit before a condensing heat exchanger for humidity control will greatly reduce the organic load into the humidity condensate loop ofthe water processing assembly (WPA) thereby enhancing the life cycle economics ofthe WPA. This targeted application dictates a single pass efficiency of greater than 90% for polar VOCs. ~ Although this target was met in laboratory bench-scaled reactors, no commercial or SBIR-developed prototype PCO units examined to date have achieved this goal. Furthermore, the formation of partial oxidation products (e.g., acetaldehyde) was not eliminated. It is known that single pass efficiency and partial oxidation are strongly dependent upon the contact time and catalyst illumination, hence the requirement for an efficient reactor design. The objective of this study is to maximize the apparent contact time and illuminated catalyst surface area at a given reactor volume and volumetric flow. In this study, a Ti02-based photocatalyst is assumed to be immobilized on porous substrate panels and illumination derived from linear isotropic light sources. Mathematical modeling using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses were performed to investigate the effect of: 1) the geometry and configuration of catalyst-coated substrate panels, 2) porosity of the supporting substrate, and 3) varying the light source and spacing on contact time and illuminated catalyst area.

Richards, Jeffrey T.↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2013

Topics include: ISS Ammonia Leak Detection Through X-Ray Fluorescence; A System for Measuring the Sway of the Vehicle Assembly Building; Fast, High-Precision Readout Circuit for Detector Arrays; Victim Simulator for Victim Detection Radar; Hydrometeor Size Distribution Measurements by Imaging the Attenuation of a Laser Spot; Quasi-Linear Circuit; High-Speed, High-Resolution Time-to-Digital Conversion; Li-Ion Battery and Supercapacitor Hybrid Design for Long Extravehicular Activities; Ultrasonic Low-Friction Containment Plate for Thermal and Ultrasonic Stir Weld Processes; High-Powered, Ultrasonically Assisted Thermal Stir Welding; Next-Generation MKIII Lightweight HUT/Hatch Assembly; Centrifugal Sieve for Gravity-Level-Independent Size; Segregation of Granular Materials; Ion Exchange Technology Development in Support of the Urine Processor Assembly; Nickel-Graphite Composite Compliant Interface and/or Hot Shoe Material; UltraSail CubeSat Solar Sail Flight Experiment; Mechanism for Deploying a Long, Thin-Film Antenna From a Rover; Counterflow Regolith Heat Exchanger; Acquisition and Retaining Granular Samples via a Rotating Coring Bit; Very-Low-Cost, Rugged Vacuum System; Medicine Delivery Device With Integrated Sterilization and Detection; FRET-Aptamer Assays for Bone Marker Assessment, C-Telopeptide, Creatinine, and Vitamin D; Multimode Directional Coupler for Utilization of Harmonic Frequencies from TWTAs; Dual-Polarization, Multi-Frequency Antenna Array for use with Hurricane Imaging Radiometer; Complementary Barrier Infrared Detector (CBIRD) Contact Methods; Autonomous Control of Space Nuclear Reactors; High-Power, High-Speed Electro-Optic Pockels Cell Modulator; Covariance Analysis Tool (G-CAT) for Computing Ascent, Descent, and Landing Errors; Enigma Version 12; Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) Shield Ballistic Limit Analysis Program; Spitzer Telemetry Processing System; Planetary Protection Bioburden Analysis Program; Wing Leading Edge RCC Rapid Response Damage Prediction Tool (IMPACT2); ISSM: Ice Sheet System Model; Automated Loads Analysis System (ATLAS); Integrated Main Propulsion System Performance Reconstruction Process/Models. Phoenix Telemetry Processor; Contact Graph Routing Enhancements Developed in ION for DTN; GFEChutes Lo-Fi; Advanced Strategic and Tactical Relay Request Management for the Mars Relay Operations Service; Software for Generating Troposphere Corrections for InSAR Using GPS and Weather Model Data; Ionospheric Specifications for SAR Interferometry (ISSI); Implementation of a Wavefront-Sensing Algorithm; Sally Ride EarthKAM - Automated Image Geo-Referencing Using Google Earth Web Plug-In; Trade Space Specification Tool (TSST) for Rapid Mission Architecture (Version 1.2); Acoustic Emission Analysis Applet (AEAA) Software; Memory-Efficient Onboard Rock Segmentation; Advanced Multimission Operations System (ATMO); Robot Sequencing and Visualization Program (RSVP); Automating Hyperspectral Data for Rapid Response in Volcanic Emergencies; Raster-Based Approach to Solar Pressure Modeling; Space Images for NASA JPL Android Version; Kinect Engineering with Learning (KEWL); Spacecraft 3D Augmented Reality Mobile App; MPST Software: grl_pef_check; Real-Time Multimission Event Notification System for Mars Relay; SIM_EXPLORE: Software for Directed Exploration of Complex Systems; Mobile Timekeeping Application Built on Reverse-Engineered JPL Infrastructure; Advanced Query and Data Mining Capabilities for MaROS; Jettison Engineering Trajectory Tool; MPST Software: grl_suppdoc; PredGuid+A: Orion Entry Guidance Modified for Aerocapture; Planning Coverage Campaigns for Mission Design and Analysis: CLASP for DESDynl; and Space Place Prime.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2021

FEED Study of Carbon Capture Inc. DAC and CarbonCure Utilization Using United States Steel's Gary Works Waste Plant

Direct Air Capture (DAC) has been proposed as a means of reducing atmospheric concentrations of CO2. While DAC has been evaluated through lab-scale, bench-scale, and small-scale pilot units, large-scale deployment has not been achieved. Feasibility studies are one tool to understand the potential design, operation, performance, and impact of commercial-scale DAC. This paper presents the results of a feasibility study for a passive DAC system deployed at >100,000 tpy scale in three different regions across the U.S. and awarded to Carbon Collect by the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE NETL). The MechanicalTree™technology has been designed and engineered by Carbon Collect based on the concept initially developed at Arizona State University Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. It uses a tower of stacked, sorbentcontaining disks supported by a lifting mechanism, exposed to the air to capture CO2 during the adsorption phase. The disks are then lowered into a regeneration chamber for vacuum and steam regeneration to produce CO2 product during the desorption step. The modular tree design allows large installations with repeatable, mass-manufactured units connected to common utilities such as steam supply, vacuum, and CO2 processing for compression and geologic storage. The passive DAC system eliminates the equipment and energy of forced air fans by using natural air circulation to contact the sorbent with the CO2 in the air. Because of this, the performance is dependent on the wind speed in addition to the temperature and relative humidity. Performance and flow rate fluctuations were incorporated into equipment and facility design with considerations for turndown to 10% of maximum rated flow to allow operation in all seasons. The feasibility study was undertaken to evaluate the technology in different regions and climates. Three locations were selected for this study representing different climates: Alabama (hot and humid), California (hot and arid), and Wyoming (continental). For each region, the adsorption/desorption cycle was optimized including tuning the heat integration and cycle timings. The performance of individual trees was then scaled to the full facility with the same design of more than 20,000 trees common between all regions. The installations had expected average CO2 capture rates of between 330,000 and 485,000 tonnes of CO2 per year depending on the climate. The initial engineering design for the facility at each location was performed with cost and performance estimates for the trees, carbon purification and compression, and the balance of plant. To supply thermal and electrical energy for the facility, carbon-free or low-carbon power must be considered. Options for low-carbon, continuous thermal and electrical energy were considered. The best-performing option from those considered was identified to be an electrically-heated molten salt energy storage system, powered by an on-site photovoltaic field. During molten salt thermal discharge, steam is produced from heat exchange with the molten salt and used to generate power in a steam turbine as well as steam for regenerating the DAC carbon trees. The thermal and electrical supply and analysis is presented in the context of low-carbon power for carbon removal. Modelling and economics of transportation and geologic storage of the CO2 is considered and presented for each location. The results of the feasibility study are incorporated into the presented techno-economic and life-cycle assessments. This work is intended to provide an understanding of the performance, cost, and impact of capturing CO2 at the commercial scale and the impact of climate and regional siting on the considered passive DAC system.

42 ENGINEERING↗