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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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460 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2026

Recommended Practice for Use of ExB Probes in Electric Propulsion Testing

An ExB probe is an electric propulsion plume diagnostic that has at its core a Wien filter. Ions entering the instrument experience perpendicular electric and magnetic fields and are filtered based on their velocity. While the ExB probe can be used to estimate the ion velocity distribution function, in the electric propulsion community, it is commonly used to measure species fractions. There are numerous probe designs, implementation and operation procedures, and data analysis approaches described and in use across the community. This paper provides recommendations and descriptions of best practices for design, implementation, and data analysis for the ExB probe, with a particular emphasis on Hall and ion thrusters. This work contributes to the broader community goal to standardize the use of diagnostics in electric propulsion testing.

ExB probe↗
NASA NTRS1974

General Electric 20-ampere hour nickel-cadmium battery

The interaction, effect, and controllability of the performance parameters of the General Electric 20-ampere-hour, 24-cell nickel cadmium battery are investigated. The battery was cycled under simulated orbit conditions. The acquired data was analyzed and evaluated in terms of battery parameters and performance characteristics. Conclusions and tests results are presented along with recommendations for further study.

Kirsch, W. W.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Research on battery-operated electric road vehicles

Mathematical analysis of battery-operated electric vehicles is presented. Attention is focused on assessing the influence of the battery on the mechanical and dynamical characteristics of dc electric motors with series and parallel excitation, as well as on evaluating the influence of the excitation mode and speed control system on the performance of the battery. The superiority of series excitation over parallel excitation with respect to vehicle performance is demonstrated. It is also shown that pulsed control of the electric motor, as compared to potentiometric control, provides a more effective use of the battery and decreases the cost of recharging.

Varpetian, V. S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Preparation of the Ice Certification of the Dornier 328 Regional Airliner By Numerical Simulation and By Ground Test

The Dornier 328, a new regional airliner, is to be qualified to FAR25/JAR25 requirements for operation into known icing conditions. All lifting surfaces are pneumatically deiced. Impingement limits were determined using a validated computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code. Wind tunnel tests with a model of the whole aircraft and the isolated empennage equipped with artificial ice shapes showed a degradation of handling characteristics due to ice accretion. Extensive two and three dimensional CFD calculations evaluated ice accretion at the deflection elevator horn. Icing tunnel tests were performed with a model of the horizontal tail with icing similitude fulfilled. The Dornier Do328 powerplant air induction system has successfully completed a program of icing tests in support of aircraft certification for operation into known icing conditions. Potential flight icing conditions were extensively analyzed using a CFD potential flow code and 3-D particle tracking routine to identify critical flight icing conditions. The tunnel test program verified the analytically predicted critical ice accretion surfaces of the air induction system, the adequacy of the ice protection provisions and demonstrated compliance with the applicable (JAR25) regulatory material.

D Welte↗
DOE OSTI2024

Supervisory genset control in range-extended electric vehicle

A controls system for a range-extended electric vehicle comprising an overall system control unit, an engine control module configured to control a range extender of the range-extended electric vehicle, power electronics configured to control a generator of the range-extended electric vehicle, and a supervisory control module coupled between the overall system control unit and the engine control module and the power electronics, the supervisory control module configured to receive information from the overall system control unit and provide commands to the engine control module and the power electronics.

Li, Ke↗
NASA NTRS1962

ELECTRIC PROPULSION- A NEW TECHNOLOGY

Within the past 3 years, electric thrust devices have passed from the first exploratory feasibility experiments to the flight-engineered hardware phase. This rapid surge of development has been punctuated by equally rapid improvements in the performance figures of electrical thrust devices. The most spectacular advances were made in ion engine technology. Total energy expenditure per ion pair has gone from 35,000 ev in 1958 to about 600 ev at the present time leading to power utilization efficiencies of up to 80 per cent, depending upon the specific impulse. The percentage of the particles intercepting the accelerating and focusing electrodes has been reduced from more than 50 per cent in 1958 to less than 0.01 per cent at the present time. Great improvements in ion current per unit area have also been realized, leading to greater thrust "pressures."

ELECTRIC PROPULSION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Smart Charging of Fleet and Personal Electric Vehicles through Joint Vehicle-to-Grid Optimization

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerates, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) strategies offer advantages over unmanaged charging (V0G) by enhancing grid stability, reducing fleet operation costs, and supporting integration of variable generation resources. This research develops a day-ahead optimization framework linked with agent-based simulations to evaluate coordinated V2G participation by fleet and personal EVs under 5 energy-pricing settings in Austin, Texas. Three scenarios (V0G, fleet-only V2G, and joint-V2G) are examined, considering real-time price and grid profiles, health-damage costs, and operational constraints for both fleet and personal EVs. Results show how V2G scenarios shift fleet EV charging to mid-day while enabling strategic battery-discharge during evening peaks, mitigating grid stress and lowering EV energy costs. V2G delivers close to 80% energy-cost savings for a 2000-EV fleet in Austin on grid-stressed days, with 55% lower charging pollutant outputs. Joint-V2G amplifies system-level benefits by complementing fleet discharge, but smart-charging equipment costs can offset those benefits.

Electric vehicle↗
NASA NTRS1983

Battery model for electrical power system energy balance

A model to simulate nickel-cadmium battery performance and response in a spacecraft electrical power system energy balance calculation was developed. The voltage of the battery is given as a function of temperature, operating depth-of-charge (DOD), and battery state-of-charge. Also accounted for is charge inefficiency. A battery is modeled by analysis of the results of a multiparameter battery cycling test at various temperatures and DOD's.

Hafen, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Summary of recent NASA propeller research

Advanced high speed propellers offer large performance improvements for aircraft that cruise in the Mach 0.7 to 0.8 speed regime. At these speeds, studies indicate that there is a 15 to near 40 percent block fuel savings and associated operating cost benefits for advanced turboprops compared to equivalent technology turbofan powered aircraft. Recent wind tunnel results for five eight to ten blade advanced models are compared with analytical predictions. Test results show that blade sweep was important in achieving net efficiencies near 80 percent at Mach 0.8 and reducing nearfield cruise noise about 6 dB. Lifting line and lifting surface aerodynamic analysis codes are under development and some results are compared with propeller force and probe data. Also, analytical predictions are compared with some initial laser velocimeter measurements of the flow field velocities of an eight bladed 45 swept propeller. Experimental aeroelastic results indicate that cascade effects and blade sweep strongly affect propeller aeroelastic characteristics. Comparisons of propeller nearfield noise data with linear acoustic theory indicate that the theory adequately predicts nearfield noise for subsonic tip speeds, but overpredicts the noise for supersonic tip speeds.

Daniel C Mikkelson↗
NASA NTRS1993

Electric Propulsion Orbital Platform

This paper describes the Electric Propulsion Orbital Platform (EPOP), of which the primary objective is to provide an instrumented platform for testing electric propulsion devices in space. It is anticipated that the first flight, EPOP-1, will take place on the Shuttle-deployed Wake Shield Facility in 1996, and will be designed around a commercial 1.8 kW arcjet system which will be operated on gaseous hydrogen propellant. Specific subsystems are described, including the arcjet system, the propellant and power systems, and the diagnostics systems.

V. J. Friedly↗
DOE OSTI2026

Power Lane County Electric Grid Handbook

In 2024, Lane Couty was selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy to Community program. Through the program, National Laboratory researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the National Laboratory of the Rockies provide three years of technical assistance to Lane County and their project partners: the Center for Rural Livelihoods, Springfield Utility Board, and Emerald People’s Utility District. The project, named Power Lane County, aims to improve local electric system affordability, reliability and resilience in the face of natural hazards and potentially rising loads. The Power Lane County Electric Grid Handbook establishes a foundational understanding of the energy landscape and electric grid in Lane County to inform community engagement, education, and analysis in future project phases. This document synthesizes public data and utility and stakeholder engagement, including utility interviews to give the reader a comprehensive view of the challenges facing Lane County's electric system and the opportunities to address them

Electricity↗
NASA NTRS1984

Performance of the Lester battery charger in electric vehicles

Tests are performed on an improved battery charger. The primary purpose of the testing is to develop test methodologies for battery charger evaluation. Tests are developed to characterize the charger in terms of its charge algorithm and to assess the effects of battery initial state of charge and temperature on charger and battery efficiency. Tests show this charger to be a considerable improvement in the state of the art for electric vehicle chargers.

Vivian, H. C.↗
NASA NTRS2026

Recommended Practices in Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) Diagnostics for Electric Propulsion

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy uses Doppler-shifted laser photons to excite a bound electron transition in an atom or ion, with subsequent fluorescence emission detected in order to measure the local velocity distribution function (VDF) and/or particle density. Due to its non-invasive nature, high spatial resolution, and acceptable difficulty of implementation, LIF has become a favored diagnostic for electric propulsion (EP) plasmas, particularly in the study of Hall thrusters. This paper presents recommended best practices for LIF measurements in electric thrusters, drawn from over three decades of implementation heritage in the EP community. Focusing on both single-photon LIF (typically used to measure VDFs) and two-photon LIF (TALIF, typically used to determine densities), the paper covers selection of atomic transitions to target, experimental setups, and interpretation of data. A number of special topics and advanced applications are discussed, including uncertainty analysis, techniques for high-speed measurements, and applications to a variety of propellants.

plasma plume↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Electric Propulsion Development Activities for Space Nuclear Propulsion Applications

Given increased worldwide support for advanced nuclear technology for terrestrial applications, there is a renewed interest in the possibility of nuclear-reactor-powered spacecraft. NASA continues investing in the technology areas necessary to support NASA’s future scientific and exploration goals. One of those technologies areas is electric propulsion, a highly efficient means for in-space propulsion that increases fuel economy by ionizing and accelerating an onboard propellant using spacecraft electrical power. The current NASA portfolio of electric propulsion investments in support of space nuclear applications focuses on a range of future applications with total system power levels of 50 kilowatts to multimegawatt. These investments support a fast-paced incremental rate for technology development advancement to support these applications. Systems at the 50-kilowatt power level can be accomplished today with existing technology and systems at the multimegawatt level will require further technology developments over the coming decade. Propulsion systems based an array of multiple Hall thrusters have been identified the most likely technology option for the near-term applications and systems utilizing lithium-fueled magneto-plasma-dynamic thrusters have been identified as the most promising alternative technology option for the far-term applications at very high-power levels.

Electric Propulsion↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Electric Propulsion Development Activities for Space Nuclear Propulsion Applications

Given increased worldwide support for advanced nuclear technology for terrestrial applications, there is a renewed interest in the possibility of nuclear-reactor-powered spacecraft. NASA continues investing in the technology areas necessary to support NASA’s future scientific and exploration goals. One of those technologies areas is electric propulsion, a highly efficient means for in-space propulsion that increases fuel economy by ionizing and accelerating an onboard propellant using spacecraft electrical power. The current NASA portfolio of electric propulsion investments in support of space nuclear applications focuses on a range of future applications with total system power levels of 50 kilowatts to multimegawatt. These investments support a fast-paced incremental rate for technology development advancement to support these applications. Systems at the 50-kilowatt power level can be accomplished today with existing technology and systems at the multimegawatt level will require further technology developments over the coming decade. Propulsion systems based an array of multiple Hall thrusters have been identified the most likely technology option for the near-term applications and systems utilizing lithium-fueled magneto-plasma-dynamic thrusters have been identified as the most promising alternative technology option for the far-term applications at very high-power levels.

Electric propulsion↗
DOE OSTI2026

Preliminary Assessment for the Electric Load Shifting Potential of Integrating Thermal Energy Storage with Heat Pumps in Residential Buildings in Texas of United States

The widespread adoption of electric-driven heat pumps for heating and cooling is expected to significantly increase electric demand. Cooling electric demand will result in an increase in peak hours electric loads, placing additional strain on the grid during peak hours. This challenge, combined with the current rapidly increasing demand from data centers, exacerbates the electric demand duck curve problem. Integrating thermal energy storage (TES) with heat pump can shift electric use for heating and cooling from peak to off-peak hours of the electric grid, which can help flatten the daily electric demand profile of a building. This paper presents a novel design that integrates heat pump with TES (HP-TES), which uses phase change materials (PCM). Heat pump charges TES by melting or freezing PCM during off-peak hours when there is no thermal demand from the building. TES is then discharged (i.e., by freezing or melting PCM) during peak hours to provide a more favorable heat source or heat sink for the heat pump to meet the thermal demand of the building with lower electricity use than conventional air-source heat pumps. Computer simulations were developed to predict the performance of HP-TES applied to a typical single-family house in the US. The building-level simulation results were scaled up to preliminarily assess the aggregated impacts of deploying HP-TES across all single-family houses in Texas of the United States, including reduction of peak demand of the electric grid.

Anees, Fady [ORNL]↗