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At least 1,009 records · Page 56

Analysis of Molecular Contamination on Genesis Collectors Through Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

Before the spacecraft returned to Earth in September, the Genesis mission had a preliminary assessment plan in place for the purpose of providing information on the condition and availability of collector materials to the science community as a basis for allocation requests. One important component of that plan was the evaluation of collector surfaces for molecular contamination. Sources of molecular contamination might be the on-orbit outgassing of spacecraft and science canister components, the condensation of thruster by-products during spacecraft maneuvers, or the condensation of volatile species associated with reentry. Although the non-nominal return of the Genesis spacecraft introduced particulate contamination to the collectors, such as dust and heatshield carbon-carbon, it is unlikely to have caused any molecular deposition. The contingency team's quick action in returning the damaged payload the UTTR cleanroom by 6 PM the evening of recovery help to ensure that exposure to weather conditions and the environment were kept to a minimum.

McNamara, K. M.↗

Software Tool for Tracking & Mapping the NASA Orion AA-2 Test Flight Ejectable Data Recorders in Real Time

On 2 July 2019, the NASA Ascent Abort 2 flight took place off the Florida coast to test the emergency systems to separate the Orion Crew Module (CM) from the future Space Launch System rocket in the event of a malfunction. During this high-altitude test, instrumentation data was recorded on twelve customized buoyant Ejectable Data Recorders (EDRs) and subsequently jettisoned from the CM in mid-air. Upon release, the EDRs activated their GPS-Iridium beacon systems and began transmitting Short Burst Data (SBD) messages via the Iridium satellite network to relay their individual location and system health information. To locate, track and retrieve each EDR from the ocean surface in real-time, multiple open-source programming tools (Python and Linux shells) were developed for parsing the incoming Iridium binary SBD messages. For this, a Linux laptop was used to receive the Iridium-generated emails containing the SBD messages and autonomously execute the parsing tools. The received SBD data contained location, timestamp and health status information that was translated, saved, and subsequently used for simultaneously generating a continuously updated color-coded tabular display summary and unique KML files used with Google Earth to track their locations. Once their locations were known, dedicated recovery vessels retrieved all EDRs from the ocean. An additional tool was also developed in order to generate 5- and 10-minute geolocation predictions for each EDR by deriving the displacement distance, elapsed time, displacement heading and velocity based on the latest known information available. The recovery vessels were also tracked with the use of a separate commercial GPS beacon system. After jettison, 67% of the EDRs transmitted valid data by the time they were retrieved from the ocean. However, the real-time information presented by the plotting tool allowed for the ready depiction of EDR dispersal patterns and reference drift trajectories, which contributed to the recovery of all twelve EDRs and the AA-2 flight data. Lastly, the available data showed that the distance between the software’s reported drift/predicted locations and the recovery locations did not exceed 38 meters, therefore demonstrating the advantages of this software tool for supporting real-time tracking and recovery efforts of beacon devices.

Moxey, Lucas↗

Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Low-Grade Feedstock Leachates Using Engineered Bacteria

The use of biomass for sorption of rare earth elements (REEs) for bioremediation and biomining applications has been the subject of many recent investigations. However, REE adsorption by bioengineered systems has been scarcely documented, and rarely tested with complex natural feedstocks. In this study, we engineered E. coli cells for enhanced cell surface-mediated extraction of REEs. Using Lpp-OmpA as an anchor, up to 16 copies of a Lanthanide binding tag (LBT) per OmpA protein were displayed on the E. coli cell surface, resulting in a 2-fold increase in Tb adsorption capacity compared to control cells. To test the efficacy of engineered E. coli cells to extract REEs from complex source materials, biosorption was performed with leachates from two mine tailings and two rare earth deposits. Although control E. coli cells exhibited preferential adsorption of REEs over most metals, functionalization of the cell surface with LBT yielded several notable advantages. First, the efficiency of REE adsorption from all tested leachates was enhanced with distribution coefficients for individual REEs increased by 2-10 fold. Second, although, Cu, Al, Ga and Pb were found to be the best competitors for REE binding to the E. coli cell surface, LBT-display enhanced the cell surface affinity for REEs over all non-REEs except Cu. Third, LBT-display systematically enhanced the affinity of the cell surface for REEs as a function of decreasing atomic radii, providing a means to separate high value HREEs such as Dy and Tb from more common LREEs such as La. Altogether, our results demonstrate that REE biosorption of high efficiency and selectivity can be achieved by engineering the native bacterial surface.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Mitigating the Impact of Extragalactic Foregrounds for the DR6 Cosmic Microwave Background Lensing Analysis

We investigate the impact and mitigation of extragalactic foregrounds for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing power spectrum analysis of Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) data release 6 (DR6) data. Two independent microwave sky simulations are used to test a range of mitigation strategies. We demonstrate that finding and then subtracting point sources, finding and then subtracting models of clusters, and using a profile bias-hardened lensing estimator together reduce the fractional biases to well below statistical uncertainties, with the inferred lensing amplitude, A lens , biased by less than 0.2σ. We also show that another method where a model for the cosmic infrared background (CIB) contribution is deprojected and high-frequency data from Planck is included has similar performance. Other frequency-cleaned options do not perform as well, either incurring a large noise cost or resulting in biased recovery of the lensing spectrum. In addition to these simulation-based tests, we also present null tests on the ACT DR6 data for sensitivity of our lensing spectrum estimation to differences in foreground levels between the two ACT frequencies used, while nulling the CMB lensing signal. These tests pass whether the nulling is performed at the map or bandpower level. The CIB-deprojected measurement performed on the DR6 data is consistent with our baseline measurement, implying that contamination from the CIB is unlikely to significantly bias the DR6 lensing spectrum. This collection of tests gives confidence that the ACT DR6 lensing measurements and cosmological constraints presented in companion papers to this work are robust to extragalactic foregrounds.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Improving Global Mass Flux Solutions from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Through Forward Modeling and Continuous Time Correlation

We describe Earth's mass flux from April 2003 through November 2008 by deriving a time series of mas cons on a global 2deg x 2deg equal-area grid at 10 day intervals. We estimate the mass flux directly from K band range rate (KBRR) data provided by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. Using regularized least squares, we take into account the underlying process dynamics through continuous space and time-correlated constraints. In addition, we place the mascon approach in the context of other filtering techniques, showing its equivalence to anisotropic, nonsymmetric filtering, least squares collocation, and Kalman smoothing. We produce mascon time series from KBRR data that have and have not been corrected (forward modeled) for hydrological processes and fmd that the former produce superior results in oceanic areas by minimizing signal leakage from strong sources on land. By exploiting the structure of the spatiotemporal constraints, we are able to use a much more efficient (in storage and computation) inversion algorithm based upon the conjugate gradient method. This allows us to apply continuous rather than piecewise continuous time-correlated constraints, which we show via global maps and comparisons with ocean-bottom pressure gauges, to produce time series with reduced random variance and full systematic signal. Finally, we present a preferred global model, a hybrid whose oceanic portions are derived using forward modeling of hydrology but whose land portions are not, and thus represent a pure GRACE-derived signal.

Sabaka, T. J.↗

Using NASA LANCE Near Real-Time Earth Observations for Disaster Risk Reduction

The NASA Earth Science Disasters Program handles requests from stakeholders and provides rapid response for Disaster Risk Reduction using Near Real-Time (NRT) products from NASA’s Land, Atmosphere NRT Capability for Earth Observing System (EOS) (LANCE). The combination of all available LANCE NRT satellite products provides global coverage at multiple times per day, which makes it possible to help users in different phases of the disaster’s life cycle. For wildfires and volcano eruption disasters, LANCE NRT fire and atmosphere products have been used to locate fires and high-temperature heat sources, and to assess the extent of air pollutions. Knowledge of the geographical position and direction of smokes, fires, lava flows provided critical information for disaster prediction and prevention. For hurricanes, tropical cyclones and earthquakes, LANCE global flood products and NASA’s Black Marble night-time light products have been used for monitoring land cover and land use change over time in disaster impacted areas. Users can use pre- and post-disaster maps to assess the extent of damage, and to make decisions for activities in reconstruction and recovery in infrastructure and health on the ground. LANCE NRT data are made available through the Earth data website and have been archived and visualized in NASA Disasters Mapping Portal, NASA LANCE Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) and NASA Worldview for the use of stakeholders.

Tian Yao↗

Development of Methane Emissions Model to Assess Fuel Recovery Potential at Gas Well Sites Using On Site Compression

The U.S. natural gas production and consumption has increased 85.5% since 2005 primarily due to the unconventional production methods of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Natural gas used as a fuel has a lower greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint than coal and petroleum due to lower Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions when combusted. However, the “greener” benefit to natural gas may be negated by leaks in production and transmission systems. Methane (CH4), the primary hydrocarbon in natural gas, has an estimated Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 28-36 over 100 years, meaning it can absorb 28-36 more energy than CO2 which has a GWP of 1.0. Natural gas well sites are prone to methane emissions, or leaks and irregular gas releases, vented to atmosphere throughout production and transmission. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has recently granted West Virginia University (WVU) funding under agreement DE-FOA-0002005, to “Advance technologies to mitigate methane emissions and increase the efficiency of the natural gas transportation infrastructure”. As part of this funding WVU was tasked with identifying and quantifying sources of methane emissions at unconventional well sites, processing this data, and developing a system to recapture these emissions. A 0-D Simulink model was developed, utilizing standardized methodologies, data from previously conducted studies, as well as collected data from well sites in the Marcellus shale play region. The model was developed to predict emission rates from various components at natural gas well sites as well as the potential to utilize these emissions as fuel for the natural gas powered compressor engines on-site. This model was utilized to run high, medium, and low cases for four identified emission sources, engine size, pneumatic controller count, liquid level production which dictates tank emissions, and compressor packing vent emissions. Due to discrepancies in transient tank emission data, a high and low emission factor for tanks was used, resulting in two sets of 81 executed cases, and 162 unique cases of total site emissions and potential for fuel consumption. Each of the cases were run over 86,400 seconds at a 1 Hz, representative of a full 24 hour day of operation. The fuel consumption offset an average of 557% of fuel consumption on an energy density basis across all 81 cases with the high tank emission factor with a maximum offset of 2334%. The fuel consumption offset was an average of 82.9% for all 81 cases with the low tank emission factor with a maximum offset of 337%. This study highlights flaws in the use of publicly available methane number calculations to determine natural gas’s suitability as an engine fuel as well as the lack of public data for transient liquid storage tank emissions.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Feasibility of raised inner strike point equilibria scenario in ITER for detritiation from beryllium co-deposits

Abstract In ITER, tritium retention primarily occurs through co-deposition with beryllium. To avoid exceeding the strict tritium inventory limit, efficient tritium recovery techniques are essential. Baking is the ITER baseline for tritium recovery, but its effectiveness in removing tritium from thick beryllium layers is limited. A raised strike point scenario is considered an alternative method for removing tritium from the ITER inner vertical divertor target by heating components via plasma flux. This paper presents SOLPS-ITER code simulations conducted under various conditions, assessing the divertor performance and tritium outgassing of the raised strike point scenario. As the strike point is raised, recycled neutrals are not efficiently baffled by the dome and scrape-off layer, significantly changing the neutral trajectory and ionization source distribution. This improves detachment accessibility but worsens core-edge compatibility compared to the baseline scenario. However, in the partially detached condition, the impact of raising the strike point, perpendicular transport, and q 95 on target heat flux is not significant, as it primarily scales with the input power. Target heat flux is translated to target surface temperature using a simplified heat transfer model that considers the 3D target monoblock geometry and active cooling condition, excluding Be layer thermal properties. For partially detached divertor conditions, the bulk tungsten monoblock surface temperature remains below the baking temperature, which is insufficient for efficient tritium outgassing under the actively cooled ITER divertor condition. However, considering the potential thermal contact resistance between the beryllium and tungsten layers, which may significantly impact temperature distribution, the temperature of the beryllium layer can be raised to a level sufficient for efficient tritium outgassing. Therefore, the raised strike point scenario can be considered as an alternative in-vessel tritium removal technique.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Techno-economic life cycle assessment of CO 2 -EOR operations towards net negative emissions at farnsworth field unit

Optimizations of CO 2 Water Alternating Gas(WAG)- systems with multi-objectives of incremental recovery and maximization of CO 2 storage are challenging. Here, the incorporation of a total Greenhouse gas (GHG) life cycle assessment is mostly ignored leading to inaccurate estimation of overall net carbon emissions of their operations. In this study, the effect of a total GHG life cycle assessment on a multi-objective CO 2 -WAG optimization with integrated techno-economic assessment (TEA) which factors carbon tax credit is conducted. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted utilizing a 20 -year optimized post history matched data from a high fidelity reservoir simulation model. Using data generated from the optimum result, a techno-economic life cycle analysis was further conducted. The first scenario classified as the base model had an estimated 81% of purchased CO 2 sequestered. The results through a comprehensive techno-economic LCA model yielded a net estimate of 73% of purchased CO 2 . The optimized forecasted model which considered key operational and reservoir factors such as WAG ratio, injection rates and periods, and well specification resulted in an improved sequestration of 92% of purchased CO 2 . However, this also dropped to 84% after taking it through LCA. These results clearly indicate a significant amount of net CO 2 is not accounted for when operations are not analyzed through LCA. From the LCA, direct flaring volumes of CO 2 , energy consumption and efficiency of unit equipment were noticed to be the major causes of these reductions. Considering ten main sources of energy as source of energy generation, a comparative techno-eco LCA was conducted. The results confirmed a lower net volume and NPV for energy sources with higher carbon footprints and vice versa. Thus, a total LCA of CO 2 -WAG greatly influences net storage factor of purchased CO 2 and hence project NPV where tax credit/incentives per ton of CO 2 sequestered is considered. Although operational conditions are optimized for best results, there are significant factors that leads to minimization of net storage factor. This study therefore provides an insightful information for optimizing CO 2 -WAG multi-objectives to achieve minimum GHG emission.

02 PETROLEUM↗

In Flight MiRNA Isolation and Recovery on the ISS Using the Wetlab-2 System

Due to advancements in RNA research, mi (micro) RNAs and other small nucleotide RNAs have become a major research field in biology including spaceflight research. The regulation of RNA transcription and processing by miRNAs makes miRNAs an appealing topic for genetics and molecular research. It has been estimated that over 60% of human gene transcripts are targets of miRNA regulation. In fact, this is true for all organisms, including plants and insects. Small nucleotide RNAs can also play a role in regulating gene expression, meaning that gene expression alone is not a complete picture of the potential genetic changes that occur in an organism during spaceflight. The goal of the WetLab-2 project is to isolate and recover miRNAs from various tissue sources on the International Space Station (ISS). No system currently exists that can isolate and recover small nucleotide RNA in space. However, the WetLab-2 system that was validated on the ISS in 2016 can be adapted to fit this purpose. We are currently testing the new modified protocols by running plant and mouse blood experiments in parallel, allowing us to demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure on different sample types. We expect to be able to optimize and implement the modified miRNA protocols for use on future ISS flights.

miRNA↗

Automated, reliable, and efficient continental-scale replication of 7.3 petabytes of computational simulation data: A case study

We report on our experiences replicating 7.3 petabytes (PB) of Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) computational simulation data from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California to Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Illinois and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee—a task motivated by a need for increased reliability, capacity, and performance. This task presented significant challenges: the need to move 29 million files twice under time pressure from aging storage hardware; a source file system bottleneck limiting throughput to 1.5 GB/s; frequent site maintenance windows; and the need for complete reliability at scale. We addressed these challenges using a simple replication tool that invoked Globus to transfer large bundles of files while tracking progress in a database, dynamically rerouting transfers to work around maintenance periods and file system limitations. Under the covers, Globus organized transfers to make efficient use of the high-speed Energy Sciences network (ESnet) and the data transfer nodes deployed at participating sites, and also addressed security, integrity checking, and recovery from a variety of transient failures. This success demonstrates the considerable benefits that can accrue from the adoption of performant data replication infrastructure. The replication tool is available at https://github.com/esgf2-us/data-replication-tools.

Globus↗

FeO and H-2O and the homogeneous accretion of the earth

Shock devolatilization recovery data for brunite (Mg(OH)2) shocked to 13 and 23 GPa are presented. These data combined with previous data for serpentine (Mg3Si2O5(OH)4) are used to constrain the minimum size terrestrial planet for which planetesimal infall will result in an impact generated water atmosphere. Assuming, in hydrous phyllosilicates, model calculations simulating the interaction of metallic iron with impact released free water on the surface of the accreting Earth were carried out. It is assumed that the reaction of water with iron in the presence of enstatite is the prime source of the terrestrial FeO component of silicates and oxides. Lower and upper bounds on the terrestrial FeO budget are based on mantle FeO content and possible incorporation of FeO in the outer core. We demonstrate that the iron water reaction would result in the absence of atmospheric/hydrospheric water, if homogeneous accretion is assumed.

Lange, M. A.↗

FeO and H2O and the homogeneous accretion of the earth

Shock devolatilization recovery data for brunite (Mg(OH)2) shocked to 13 and 23 GPa are presented. These data combined with previous data for serpentine (Mg3Si2O5(OH)4) are used to constrain the minimum size terrestrial planet for which planetesimal infall will result in an impact generated water atmosphere. Assuming, in hydrous phyllosilicates, model calculations simulating the interaction of metallic iron with impact released free water on the surface of the accreting earth were carried out. It is assumed that the reaction of water with iron in the presence of enstatite is the prime source of the terrestrial FeO component of silicates and oxides. Lower and upper bounds on the terrestrial FeO budget are based on mantle FeO content and possible incorporation of FeO in the outer core. We demonstrate that the iron water reaction would resuit in the absence of atmospheric/hydrospheric water, if homogeneous accretion is assumed.

Lange, M. A.↗

Maximizing REE Recovery in Geothermal Systems

Rare Earth element (REE) concentrations were measure in several on-land geothermal systems, many of which boil due to pressure drop during fluid upflow in geothermal production wells. REE were also measured in several seafloor hydrothermal systems sampled at pressures above the boiling point for comparison to boiled systems. Boiling during production lowers REE concentration in fluids sampled at the well head due to changes in fluid pH and Temperature that occur during boiling that affect the solubility of REE mineral phases. Geochemical calculations using the best available thermodynamic data were preformed to extend the understanding of REE behavior beyond the systems sampled for this study. Our data and modeling show that REE concentration in geothermal fluids is controlled by solubility limits, not by concentration in the source rocks. With the exception of La and Ce, the concentration of most of the REE in geothermal fluids are less than one part per trillion. There are no reasonable scenarios under which co-production of REE from geothermal fluids used to produce energy will contribute to the economic viability of the resource.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Thermal Control Utilizing an Thermal Control Utilizing an Two-Phase Loop with High Heat Flux Source

The electric field applied in dielectric fluids causes an imbalance in the dissociation-recombination reaction generated free space charges. The generated charges are redistributed by the applied electric field resulting in the heterocharge layers in the Vicinity of the electrodes. Proper design of the electrodes generates net axial flow motion pumping the fluid. The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction pump is a new device that pumps dielectric fluids utilizing heterocharge layers formed by imposition of electrostatic fields. This paper evaluates the experimental performance of a two-phase breadboard thermal control loop consisting of an EHD conduction pump, condenser, pre-heater, high heat flux evaporator (HE), transport lines, and reservoir (accumulator). The generated pressure head and the maximum applicable heat flux are experimentally determined at various applied voltages and sink temperatures. Recovery from dryout condition by increasing the applied voltage to the pump is also demonstrated.

Jeong, Seong-Il↗

Production and separation of carrier-free 7 Be

A high-purity carrier-free 7 Be was efficiently isolated following proton bombardment of a lithium hydroxide - aluminum target. The separation of beryllium from lithium and aluminum was achieved through a hydrochloric acid elution system utilizing cation exchange chromatography. The beryllium recovery, +99%, was assessed through gamma spectroscopy while the chemical purity was established by mass spectrometry. In conclusion, the decontamination factors of beryllium from lithium and aluminum were determined to be 6900 and 300, respectively.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

Formation and evolution of flapping and ballooning waves in magnetospheric plasma sheet

By adopting Lembége & Pellat’s 2D plasma-sheet model, we investigate the flankward flapping motion and Sunward ballooning propagation driven by an external source (e.g., magnetic reconnection) produced initially at the sheet center. Within the ideal MHD framework, we adopt the WKB approximation to obtain the Taylor–Goldstein equation of magnetic perturbations. Fourier spectral method and Runge–Kutta method are employed in numerical simulations, respectively, under the flapping and ballooning conditions. Studies expose that the magnetic shears in the sheet are responsible for the flapping waves, while the magnetic curvature and the plasma gradient are responsible for the ballooning waves. In addition, the flapping motion has three phases in its temporal development: fast damping phase, slow recovery phase, and quasi-stabilized phase; it is also characterized by two patterns in space: propagating wave pattern and standing wave pattern. Moreover, the ballooning modes are gradually damped toward the Earth, with a wavelength in a scale size of magnetic curvature or plasma inhomogeneity, only 1–7% of the flapping one; the envelops of the ballooning waves are similar to that of the observed bursty bulk flows moving toward the Earth.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Electrodialysis through nafion membranes coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers yields >99% pure monovalent ions at high recoveries

Separation of monovalent and multivalent ions is important in processes ranging from water softening to recycling of Li. Previous studies show that cation-exchange membranes coated with multilayer polyelectrolyte films exhibit monovalent/divalent ion selectivities as high as 1000 in electrodialysis (ED) under ideal conditions with low ion recoveries. This work shows that even at 60-80% monovalent-ion recoveries, ED through Nafion membranes coated with protonated poly(allylamine)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) multilayers can separate equimolar K + and Mg 2+ or Li + and Mg 2+ to give 99.5% pure monovalent ion. Moreover, the use of a low-volume receiving phase allows ED to concentrate the monovalent ion. Typical current efficiencies are around 70% for these separations. Selectivities appear to increase when the membrane-coating procedure uses a higher polyelectrolyte concentration in the deposition solution. Because the limiting current declines with ED time due to depletion of the monovalent ion in the source phase, use of a gradually decreasing applied current enhances current efficiency compared to ED at a constant high current. Further, the membranes also show Li + /Mg 2+ selectivities around 100 when Mg 2+ is in a 20-fold excess in the source phase at an ionic strength of 0.6 M, but selectivity decreases at even higher ionic strengths.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗