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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 1,171 records · Page 65
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Opportunities for imaging light nuclei with a second interaction region at the Electron-Ion Collider

The upcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) will address several outstanding puzzles in modern nuclear physics. Key questions—such as the partonic structure of nucleons and nuclei and the origin of their mass and spin—can be explored through high-energy electron-proton and electron-nucleus collisions. Here, to maximize its scientific reach, the EIC community has advocated for the addition of a second interaction region equipped with a detector complementary to the EIC general purpose collider detector, ePIC. The preconceptual design of this interaction region aims to provide a different configuration from the first interaction region, which enhances forward acceptance at very small scattering angles (𝜃 ∼0 mrad). This machine configuration would significantly benefit exclusive, tagging, and diffractive physics programs, complementing those of the ePIC experiment. In particular, accessing coherent diffractive processes on light nuclei by tagging of the full, intact nucleus is essential for mapping their spatial parton distributions. In this work, we present an exploratory study of the detection capabilities for light nuclei at a second EIC interaction region, with a detailed discussion of the accessible kinematic phase space and its implications for imaging.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Phase II Final Technical Report: Dynamic Gamma-ray Imaging for In Vivo Tracking of Microelement Transport Across Plant-Microbial Systems

The Department of Energy Office of Biological and Environmental Research (DOE BER) Mesoscale to Molecules Bioimaging Technology Program aims to develop new imaging and measurement technology to enable in situ and dynamic imaging across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Various imaging modalities are required to span the complete spatiotemporal landscape for bioenergy and environmental bioimaging needs. The high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy, imaging, and sensitivity of new high-purity germanium (HPGe) instruments provide a unique opportunity to complement and enhance these research goals. The HPGe-based Gamma-ray Imager for Plant Research (GIPR) developed here provides non-invasive, in vivo measurements to dynamically track the uptake and distribution of multiple gamma-emitting radioactive elements simultaneously as they move from the soil microbiome into living plants. The hand portable GIPR utilizes commercially available radioisotopes to provide spatial and temporal imaging of plant microelement exchange for the broader scientific community.

Kiser, Matthew↗
NASA NTRS1990

Performance characterization of a segmented anode arcjet thruster

Results are presented from a continuing experimental program aimed at providing insight into arc energy deposition in the nozzle, the nature of the arc attachment, and its effects on performance characteristics of the device. A modular, 1-2 kW class arcjet thruster incorporating a segmented anode/nozzle was run on a thrust stand to determine performance characteristics under a number of experimental conditions. The nozzle comprised five axial conducting segments isolated from each other by boron nitride spacers. The electrical configuration permitted the current delivered to the arcjet to be collected at any combination of segments. It is concluded that the changes in the electric field in the nozzle that occur as a result of the changes in the current distribution do not significantly affect the momentum transfer or loss mechanisms in the type of nozzle investigated. Performance characteristics show that the segmented anode reasonably simulates the behavior of solid anodes of similar geometry.

Curran, Francis M.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Electron Bremsstrahlung Hard X-Ray Spectra, Electron Distributions and Energetics in the 2002 July 23 Solar Flare

We present and analyze the first high-resolution hard X-ray spectra from a solar flare observed in both X-ray/gamma-ray continuum and gamma-ray lines. The 2002 July 23 flare was observed by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). The spatially integrated photon flux spectra are well fitted between 10 and 300 keV by the combination of an isothermal component and a double power law. The flare plasma temperature peaks at 40 MK around the time of peak hard X-ray emission and remains above 20 MK 37 min later. We derive the evolution of the nonthermal mean electron flux distribution by directly fitting the RHESSI X-ray spectra with the thin-target bremsstrahlung from a double power-law electron distribution with a low-energy cutoff. We also derive the evolution of the electron flux distribution on the assumption that the emission is thick-target bremsstrahlung. We find that the injected nonthermal electrons are well described throughout the flare by this double power-law distribution with a low-energy cutoff that is typically between 20 - 40 keV. Using our thick-target results, we compare the energy contained in the nonthermal electrons with the energy content of the thermal flare plasma observed by RHESSI and GOES. We find that the minimum total energy deposited into the flare plasma by nonthermal electrons, 2.6 x 10(exp 31) erg, is on the order of and possibly less than the energy in the thermal plasma. However, these fits do not rule out the possibility that the energy in nonthermal electrons exceeds the energy in the thermal plasma. This work was supported in part by the RHESSI Project and the NASA Sun-Earth Connection program.

Holman, G. D.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Improved Reliability of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems. Final scientific/technical report

This program is furthering the development of SOFC technology to meet the durability requirements required by the market for the service life and costs for such a power generation technology. SOFC technology provides an environmentally friendly and highly efficient power generation. LGFCS is developing a 1MW pressurized SOFC system for distributed power generation. The planned commercial product is expected to have an efficiency of ~60% (net AC) and fueled by natural gas. The lower carbon content of natural gas combined with the efficient power generation results in significant environmental benefits (lower CO2 greenhouse emissions). The SOFC technology provides a means for efficient utilization of the large US reserves of natural gas and enhances national energy independence. The SOFC technology will initially serve the distributed power generation market and gain market acceptance and smaller power system sizes. The technology is well suited to carbon sequestration given the separated air and fuel streams. The Department of Energy (DOE) envisions a centralized power generation technology that could use coal gasification as an integrated gasification fuel cell (IGFC) power plant at the >100MW scale with CO2 capture.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Correcting the PFNS for more consistent fission modeling

For FY20, we had a deliverable to write a report detailing efforts to simultaneously evaluate both the prompt neutron multiplicity, $\overline{ν}$, and the prompt neutron fission neutron spectrum, PFNS, using CGMF. CGMF is the LANL-developed fission fragment decay code that consistently evaporates prompt neutrons and γ rays using the Hauser-Feshbach statistical theory of compound reactions. The decay begins by constructing the initial conditions of the fission fragments, then decaying each one from the excited state by neutrons and γ rays, conserving energy, momentum, spin, and parity in each step of the emission. The initial conditions of the fragments, along with the multiplicity, energy, and direction of each emitted neutron or γ ray, are recorded, allowing for the full reconstruction of the fission event. These event histories allow us to reconstruct average quantities, as well as correlations between observables, that can be compared with experimental or evaluated data. In that initial report, although there was already a favorable comparison between $\overline{ν}$ from CGMF, experiment, and the current ENDF/B-VIII.0 evaluation, we showed that there was still significant work to be done to improve the PFNS from CGMF. Historically, the PFNS is calculated too soft by Hauser-Feshbach fission models, and CGMF is no exception. The incorrect shape presents a significant challenge in fission modeling, including for our understanding of the fission process and for our ability to consistently calculate and predict a variety of prompt fission observables (such as fission fragment initial conditions, neutron and γ-ray multiplicities and energies, and the correlations between all observables). In our companion report, we detail our success in using CGMF to evaluate $\overline{ν}$. Although not included in the optimization explicitly, we also keep the initial conditions of the fission fragments physical, along with reproducing reasonably well the neutron multiplicity distribution. As we would expect from the sensitivities calculations from, the average neutron energies change very little from the $\overline{ν}$ optimization along with the PFNS (as will be shown in Sec. 2.6). The conclusion was that the global and statistical models would have to be investigated instead of just the fission fragment initial conditions (as is sufficient for $\overline{ν}$). This report details those efforts.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Distributed Transient Safety Verification via Robust Control Invariant Sets: A Microgrid Application

Modern safety-critical energy infrastructures are increasingly operated in a hierarchical and modular control framework which allows for limited data exchange between the modules. In this context, it is important for each module to synthesize and communicate constraints on the values of exchanged information in order to assure system-wide safety. To ensure transient safety in inverter-based microgrids, we develop a set invariance-based distributed safety verification algorithm for each inverter module. Applying Nagumo's invariance condition, we construct a robust polynomial optimization problem to jointly search for safety-admissible set of control set-points and design parameters, under allowable disturbances from neighbors. We use sum-of-squares (SOS) programming to solve the verification problem and we perform numerical simulations using grid-forming inverters to illustrate the algorithm.

Bouvier, Jean-Baptiste H.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Analytic Modeling of the Hydrodynamic, Thermal, and Structural Behavior of Foil Thrust Bearings

A simulation and modeling effort is conducted on gas foil thrust bearings. A foil bearing is a self acting hydrodynamic device capable of separating stationary and rotating components of rotating machinery by a film of air or other gaseous lubricant. Although simple in appearance these bearings have proven to be complicated devices in analysis. They are sensitive to fluid structure interaction, use a compressible gas as a lubricant, may not be in the fully continuum range of fluid mechanics, and operate in the range where viscous heat generation is significant. These factors provide a challenge to the simulation and modeling task. The Reynolds equation with the addition of Knudsen number effects due to thin film thicknesses is used to simulate the hydrodynamics. The energy equation is manipulated to simulate the temperature field of the lubricant film and combined with the ideal gas relationship, provides density field input to the Reynolds equation. Heat transfer between the lubricant and the surroundings is also modeled. The structural deformations of the bearing are modeled with a single partial differential equation. The equation models the top foil as a thin, bending dominated membrane whose deflections are governed by the biharmonic equation. A linear superposition of hydrodynamic load and compliant foundation reaction is included. The stiffness of the compliant foundation is modeled as a distributed stiffness that supports the top foil. The system of governing equations is solved numerically by a computer program written in the Mathematica computing environment. Representative calculations and comparisons with experimental results are included for a generation I gas foil thrust bearing.

Bruckner, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Flexible Packaging Concept for a Space Suit Portable Life Support Subsystem

Neither the Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), the space suit currently used for space shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) missions, nor the Apollo EMU, the space suit successfully used on previous lunar missions, will satisfy the requirements for the next generation Constellation Program (CxP) lunar suit. The CxP system or Constellation Space Suit Element (CSSE) must be able to tolerate more severe environmental and use conditions than any previous system. These conditions include missions to the severely cold lunar poles and up to 100 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) excursions without ground maintenance. Much effort is focused on decreasing the mass and volume of the Portable Life Support Subsystem (PLSS) over previous suit designs in order to accommodate the required increase in functionality. This paper documents the progress of a conceptual packaging effort of a flexible backpack for the CSSE PLSS. The flexible backpack concept relies on a foam protection system to absorb, distribute, and dissipate the energy from falls on the lunar surface. Testing and analysis of the foam protection system concept that was conducted during this effort indicates that this method of system packaging is a viable solution.

Thomas, Gretchen↗
NASA NTRS2009

Design of a Glenn Research Center Solar Field Grid-Tied Photovoltaic Power System

The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) designed, developed, and installed, a 37.5 kW DC photovoltaic (PV) Solar Field in the GRC West Area in the 1970s for the purpose of testing PV panels for various space and terrestrial applications. The PV panels are arranged to provide a nominal 120 VDC. The GRC Solar Field has been extremely successful in meeting its mission. The PV panels and the supporting electrical systems are all near their end of life. GRC has designed a 72 kW DC grid-tied PV power system to replace the existing GRC West Area Solar Field. The 72 kW DC grid-tied PV power system will provide DC solar power for GRC PV testing applications, and provide AC facility power for all times that research power is not required. A grid-tied system is connected directly to the utility distribution grid. Facility power can be obtained from the utility system as normal. The PV system is synchronized with the utility system to provide power for the facility, and excess power is provided to the utility for use by all. The project transfers space technology to terrestrial use via nontraditional partners. GRC personnel glean valuable experience with PV power systems that are directly applicable to various space power systems, and provide valuable space program test data. PV power systems help to reduce harmful emissions and reduce the Nation s dependence on fossil fuels. Power generated by the PV system reduces the GRC utility demand, and the surplus power aids the community. Present global energy concerns reinforce the need for the development of alternative energy systems. Modern PV panels are readily available, reliable, efficient, and economical with a life expectancy of at least 25 years. Modern electronics has been the enabling technology behind grid-tied power systems, making them safe, reliable, efficient, and economical with a life expectancy of at least 25 years. The report concludes that the GRC West Area grid-tied PV power system design is viable for a reliable, maintenance free, long life power system that is of significant value to NASA and the community.

Eichenberg, Dennis J.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effects of Neutron Irradiation on the Micro/Nano Scale Structure and Fission Product Distribution of TRISO Coated Particle Fuel Kernels from AGR Experiments

The Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) Program at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) includes the Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) fuel development and qualification program that consists of fuel fabrication, experiment irradiations, post-irradiation examination (PIE) and safety testing to assess tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel performance during normal irradiation and under potential accident conditions. Advanced microscopy work on selected AGR-1 and AGR-2 unirradiated and irradiated fuel specimens is performed as part of the PIE effort. PIE work on fuel from the first experiment irradiation, AGR-1, began at INL in April 2010, and AGR-2 PIE began at INL in July 2014. This work scope includes University of Florida (UF) performing advanced electron microscopy examination and analysis using facilities at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), INL or UF’s electron microscopy facilities. Electron microscopic examination and analysis may include scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area diffraction (SAD), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and atom probe tomography (APT) on the fuel kernels of TRISO-coated fuel particles. The electron microscopy lamellae will be provided by INL and will be available at CAES or Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory (IMCL).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Data-Driven Generic Turbines for Distributed Wind Modeling, Optimization, and Economic Studies

As distributed energy resources (DER) become less expensive and more popular, utilities, project developers, and customers have an increasing need to model the performance of existing and proposed DER systems. Distributed wind has been shown to have widespread economic potential but is often represented by a simplified model in - or excluded from - DER modeling tools and studies. There is often no economic imperative to extend models and studies to give full consideration to distributed wind. We present a set of data-driven generic turbines derived from 16 years of annual distributed wind market survey data. The proposed methodology can be used to derive generic turbines from separate or updated data sets. Finally, a mixed-integer linear programming approach to optimal distributed wind project sizing is used to demonstrate the generic turbine models. Combined, these models and methods can reduce barriers to considering distributed wind in modeling tools and studies.

Reiman, Andrew P.↗
DOE OSTI2023

2022 Annual Site Environmental Report for Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia Field Office administers the contract and oversees contractor operations at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico. Activities at the site support research and development programs with a wide variety of national security missions, resulting in technologies for nonproliferation, homeland security, energy and infrastructure, and defense systems and assessments. The U.S. Department of Energy and its management and operating contractor are committed to safeguarding the environment, assessing sustainability practices, and ensuring the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data presented in this annual site environmental report. This report summarizes the environmental protection and monitoring programs in place at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, during calendar year 2022. Environmental topics include cultural resource management, chemical management, air quality, ecology, environmental restoration, oil storage, site sustainability, terrestrial surveillance, waste management, water quality, and implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act. This report is prepared in accordance with and as required by DOE O 231.1B, Admin Change 1, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting, and has been approved for public distribution.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

2023 Annual Site Environmental Report for Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia Field Office administers the contract and oversees contractor operations at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico. Activities at the site support research and development programs with a wide variety of national security missions, resulting in technologies for nonproliferation, homeland security, energy and infrastructure, and defense systems and assessments. The U.S. Department of Energy and its management and operating contractor are committed to safeguarding the environment, assessing sustainability practices, and ensuring the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data presented in this annual site environmental report. This report summarizes the environmental protection and monitoring programs in place at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, during calendar year 2023. Environmental topics include cultural resource management, chemical management, air quality, ecology, environmental restoration, oil storage, site sustainability, terrestrial surveillance, waste management, water quality, and implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act. This report is prepared in accordance with and as required by DOE O 231.1B, Admin Change 1, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting, and has been approved for public distribution.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1976

Analytical and experimental studies of an optimum multisegment phased liner noise suppression concept

Results are presented from detailed analytical studies made to define methods for obtaining improved multisegment lining performance by taking advantage of relative placement of each lining segment. Properly phased liner segments reflect and spatially redistribute the incident acoustic energy and thus provide additional attenuation. A mathematical model was developed for rectangular ducts with uniform mean flow. Segmented acoustic fields were represented by duct eigenfunction expansions, and mode-matching was used to ensure continuity of the total field. Parametric studies were performed to identify attenuation mechanisms and define preliminary liner configurations. An optimization procedure was used to determine optimum liner impedance values for a given total lining length, Mach number, and incident modal distribution. Optimal segmented liners are presented and it is shown that, provided the sound source is well-defined and flow environment is known, conventional infinite duct optimum attenuation rates can be improved. To confirm these results, an experimental program was conducted in a laboratory test facility. The measured data are presented in the form of analytical-experimental correlations. Excellent agreement between theory and experiment verifies and substantiates the analytical prediction techniques. The results indicate that phased liners may be of immediate benefit in the development of improved aircraft exhaust duct noise suppressors.

Sawdy, D. T.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Understanding Climate Policy Data Needs. NASA Carbon Monitoring System Briefing: Characterizing Flux Uncertainty, Washington D.C., 11 January 2012

Climate policy in the United States is currently guided by public-private partnerships and actions at the local and state levels. This mitigation strategy is made up of programs that focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, agricultural practices and implementation of technologies to reduce greenhouse gases. How will policy makers know if these strategies are working, particularly at the scales at which they are being implemented? The NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) will provide information on carbon dioxide fluxes derived from observations of earth's land, ocean and atmosphere used in state of the art models describing their interactions. This new modeling system could be used to assess the impact of specific policy interventions on CO2 reductions, enabling an iterative, results-oriented policy process. In January of 2012, the CMS team held a meeting with carbon policy and decision makers in Washington DC to describe the developing modeling system to policy makers. The NASA CMS will develop pilot studies to provide information across a range of spatial scales, consider carbon storage in biomass, and improve measures of the atmospheric distribution of carbon dioxide. The pilot involves multiple institutions (four NASA centers as well as several universities) and over 20 scientists in its work. This pilot study will generate CO2 flux maps for two years using observational constraints in NASA's state-of -the-art models. Bottom-up surface flux estimates will be computed using data-constrained land and ocean models; comparison of the different techniques will provide some knowledge of uncertainty in these estimates. Ensembles of atmospheric carbon distributions will be computed using an atmospheric general circulation model (GEOS-5), with perturbations to the surface fluxes and to transport. Top-down flux estimates will be computed from observed atmospheric CO2 distributions (ACOS/GOSAT retrievals) alongside the forward-model fields, in conjunction with an inverse approach based on the CO2 model of GEOS ]Chem. The forward model ensembles will be used to build understanding of relationships among surface flux perturbations, transport uncertainty and atmospheric carbon concentration. This will help construct uncertainty estimates and information on the true spatial resolution of the top-down flux calculations. The relationship between the top-down and bottom-up flux distributions will be documented. Because the goal of NASA CMS is to be policy relevant, the scientists involved in the flux modeling pilot need to understand and be focused on the needs of the climate policy and decision making community. If policy makers are to use CMS products, they must be aware of the modeling effort and begin to design policies that can be evaluated with information. Improving estimates of carbon sequestered in forests, for example, will require information on the spatial variability of forest biomass that is far more explicit than is presently possible using only ground observations. Carbon mitigation policies being implemented by cities around the United States could be designed with the CMS data in mind, enabling sequential evaluation and subsequent improvements in incentives, structures and programs. The success of climate mitigation programs being implemented in the United States today will hang on the depth of the relationship between scientists and their policy and decision making counterparts. Ensuring that there is two-way communication between data providers and users is important for the success both of the policies and the scientific products meant to support them..

Brown, Molly E.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Cost benefit analysis for smart grid projects

The U.S. is unusual in that a definition of the term “smart grid” was written into legislation, appearing in the Energy Independence and Security Act (2007). When the recession called for stimulus spending and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, 2009) was passed, a framework already existed for identification of smart grid projects. About $4.5B of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (U.S. DOE’s) $37B allocation from ARRA was directed to smart grid projects of two types, investment grants and demonstrations. Matching funds from other sources more than doubled the total value of ARRA-funded smart grid projects. The Smart Grid Investment Grant Program (SGIG) consumed all but $620M of the ARRA funds, which was available for the 32 projects in the Smart Grid Demonstration Program (SGDP, or demonstrations). Given the economic potential of these projects and the substantial investments required, there was keen interest in estimating the benefits of the projects (i.e., quantifying and monetizing the performance of smart grid technologies). Common method development and application, data collection, and analysis to calculate and publicize the benefits were central objectives of the program. For this purpose standard methods and a software tool, the Smart Grid Computational Tool (SGCT), were developed by U.S. DOE and a spreadsheet model was made freely available to grantees and other analysts. The methodology was intended to define smart grid technologies or assets, the mechanisms by which they generate functions, their impacts and, ultimately, their benefits. The SGCT and its application to the Demonstration Projects are described, and actual projects in Southern California and in China are selected to test and illustrate the tool. The usefulness of the methodology and tool for international analyses is then assessed.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Verification and validation testing and tools: comparison between MCNP code versions and nuclear data libraries [Slides]

This presentation discusses the primary goal of software testing which is to test the code for correctness. It also discusses the results for individual suites and the role of validation and verification also referred to in the presentation as V&V. In summation, the V&V framework enables easy comparison between calculations performed with different code versions and/or nuclear data libraries. This entire framework will be distributed with the upcoming MCNP6.3 release. V&V test suites shown and several that were not (Criticality, LAQGSM, Lockwood) will be distributed in the new framework.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗