Kraken Camera Development and Fielding Overview
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “Instrument Development”
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.
Intern Poster Session
This poster has been developed for display during the 2023 Intern Poster Session. The poster is apart of the Nuclear Research and Experiments category. The focus of this poster is on the modifications made to the design of an integral effect test (IET) facility currently being designed for a new Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design. My contributions made to the IET facility are laid out along with an explanation on some of the aspects of designing a new nuclear reactor. This poster covers the ideas and importance of scaling and IET facilities with the context of the standards set by the NRC. There are also graphics of some other examples of IET facilities developed for other reactor designs. My contributions include designing the piping and instrumentation layout of the IET facility using CAD software. This is a key step in the process of designing this IET facility and needs to be designed to avoid excessive head loss.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Characterization of Impedance Void Meter Performance in Two-Phase Flow Measurement
Over the past sixty years, exclusive work has been done on two-phase flow measurement and plenty of measurement methods have been developed. Among them, impedance void meter is considered to be a simple instrument with a quick and reliable response. Impedance measurement technique in two-phase flow has existed for more than five decades. Impedance void meter consists of two electrodes flush mounted on the flow channel which allows measurements to be performed over the entire flow area. In principle, impedance void meter is based on the different electrical conductance of water and air. The two electrodes connected with cable and voltage supplies and the air-water mixture between them form a complete circuit. The change of gas fraction occupied in the flow area is reflected by the change of impedance in this part, and then the change of the voltage signal of the circuit. Using the relationship between void fraction and voltage signal, area averaged void fraction can be measured. In a previous study by Bolman et al., the flow pattern was found that has an effect on the performance of the impedance void meter. This is due to the difference of the flow structure that affects the impedance of the flow area. Olsen suggested that the impedance void meter should fulfill the following factors in order to get good measurement results: gas phase is finely dispersed in the measuring flow area; the channel cross section should be uninterrupted; there should be several bubble diameters between sources of current. For pipe measurement, it is impossible to meet all these requirement. In this case, it is necessary to use other independent void fraction measurement methods to calibrate impedance void meter. However, the calibration result varies for different flow patterns; thus for those situations in which identifying the flow pattern is difficult, the results may not be reliable. The possible solution should be found in an aspect of impedance void meter design itself. Much work has been done focusing on the geometric design of impedance void meters. This study found that the distance between the two electrodes of the impedance void meter has an effect on the measurement performance. The primary focus of this study is to characterize the performance and measurement range of an impedance void meter in regards to its geometry aspect. In order to achieve this goal, a sensitivity study of the electrode distance was performed by numerical simulation. Based on the simulation results, an experiment was performed using an impedance void meter with different electrode distances. Additionally, a gamma densitometer and a multi single-sensor conductivity probe were also applied for the measurement comparison. Drift flux model was also used for the experimental results comparison. (authors)
42 ENGINEERING↗
Data Collection and Analysis Challenges and Mitigation Strategies for Quantitative Human Factors Research Studies in Nuclear Power Plant Modernization
The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program Plant Modernization Pathway is conducting targeted research and development (R&D) to address aging and reliability concerns with the legacy instrumentation and control and related information systems of the U.S. LWR fleet. In this effort, the application of human factors engineering (HFE) provides an important role in ensuring new digital plant technologies enable broad innovation and business improvement with continued operational safety. Evaluation is a key activity in HFE, which often occurs iteratively through the system design lifecycle. While qualitative methods are important in collecting information of how users perform tasks through observations, quantitative methods are equally important in assessing system design based on performance. In collecting and analyzing this quantitative data, there are notable challenges in the nuclear HFE domain that may threaten the validity and reliability of the inferences made in these studies. Notable challenges include small sample size and limited resources, large error variance and small effect size, an “adding test features to losing degrees of freedom” dilemma, non-normal distribution, and heterogeneity of variance. The results in control room usability studies are often statistically non-significant, which makes it hard to interpret. This work discusses these challenges across different scientific viewpoints and provides real-world examples of these challenges in practice. Collectively, the objective of this work is to position these challenges to the larger data science community as a means of identifying future opportunities to address these issues.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
A view on the current and future impact of research reactors
Full text of publication follows. The current fleet of nuclear research reactors worldwide is nearly 70 years old. These reactors have proven to be extremely valuable tools of nuclear science and engineering with a broad and interdisciplinary impact. To date, research reactors are utilized as tools for understanding the physics, operations, and safety of nuclear fission systems. In addition, they are used as intense sources of radiation in support of irradiation testing and nondestructive examination of materials. As this fleet of reactors ages, an urgent need exists to establish new facilities that can propel the benefit of these reactors into the 21. century. In fact, an opportunity exists to build research reactors based on technology concepts that are being considered for nuclear energy reactors. This may include high temperature gas cooled and/or molten salt based advanced and micro reactor concepts. Such future reactors should be designed to maintain the broad utility of current reactors in research and education. However, modern research reactors can be purposefully designed and instrumented to access neutronic and thermal hydraulic information that would support the development and validation of reactor multi-physics modeling and simulation techniques. In this case, the entire phenomenological paradigm of the reactor may be captured to understand the neutronic multiscale and its impact on operations and safety. Moreover, the generated data can be channeled to drive anticipatory examination of the state of the reactor. In general, a symbiotic relation may be envisioned between the modern research reactor and power reactor fleets, which could facilitate the safe and efficient implementation of clean nuclear energy. (author)
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
Practical challenges of model predictive control (MPC) for grid interactive small and medium commercial buildings
To the urgent call for mitigating climate change, substantial initiatives have been undertaken to deploy grid-interactive heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) controls, such as model predictive control (MPC) for buildings. These efforts typically aim to curtail peak energy demand, shift load and enhance overall energy efficiency. With the recent development of low-cost MPC technologies that don’t require extensive instrumentation or manual modeling, small and medium commercial buildings (SMCBs), which rarely utilize advanced HVAC control systems, have become candidates for grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs). However, despite the potential benefits and maturity of the technology itself, several practical challenges remain in real-world implementation. In this paper, we share the practical challenges that we have encountered in implementing and testing three types of MPC solutions (ON/OFF unit, dualfuel, and VRF systems) on multiple SMCB sites. We describe the MPC deployment process and discuss the lessons learned. The site selection, eligibility, and retrofit availability (e.g., utility price structure, thermostat communications, etc.) are the main discussion points at the beginning of the project. Also, the modeling automation and the best practices for interacting with endusers and handling erroneous situations are presented for successful operations.
woo Ham, Sang↗
Modern and Future Colliders
Since the initial development of charged particle colliders in the middle of the 20th century, these advanced scientific instruments have been at the forefront of scientific discoveries in high energy physics over the past 60 years. Collider accelerator technology and beam physics have progressed immensely and modern facilities now operate at energies and luminosities many orders of magnitude greater than the pioneering colliders of the early 1960s. In addition, the field of colliders remains extremely dynamic and continues to develop many innovative approaches. Indeed, several novel concepts are currently being considered for designing and constructing even more powerful future colliders. In this paper, we first review the colliding beam method and the history of colliders, and then present, in detail, the major achievements of operational machines and the key features of near-term collider projects that are currently under development. We conclude with an analysis of numerous proposals and studies for far-future colliders. The evaluation of their respective potentials reveals tantalizing prospects for further significant breakthroughs in the collider field.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Materials Characterization using the Center For Synchrotron Radiation Research and Instrumentation (CSRRI), a NSUF Partner Facility
Demanding operating conditions for advanced nuclear energy systems have called for a push in the development of new materials and nuclear fuels with improved performance, safety, and reliability. The development of new materials with improved irradiation, temperature, and corrosion resistance requires significant study of chemical and physical phenomena over multiple time and length scales. To do so, an integrated approach utilizing both computational and experimental capabilities will be required to overcome these scientific and technical challenges. This talk will focus on the application of synchrotron radiation techniques available for characterization of nuclear materials at the Center For Synchrotron Radiation Research and Instrumentation (CSRRI) at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The CSRRI is a partner facility with the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Science User Facility (NSUF), and includes the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (MRCAT) beam line at Argonne National Laboratory. Using the capabilities of CSRRI, we can study the materials science of irradiated and model materials to improve our understanding of the performance of materials used in nuclear reactors. Current examples of each technique will be discussed.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: map-based noise simulations for DR6
Abstract The increasing statistical power of cosmic microwave background (CMB) datasets requires a commensurate effort in understanding their noise properties. The noise in maps from ground-based instruments is dominated by large-scale correlations, which poses a modeling challenge. This paper develops novel models of the complex noise covariance structure in the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Data Release 6 (ACT DR6) maps. We first enumerate the noise properties that arise from the combination of the atmosphere and the ACT scan strategy. We then prescribe a class of Gaussian, map-based noise models, including a new wavelet-based approach that uses directional wavelet kernels for modeling correlated instrumental noise. The models are empirical, whose only inputs are a small number of independent realizations of the same region of sky. We evaluate the performance of these models against the ACT DR6 data by drawing ensembles of noise realizations. Applying these simulations to the ACT DR6 power spectrum pipeline reveals a ∼ 20% excess in the covariance matrix diagonal when compared to an analytic expression that assumes noise properties are uniquely described by their power spectrum. Along with our public code,mnms, this work establishes a necessary element in the science pipelines of both ACT DR6 and future ground-based CMB experiments such as the Simons Observatory (SO).
Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
Development of Criteria for Hardware Descripted Language Programmed-Devices for Safety Systems in Nuclear Power Plants in the U.S
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is in the process of developing a regulatory guide (RG) describing a method the staff of the NRC considers acceptable, for use in complying with NRC regulations with respect to the development of hardware description language-programmed device (HPD). Examples include: field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), systems in the power, instrumentation, and control portions of safety systems for nuclear power plants. The regulatory framework that NRC is establishing for nuclear power plants consists of a number of regulations and supporting guidelines applicable to the development of HPD-based safety systems. The NRC issues RGs to describe to the public, methods that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use in implementing specific parts of the agency's regulations; to explain techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents; and to provide guidance to applicants. (authors)
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
A review of advances in pixel detectors for experiments with high rate and radiation
The large Hadron collider (LHC) experiments ATLAS and CMS have established hybrid pixel detectors as the instrument of choice for particle tracking and vertexing in high rate and radiation environments, as they operate close to the LHC interaction points. With the high luminosity-LHC upgrade now in sight, for which the tracking detectors will be completely replaced, new generations of pixel detectors are being devised. They have to address enormous challenges in terms of data throughput and radiation levels, ionizing and non-ionizing, that harm the sensing and readout parts of pixel detectors alike. Advances in microelectronics and microprocessing technologies now enable large scale detector designs with unprecedented performance in measurement precision (space and time), radiation hard sensors and readout chips, hybridization techniques, lightweight supports, and fully monolithic approaches to meet these challenges. In conclusion, this paper reviews the world-wide effort on these developments.
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
Compact Nanoparticle Size Distribution Measurement System for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
Brechtel Manufacturing Incorporated (BMI) is developing a compact, nanoparticle sizer optimized for use on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and other applications where space, weight, power and cost are significant barriers to deployment. The instrument will allow observations of size-resolved aerosol number concentration (0.005 < D p < 0.3 μm, D p is particle diameter). The new development helps address the need for reduced uncertainties in atmospheric radiative transfer and weather prediction model sensitivities to ambient aerosol properties by promoting the capability to perform aerosol measurements more often, in more locations, and at reduced cost. Applications of the new technology include vertical atmospheric profiling with UAVs, balloons and other mobile platforms to constrain weather forecast models, long-term air quality measurements, aerosol health effects studies, and routine monitoring of ambient aerosol properties in urban air sheds.
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
Reactor design and integration with product detection to accelerate screening of electrocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction
Identifying new catalyst materials for complex reactions such as the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 poses substantial instrumentation challenges due to the need to integrate reactor control with electrochemical and analytical instrumentation. Performing accelerated screening to enable exploration of a broad span of catalyst materials poses additional challenges due to the long time scales associated with accumulation of reaction products and the detection of the reaction products with traditional separation-based analytical methods. The catalyst screening techniques that have been reported for combinatorial studies of (photo)electrocatalysts do not meet the needs of CO 2 reduction catalyst research, prompting our development of a new electrochemical cell design and its integration to gas and liquid chromatography instruments. To enable rapid chromatography measurements while maintaining sensitivity to minor products, the electrochemical cell features low electrolyte and head space volumes compared to the catalyst surface area. Additionally, the cell is operated as a batch reactor with electrolyte recirculation to rapidly concentrate reaction products, which serves the present needs for rapidly detecting minor products and has additional implications for enabling product separations in industrial CO 2 electrolysis systems. To maintain near-saturation of CO 2 in aqueous electrolytes, we employ electrolyte nebulization through a CO 2 -rich headspace, achieving similar gas-liquid equilibration as vigorous CO 2 bubbling but without gas flow. The instrument is demonstrated with a series of electrochemical experiments on an Au-Pd combinatorial library, revealing non-monotonic variations in product distribution with respect to catalyst composition. The highly integrated analytical electrochemistry system is engineered to enable automation for rapid catalyst screening as well as deployment for a broad range of electrochemical reactions where product distribution is critical to the assessment of catalyst performance.
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
Development of low temperature fuel cell holders for Operando x-ray micro and nano computed tomography to visualize water distribution
Abstract Synchrotron x-ray imaging techniques, like x-ray computed tomography (CT) and radiography have proven instrumental in expanding the communities knowledge of complex transport and reaction kinetics in electrochemical devices such as fuel cells and electrolyzers. This work presents the development of novel x-ray CT imaging techniques for operando visualization of water within low temperature fuel cells at spatial resolutions spanning the micro and nano scales. The design of operando sample holders, for both micro x-ray CT and nano CT experiments is described in depth, and prototypes of these sample holders were evaluated across a set of requirements, the most important of which are x-ray transmissibility, electrical conductivity and mechanical stability. Water segmentation from micro x-ray CT data was enabled by an image subtraction method, where the image without water is subtracted from the one with water. Through iterative experimentations, the operando nano CT cell was developed to optimize mechanical compression, electric conductivity and gas flow. While three-dimensional fuel cell reconstructions were shown possible, there remain challenges to overcome at typical lower energies (8 keV) due to beam damage, whereas it is not as significant for higher energies (>17.5 keV).
Kulkarni, Devashish↗
A FAMILY OF HIGH-STABILITY GRANITE STAGES FOR| SYNCHROTRON APPLICATIONS
Engineers at the APS have developed a granite, air-bear- ing stage concept that provides many millimeters of motion range and nanometer-level vibrational stability. This technique was first conceptualized and used on the Velociprobe x-ray microscope [1, 2]. The success of that design spurred adaption of the approach to over 90 devices, including many new instruments at the APS [3] and high performing instruments at other synchrotrons [4]. This paper details the design concept, some performance measurements, and new developments allowing for a six-degree-of-freedom device.
Preissner, C. A.↗
Fiber Optic Instrumentation in High Temperature Irradiation Environments
The extremely harsh conditions of advanced reactor designs pose serious challenges for nuclear fuels and materials. Traditional instrumentation (thermocouples, strain gauges, etc.) are not well suited for extended operation in such a harsh environment. This work discusses the potential for using fiber optic-based instrumentation in high temperature irradiation experiments. The primary limitation of fiber optic instrumentation in irradiation experiments is signal darkening due to attenuation in the fiber material. A computational model has been developed to predict broadband optical attenuation in fused silica fiber materials as a function of time, temperature, and dose. Preliminary results obtained using this model are shown for one cycle of irradiation in the high flux isotope reactor at various temperatures. An irradiation campaign has been initiated to provide temperature-dependent optical attenuation data at high dose in order to validate the predictive model. Demonstration of the safety and reliability of new and enhanced nuclear fuels and materials is essential for improving the safety and reliability of existing nuclear power plants and for the licensing and operation of advanced nuclear reactor technologies. Experimental validation of fuel performance codes requires high fidelity measurements during instrumented irradiation experiments. Therefore, a clear need exists for sensors of unprecedented accuracy, resolution, time/space/energy spectrum dependence, reduced size, and, perhaps most importantly, performance in harsh environments. The harsh environment during accelerated irradiation testing could include temperatures from 300 deg. C up to 2600 deg. C, and radiation damage levels ranging from 1 to greater than 100 dpa. Optical fiber-based sensors are a promising candidate for instrumentation in high temperature irradiation environments. Optical fibers are small, inexpensive, chemically inert, immune to electromagnetic interference, and made of high temperature radiation-hard materials. The ability to make distributed measurements of temperature or strain using a single inexpensive optical fiber currently exists for non-extreme environments as commercially available technology. Other advanced sensing technologies such as laser ultrasound, borescopes, and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy use fiber optic light delivery as a critical component of the sensor design. Some potential applications for optical fiber-based sensors in instrumented irradiation experiments include in-situ measurements of thermal conductivity, ultrasonic measurement of elastic constants (with fiber optic delivery of signal for generation and detection of ultrasonic wave), and distributed measurements of temperature and/or strain (i.e., swelling). The primary limitation for the use of optical technologies for harsh environment (e.g., high neutron flux reactor environments) instrumentation is the attenuation of the light signal due to the effects of temperature and/or irradiation. This work summarizes initial efforts towards developing a predictive model of temperature-dependent radiation-induced attenuation in fused silica optical fibers at high dose. If there is adequate transmission in the fibers, fiber optic-based instrumentation could provide highly accurate distributed measurements during instrumented fuel/material irradiation experiments. Preliminary results show attenuation on the order of 5- 10 dB/m in the wavelength range of 750-900 nm at temperatures of 300 deg. C and below after one HFIR cycle (24 days). At higher temperatures (600 and 900 deg. C), the attenuation is reduced below 5 dB/m in the same wavelength range. This amount of attenuation is acceptable for most fiber optic based sensor systems with a dynamic range on the order of 20-50 dB for a reasonable length (1-2 meters) of fiber in the high flux region. Many optical components use a wavelength of 850 nm, which lies in the low attenuation window. In order to refine and ultimately validate the predictive model of optical fiber attenuation, a reactor irradiation campaign has been initiated. Rabbit irradiation capsules have been designed to irradiate optical fiber material (low and high OH fused silica, as well as single crystal sapphire) specimens in the HFIR at temperatures ranging from 100 to 1200 deg. C. (authors)
42 ENGINEERING↗
Pursuing Dark Energy with Large Galaxy Redshift Surveys: Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and Beyond (Final Technical Report)
We have developed and applied methods of large-scale structure from galaxy redshift surveys to the study of dark energy. This program supported my group's development of the baryon acoustic method and our participation in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey. In addition to my leadership role in the DESI collaboration, my group at Harvard focused on several topics addressing key needs of the DESI science program. 1) We continued our design, validation, and documentation of DESI target selection of the luminous red galaxy and emission-line galaxy samples. 2) We applied simulations from our novel and extremely fast N-body code to make DESI catalogs. With these, we will search for possible systematic shifts in the acoustic scale due to clustering bias with an unprecedented volume of simulations. 3) We extended our method for the fast construction of covariance matrices for correlation functions. 4) We developed new large-scale structure methods, including density-field reconstruction and three-point function analysis.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Improving Lidar Turbulence Estimates for Wind Energy
Remote sensing devices (e.g., lidars) are quickly becoming a cost-effective and reliable alternative to meteorological towers for wind energy applications. Although lidars can measure mean wind speeds accurately, these devices measure different values of turbulence intensity (TI) than an instrument on a tower. In response to these issues, a lidar TI error reduction model was recently developed for commercially available lidars. The TI error model first applies physics-based corrections to the lidar measurements, then uses machine-learning techniques to further reduce errors in lidar TI estimates. The model was tested at two sites in the Southern Plains where vertically profiling lidars were collocated with meteorological towers. Results indicate that the model works well under stable conditions but cannot fully mitigate the effects of variance contamination under unstable conditions. To understand how variance contamination affects lidar TI estimates, a new set of equations was derived in previous work to characterize the actual variance measured by a lidar. Terms in these equations were quantified using a lidar simulator and modeled wind field, and the new equations were then implemented into the TI error model.
17 WIND ENERGY↗