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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Blue Rock CropSpanPV - Low Cost Racking for Agricultural Solar Photovoltaics

In this work, a total of four solar panel layouts, applied to Agrivoltaics, are investigated. This study presents two hypotheses: 1. Prefabrication - Lower total cost can be achieved by constructing a pre-assembled, pre-wired solar array in a factory, with automation, then rapidly deploying it in the field. 2. Tension Structures - Using tension structures in a way to suspend an overhead solar array also reduces costs when compared to conventional support methods. Designs are presented for frames to hold the panels. Configurations are advanced to connect the frames into arrays. Supports and foundations to hold the arrays in the desired layout are calculated, selected and presented. Cost models are prepared for the four layouts, which include definition of the business enterprise, the manufacturing operation, and the required facility for production at scale. Cost models include, detail material and task/labor take-offs for both manufacturing and installation. Comparisons with conventional system adapted to Agrivoltaics reveal that the two hypotheses do not hold true. A prefabricated array requires additional material that is not needed in the base system and the cost of this additional material is not outweighed by the cost savings of reduced field installation. The cost of wire rope for a tension structure does result in an economy of material, however, the cost of end connections and tensioning devices adds significantly to the cost of the overall tension structure. Foundation loads with tension structures, especially the large wind uplift seen with a fixed tilt solar array, impose significant constraints and high costs. The following conclusions are recommended for further consideration: 1. Best Case Agrivoltaic Configuration - The best value/lowest cost configuration for agrivoltaics is the installation of solar panels mounted on a single axis tracker in either a 2-in-portrait or 2-in landscape arrangement. This is useful for grazing lands and for staple crops which require high light levels. These applications represent the vast majority of the potential agrivoltaic market. Important elements in this configuration are the specific geometric layout coordinated with the various field operations and a control system linked between the farm equipment and single axis tracker. The control system is to monitor location and orientation, then actively tilt the solar panels or brake the field equipment to provide clearance and avoid collisions. 2. Long Span Applications - The use of tension structures for an overhead fixed tilt array is beneficial where long spans are a necessity, especially where the base support in the project location has consolidated rock near the surface or some other solid structure. One application is spanning wide irrigation canals. Another may be as an installation at the top deck of parking structures. 3. Direct Ground Mount Configuration – Having skids at the base of a pre-fabricated array that extend when the array is deployed, could be a successful design. This could be a useful strategy for dense, flat, ground-mount configurations like that employed by a couple of successful commercial operations (5G Maverick and Erthos). Arrays would be orientated north and south, deployed very low on prepared grade. Arrays would be aligned closely next to each other and anchored with small ground screws or simply with ballast. This same product arrangement could be very useful for rapid deployment and set-up of solar arrays for temporary deployments, disaster response and the military operations

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Development and Application of Preliminary TOGA Model for CO 2 -EOR with Comparison to Resistivity Data

A new TOUGH code, TOGA (Transport of Oil, Gas, Aqueous), is used to model enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from a South Texas field where a combination of water, CO 2 , and WAG (water-alternating-gas) injection wells are located in the down-dip region of a fault block, with oil and natural gas production occurring from wells located up-dip. The reservoir is composed of interlayered sands and shales at a depth of about 2000 m. TOGA considers three fluid phases (oil, gas, and aqueous), and multiple components. Oil field data including compositional analysis of stock-tank oil, gas-oil ratio, and gas gravity are used to determine the composition of oil and gas phases. Initial conditions for aqueous saturation are determined from a depth to surface resistivity survey conducted prior to the onset of CO 2 injection and Archie’s Law. Simulation results after several years of EOR operations are then converted back to resistivity maps and compared to images created by time-lapse depth-to-surface resistivity surveys. These surveys show a strong increase in resistivity, interpreted as the replacement of aqueous phase by injected CO 2 . In contrast, preliminary TOGA results show that injected CO 2 displaced more oil than water, suggesting that the three-phase relative permeability curves used to describe the interference of fluid phases need to be modified. Limited information on the composition of produced fluids provides another data set for comparison with model results. Model variations including using different relative permeability curve parameters and WAG cycle durations yielded improved model matches to the field data. The practical simplifications needed to simulate an actual operating oil field and the limited amount of field operation data available preclude using the present model to get an accurate history match or to make detailed predictions. Rather, the modeling is intended to illustrate the general trends occurring during CO 2 -EOR and to indicate where more detailed information is needed.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS2005

Primary Disaster Field Office (DFO), Lufkin, Texas

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during atmospheric re-entry on mission STS-107; the complexity of such an event cannot be underestimated. The Lufkin Disaster Field Office (DFO) served as the primary DFO for all operations, including staging assets and deploying field teams for search, recovery and security. There were many organizations that had operational experience with disaster recovery. Offers to help came from many groups including the White House Liaison Office, the Department of Defense (DOD), branches of local, state and federal government, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state police, fire departments, the Texas Forestry Service, the Texas Army National Guard, medical groups, various rescue forces, contractor companies, the Salvation Army, local businesses, and citizens of our country and especially East Texas. The challenge was to know how much help to accept and how to efficiently incorporate their valuable assistance into a comprehensive and cohesive operational plan. There were more than 2,000 people involved with search and recovery.

Wetherbee, James D.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Localization of quantum Bernoulli noises

The family (∂{sub k},∂{sub k}{sup *}){sub k≥0} of annihilation and creation operators acting on square integrable functionals of a Bernoulli process Z= (Z{sub k}){sub k⩾0} can be interpreted as quantum Bernoulli noises. In this note we consider the operator family (ℓ{sub k},ℓ{sub k}{sup *}){sub k≥0}, where ℓ{sub k}=∂{sub k}E{sub k} with E{sub k} being the conditional expectation (operator) given σ-field σ(Z{sub j}; 0 ⩽j⩽k). We show that ℓ{sub k} (resp. ℓ{sub k}{sup *}) is essentially a kind of localization of the annihilation operator ∂{sub k} (resp. creation operator ∂{sub k}{sup *}). We examine properties of the family (ℓ{sub k},ℓ{sub k}{sup *}){sub k≥0} and prove, among other things, that ℓ{sub k} and ℓ{sub k}{sup *} satisfy a local canonical anti-communication relation and (ℓ{sub k}{sup *}){sub k≥0} forms a mutually orthogonal operator sequence although each ℓ{sub k} is not a projection operator. We find that the operator series Σ{sub k=0}{sup ∞}ℓ{sub k}{sup *}Xℓ{sub k} converges in the strong operator topology for each bounded operator X acting on square integrable functionals of Z. In particular we get an explicit sum of the operator series Σ{sub k=0}{sup ∞}ℓ{sub k}{sup *}ℓ{sub k}. A useful norm estimate on Σ{sub k=0}{sup ∞}ℓ{sub k}{sup *}Xℓ{sub k} is also obtained. Finally we show applications of our main results to quantum dynamical semigroups and quantum probability.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Crystallographic and magnetic properties of the spinel-type ferrites Zn{sub x}Co{sub 1-x}Fe{sub 2}O{sub 4} (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.75)

Ultrahigh frequencies (UHF) have applications in signal and power electronics to minimize product sizes, increase production quantity and lower manufacturing cost. In the UHF range of 300 MHz to 3 GHz, ferrimagnetic iron oxides (ferrites) are especially useful because they combine the properties of a magnetic material with that of an electrical insulator. Ferrites have much higher electrical resistivity than metallic ferromagnetic materials, resulting in minimization of the eddy current losses, and total penetration of the electromagnetic (EM) field. Hence ferrites are frequently applied as circuit elements, magnetic storage media like read/write heads, phase shifters and Faraday rotators. The electromagnetic properties of ferrites are affected by operating conditions such as field strength, temperature and frequency. The spinel system Zn{sub x}Co{sub 1-x}Fe{sub 2}O{sub 4} (x=0.0, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75) has been prepared by the standard solid state sintering method. X-ray and neutron powder diffraction measurements were performed at room temperature. Neutron diffraction data analysis confirms the cubic symmetry corresponding to the space group Fd3m. The distribution of three cations Zn{sup 2+}, Co{sup 2+} and Fe{sup 3+} over the spinel lattice and other crystallographic parameters like lattice constant, oxygen position parameter, overall temperature factor and occupancies of different ions in different lattice sites for the samples have been determined from the analysis of neutron diffraction data. The lattice constant increases with increasing Zn content in the system. The magnetic structure was found to be ferrimagnetic for the samples with x≤0.50. Magnetization measurements show that with the increase of Zn content in the system the value of saturation magnetization first increases and then decreases. The variation of the magnetic moment with Zn substitution has been discussed in terms of the distribution of magnetic and non-magnetic ions over the A and B sub-lattices and their exchange coupling.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Thin film organic photodetectors for indirect X-ray detection demonstrating low dose rate sensitivity at low voltage operation

Here, developments in the field of organic semiconductors have generated organic photodetectors with high quantum efficiency, wide spectral sensitivity, low power consumption, and unique form factors that are flexible and conformable to their substrate shape. In this work, organic photodetectors coupled with inorganic CsI(Tl) scintillators are used to showcase the low dose rate sensitivity that is enabled when high performance organic photodetectors and scintillator crystals are integrated. The detection capability of these organic-inorganic coupled systems to high energy radiation highlights their potential as an alternative to traditional photomultiplier tubes for nuclear spectroscopy applications. When exposed to Bremsstrahlung radiation produced from an X-ray generator, SubPc:C 60 , AlPcCl:C 70 , and P3HT:PC 61 BM thin film photodetectors with active layer thicknesses less than 100 nm show detection of incident radiation at low and no applied bias. Remarkably low dose rates, down to at least 0.28 µGy/s, were detectable with a characteristic linear relationship between exposure rate and photodetector current output. These devices also demonstrate sensitivities as high as 5.37 mC Gy -1 cm -2 when coupled to CsI(Tl). Additionally, as the tube voltage across the X-ray generator was varied, these organic-inorganic systems showed their ability to detect a range of continuous radiation spectra spanning several hundred keV.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1991

Magnetic bearings with zero bias

A magnetic bearing operating without a bias field has supported a shaft rotating at speeds up to 12,000 rpm with the usual four power supplies and with only two. A magnetic bearing is commonly operated with a bias current equal to half of the maximum current allowable in its coils. This linearizes the relation between net force and control current and improves the force slewing rate and hence the band width. The steady bias current dissipates power, even when no force is required from the bearing. The power wasted is equal to two-thirds of the power at maximum force output. Examined here is the zero bias idea. The advantages and disadvantages are noted.

Brown, Gerald V.↗
NASA NTRS2013

The Antarctic Search for Meteorites: The Future of Space, on Earth Today - EVA Knowledge Capture Outbrief

NASA astronaut Stan Love shared his experiences with the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET), an annual expedition to the southern continent to collect valuable samples for research in planetary science. ANSMET teams operate from isolated, remote field camps on the polar plateau, where windchill factors often reach -40 F. Several astronaut participants have noted ANSMET's similarity to a space mission. Some of the operational concepts, tools, and equipment employed by ANSMET teams may offer valuable insights to designers of future planetary surface exploration hardware.

Love, Stan↗
NASA NTRS2013

Antarctica EVA

NASA astronaut Stan Love shared his experiences with the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET), an annual expedition to the southern continent to collect valuable samples for research in planetary science. ANSMET teams operate from isolated, remote field camps on the polar plateau, where windchill factors often reach -40◦ F. Several astronaut participants have noted ANSMET's similarity to a space mission. Some of the operational concepts, tools, and equipment employed by ANSMET teams may offer valuable insights to designers of future planetary surface exploration hardware.

Love, Stan↗
DOE OSTI2014

Design of vacuum vessel for Aditya Upgrade Tokamak

Aditya tokamak is a limiter tokamak device with a torus vacuum vessel having square cross section. The existing Aditya Tokamak is being upgraded into a machine with divertor operation and good plasma control to support the future Indian Fusion program in a big way. The up-gradation of Aditya Tokamak to diverter tokamak needs additional magnetic field coils for diverter operation, close to the vessel. To accommodate the coils, the existing vessel of square cross section will be replaced with a circular cross section. This vacuum vessel will be made up of stainless steel 304L. It is bakeable up to 150° C. The ultimate vacuum is ∼ 10{sup -9} torr. Two numbers of identical semi torus will be assembled to torus shaped vessel. The end flanges of the semi torus are connected with sealing double Viton 'O' rings to form a torus. The major radius of torus vessel is 750 mm and inner radius is 305 mm. Its wall thickness is ∼8 mm. The vacuum vessel will have 110 various sizes of ports/openings including 4 tangential ports. The nonstandard ports like rectangular and triangular ports are blanked with wire seals. In this paper, the design of vacuum vessel for Aditya Upgrade tokamak is presented. (author)

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

An inflationary probe of cosmic Higgs switching

A scalar Higgs field can be repeatedly switched on and off when it couples to a classically oscillating scalar modulus field. The modulus flips the Higgs mass term between stable and tachyonic values. We study a cosmological scenario in which such repeated phase transitions occur during inflation. An irrelevant operator coupling the Higgs field to the inflaton can then imprint the pattern of phase transitions in the correlation functions of the inflaton. Using both numerical and analytic studies, we show that the inflaton 2- point function carries characteristic imprints of the modulus oscillation and its effect on the Higgs boson. We briefly remark on the potential observability of such patterns and how they might be distinguished from other dynamics in the early universe.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1990

Magnetic refrigeration using flux compression in superconductors

The feasibility of using flux compression in high-temperature superconductors to produce the large time-varying magnetic fields required in a field cycled magnetic refrigerator operating between 20 K and 4 K is presently investigated. This paper describes the refrigerator concept and lists limitations and advantages in comparison with conventional refrigeration techniques. The maximum fields obtainable by flux compression in high-temperature supercoductor materials, as presently prepared, are too low to serve in such a refrigerator. However, reports exist of critical current values that are near usable levels for flux pumps in refrigerator applications.

Israelsson, U. E.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Statistical Engineering in Air Traffic Management Research

NASA is working to develop an integrated set of advanced technologies to enable efficient arrival operations in high-density terminal airspace for the Next Generation Air Transportation System. This integrated arrival solution is being validated and verified in laboratories and transitioned to a field prototype for an operational demonstration at a major U.S. airport. Within NASA, this is a collaborative effort between Ames and Langley Research Centers involving a multi-year iterative experimentation process. Designing and analyzing a series of sequential batch computer simulations and human-in-the-loop experiments across multiple facilities and simulation environments involves a number of statistical challenges. Experiments conducted in separate laboratories typically have different limitations and constraints, and can take different approaches with respect to the fundamental principles of statistical design of experiments. This often makes it difficult to compare results from multiple experiments and incorporate findings into the next experiment in the series. A statistical engineering approach is being employed within this project to support risk-informed decision making and maximize the knowledge gained within the available resources. This presentation describes a statistical engineering case study from NASA, highlights statistical challenges, and discusses areas where existing statistical methodology is adapted and extended.

Wilson, Sara R.↗
NASA NTRS2020

An inflationary probe of cosmic Higgs switching

A scalar Higgs field can be repeatedly switched on and off when it couples to a classically oscillating scalar modulus field. The modulus flips the Higgs mass term between stable and tachyonic values. We study a cosmological scenario in which such repeated phase transitions occur during inflation. An irrelevant operator coupling the Higgs field to the inflaton can then imprint the pattern of phase transitions in the correlation functions of the inflaton. Using both numerical and analytic studies, we show that the inflaton 2-point function carries characteristic imprints of the modulus oscillation and its effect on the Higgs boson. We briefly remark on the potential observability of such patterns and how they might be distinguished from other dynamics in the early universe.

JiJi Fan↗
DOE OSTI2019

Compact, Low-Cost, Light-Weight, Superconducting, Ironless Cyclotrons for Hadron Radiotherapy

Superconducting cyclotrons are increasingly employed for proton beam radiotherapy treatment (PBRT). The use of superconductivity in a cyclotron design can reduce its mass by an order of magnitude and size by a factor of 3-4 over conventional resistive magnet technology, yielding significant reduction in overall cost of the device, the accelerator vault, and its infrastructure, as well as reduced operating costs. At MIT, previous work was focused on developing a very high field (9 T at the pole face) superconducting synchrocyclotron that resulted in a highly compact device that is about an order of magnitude lighter, and much smaller in diameter than a conventional, resistive cyclotron. The results of the study reported here were focused on a conceptual design for a compact superconducting synchrocyclotron to demonstrate the possibility to further reduce its weight by almost another order of magnitude by eliminating all iron from the device. In the absence of magnetic iron poles, the magnetic field profile in the beam gap is achieved through a set of main superconducting split pair coils energized in series with a set of distributed field-shaping superconducting coils. External magnetic field shielding is achieved through a set of outer, superconducting ring coils, also connected in series with the other coils, to cancel the stray magnetic field. These shielding coils replace the heavy iron yoke which is the conventional method to return the magnetic flux. It is noted that the 10 Gauss surface is located at a radius of about 3.5 m comparable in both ironless and conventional devices, even in the absence of iron in the ironless device. An important result from eliminating all magnetic iron in the flux circuit is the resulting linear relationship between the operating current and the magnetic field intensity. In the case with iron, the saturation of the magnetic field forces operation at one value of magnetic field. This feature design then enables continuous beam energy variation without the use of an energy degrader, thus eliminating secondary radiation during the in-depth beam scanning, increasing the ion current delivered to the patient and improving the beam quality. The beam energy is determined by the magnetic field strength at the extraction radius, and changing the field enables selection of the final beam energy. The magnetic field can be adjusted while maintaining the needed radial field profile.

Minervini, Joseph V.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fiber optic quench detection via optimized Rayleigh Scattering in high-field YBCO accelerator magnets

Yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) coated conductors are known for their ability to operate in the superconducting state at relatively high temperatures, even above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77 K). When these same conductors are operated at lower temperatures, they are able to operate in much higher magnetic fields than traditional superconductors like NiTi or Nb 3 Sn. Thus, YBCO superconducting magnets are one of the primary options for generating the high magnetic fields needed for future high energy physics devices. Due to slow quench propagation, quench detection remains one of the primary limitations to YBCO magnets. Fiber optic sensing, based upon Rayleigh scattering, has the potential for spatial resolution approaching the wavelength of light, or very fast temporal resolution at low spatial resolution, and a continuum of combinations in between. This project has studied, theoretically and experimentally, YBCO magnets and Rayleigh scattering quench detection systems to demonstrate feasibility of the systems for YBCO quench protection systems. Under this grant an experimentally validated 3D quench propagation model was used to accurately define the acceptable range of spatial and temporal resolutions for effective quench detection in YBCO magnets and to evaluate present-day and potentially improved YBCO conductors. The data volume and speed requirements for quench detection via Rayleigh scattering required the development of a high performance fiber optic based quench detection/data acquisition system and its integration with an existing voltage tap/thermo-couple based system. In this project, optical fibers are tightly co-wound into YBCO magnet coils, with the fiber on top of the conductor as turn-to-turn insulation. Local changes in the temperature or strain of the conductor are sensed by the optical fiber, which is in close thermal and mechanical contact with the conductor. Intrinsic imperfections in the fiber reflect Rayleigh backscattered laser signals that are shifted by the changes in the fiber that are induced by a local change in the YBCO temperature or strain. One goal of this project was to show that modern technology can be used to interrogate the signals from a (very expensive) YBCO magnet to detect an impending quench in time to protect it from self-destruction. The results show that Rayleigh-backscattering interrogated optical fibers (RIOF) have significant advantages over traditional techniques, including very high spatial resolution and the ability to detect a hot-spot well before the peak local temperature becomes so high that the conductor can be damaged. RIOF quench detection is intrinsically faster than voltage taps, and this intrinsic advantage is greater as the coil size and/or current margin increases. We describe the development and testing program performed under the grant.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗