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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 145 records · Page 8
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NASA NTRS1985

Lower hybrid heating of ionospheric ions due to ion ring distributions in cusp

The stability of H(+) and H(++) ring distributions which have been observed downflowing into the cusp on the DE and S3-3 satellites is examined in the context of the feedback of those instabilities on plasma of ionospheric origin consisting of (H(+) and O(+). Lower hybrid waves are excited by the ring distributions in three distinct phases of wave-particle interaction: linear growth, trapping, and quasi-linear diffusion.The latter phase accounts for most particle heating. Including background O(+) and/or a He(++) ring introduces new modes not present in a pure H(+) plasma which play an important role in heating heavier ions. O(+) is heated significantly more by a He(++) ring than a H(+) ring of comparable energy density. It is suggested that lower hybrid waves generated by downflowing ion ring distributions play a role in energizing ion conics in the cusp.

Roth, I.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Sources, Transport and Visibility Impact of Ambient Submicrometer Particle Size Distributions in an Urban Area of Central Taiwan

This study applied positive matrix factorization (PMF) to identify the sources of size-resolved submicrometer (10–1000 nm) particles and quantify their contributions to impaired visibility based on the particle number size distributions (PNSDs), aerosol light extinction (b p ), air pollutants (PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 , O 3 , and NO), and meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and ultraviolet index) measured hourly over an urban basin in central Taiwan between 2017 and 2021. The transport of source-specific PNSDs was evaluated with wind and back trajectory analyses. The PMF revealed six sources to the total particle number (TPN), surface (TPS), volume (TPV), and b p . Factor 1 (F1), the key contributor to TPN (35.0 %), represented nucleation (<25 nm) particles associated with fresh traffic emission and secondary new particle formation, which were transported from the west-southwest by stronger winds (>2.2 m s -1 ). F2 represented the large Aitken (50–100 nm) particles transported regionally via northerly winds, whereas F3 represented large accumulation (300–1000 nm) particles, which showed elevated concentrations under stagnant conditions (<1.1 m s −1 ). F4 represented small Aitken (25–50 nm) particles arising from the growth and transport of the nucleation particles (F1) via west-southwesterly winds. F5 represented large Aitken particles originating from combustion-related SO 2 sources and carried by west-northwesterly winds. F6 represented small accumulation (100–300 nm) particles emitted both by local sources and by the remote SO 2 sources found for F5. Overall, large accumulation particles (F3) played the greatest role in determining the TPV (66.4 %) and TPS (34.8 %), and their contribution to bp increased markedly from 17.3 % to 40.7 % as visibility decreased, indicating that TPV and TPS are better metrics than TPN for estimating b p . Furthermore, slow-moving air masses—and therefore stagnant conditions—facilitate the build-up of accumulation mode particles (F3 + F6), resulting in the poorest visibility.

source apportionment↗
NASA NTRS1999

Potential Climate Impacts of Engine Particle Emissions

Solid (soot) and liquid (presumed sulfate) particle emissions from aircraft engines may have serious impacts on the atmosphere. While the direct radiative impact of these particles is expected to be small relative to those from natural sources (Atmospheric Effects of Subsonic Aircraft: Interim Assessment of the Advanced Subsonic Technology Program, NASA Ref. Pub. 1400, 1997), their indirect effects on atmospheric chemistry and cloud formation may have a significant impact. The potential impacts of primary concern are the increase of sulfate surface area and accelerated heterogeneous chemical reactions, and the potential for either modified soot or sulfate particles to serve as cloud nuclei which would change the frequency or radiative characteristics of clouds. Volatile (sulfate) particle concentrations measured behind the Concorde aircraft in flight in the stratosphere were much higher than expected from near-field model calculations of particle formation and growth. Global model calculations constrained by these data calculate a greater level of stratospheric ozone depletion from the proposed High speed Civil Transport (HSCT) fleet than those without particle emission. Soot particles have also been proposed as important in heterogeneous chemistry but this remains to be substantiated. Aircraft volatile particle production in the troposphere has been shown by measurements to depend strongly on fuel sulfur content. Sulfate particles of sufficient size are known to provide a good nucleating surface for cloud growth. Although pure carbon soot is hydrophobic, the solid particle surface may incorporate more suitable nucleating sites. The non-volatile (soot) particles also tend to occupy the large end of aircraft particle size spectra. Quantitative connection between aircraft particle emissions and cloud modification has not been established yet, however, even small changes in cloud amount or properties could have a significant effect on the radiative balance of the atmosphere.

Kawa, S. Randy↗
NASA NTRS1999

Airborne Observations of Aerosol Emissions from F-16 Aircraft

We presented results from the SASS Near-Field Interactions Flight (SNIF-III) Experiment which was conducted during May and June 1997 in collaboration with the Vermont and New Jersey Air National Guard Units. The project objectives were to quantify the fraction of fuel sulfur converted to S(VI) species by jet engines and to gain a better understanding of particle formation and growth processes within aircraft wakes. Size and volatility segregated aerosol measurements along with sulfur species measurements were recorded in the exhaust of F-16 aircraft equipped with F-100 engines burning fuels with a range of fuel S concentrations at different altitudes and engine power settings. A total of 10 missions were flown in which F-16 exhaust plumes were sampled by an instrumented T-39 Sabreliner aircraft. On six of the flights, measurements were obtained behind the same two aircraft, one burning standard JP-8 fuel and the other either approximately 28 ppm or 1100 ppm S fuel or an equal mixture of the two (approximately 560 ppm S). A pair of flights was conducted for each fuel mixture, one at 30,000 ft altitude and the other starting at 35,000 ft and climbing to higher altitudes if contrail conditions were not encountered at the initial flight level. In each flight, the F-16s were operated at two power settings, approx. 80% and full military power. Exhaust emissions were sampled behind both aircraft at each flight level, power setting, and fuel S concentration at an initial aircraft separation of 30 m, gradually widening to about 3 km. Analyses of the aerosol data in the cases where fuel S was varied suggest results were consistent with observations from project SUCCESS, i.e., a significant fraction of the fuel S was oxidized to form S(VI) species and volatile particle emission indices (EIs) in comparably aged plumes exhibited a nonlinear dependence upon the fuel S concentration. For the high sulfur fuel, volatile particle EIs in 10-second-old-plumes were 2 to 3 x 10 (exp 17) / kg of fuel burned and exhibited no obvious trend with engine power setting or flight altitude. In contrast, about 8-fold fewer particles were observed in similarly aged plumes from the same aircraft burning fuel with 560 ppm S content and EIs of 1 x 10(exp 15)/ kg of fuel burned were observed in the 28 ppm S fuel case. Moreover, data recorded as a function of plume age indicates that formation and growth of the volatile particles proceeds more slowly as the fuel S level is reduced. For example, ultrafine particle concentrations appear to stabilize within 5 seconds after emission in the 1100 ppm S cases but are still increasing in 20-second old plumes produced from burning the 560 ppm S fuel.

Anderson, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Evidence for the Widespread Presence of Liquid-Phase Particles During the 1999-2000 Arctic Winter

In-situ Multi-Angle Spectrometer Probe (MASP) particle measurements have been analyzed to determine the typical behaviour of sulphate particles during the SOLVE campaign. The analysis has focussed on variations in the total particle concentration measured by MASP, which is a diagnostic that is primarily sensitive to the growth of small particles (those which are initially smaller than 0.2 micrometers in radius). At all levels of the stratosphere, the total MASP concentration varies continuously with temperature. This behaviour is well-reproduced by assuming that the sulphate aerosols are liquid ternary solutions, but cannot be reproduced if the aerosol is assumed to be frozen. This liquid-like behaviour is apparent for all measurements made during SOLVE, both inside and outside the vortex, and even at the coldest temperatures sampled during the campaign. The only anomalous measurements were made during the flight of January 14th, 2001; however, this midlatitude flight is very unlikely to contain SAT particles based on the recent warm temperatures experienced by the air. At the levels with the coldest measured temperatures, at least 90% of the particles grow as liquids. Therefore, the freezing that occurred during the 1999-2000 Arctic winter was selective, causing most of the particles to remain liquid even in the presence of a small number of frozen particles.

Drdla, K↗
NASA NTRS1996

Bioprocessing in Microgravity: Applications of Continuous Flow Electrophoresis to Rat Anterior Pituitary Particles

In this report we describe the results of a continuous flow electrophoresis (CFE) experiment done on STS-65 in which we tested the idea that intracellular growth hormone (GH) particles contained in a cell lysate prepared from cultured rat anterior pituitary cells in microgravity might have different electrophoretic mobilities from those in a synchronous ground control cell lysate. Collectively, the results suggested that CFE processing in microgravity was better than on earth; more samples could be processed at a time (6 x) and more variant forms of GH molecules could be resolved as well. We had also hoped to carry out a pituitary cell CFE experiment, but failure of the hardware required that the actual cell electrophoresis trials be done on earth shortly after Shuttle landing. Data from these experiments showed that space-flown cells possessed a higher electrophoretic mobility than ground control cells, thereby offering evidence for the idea that exposure of cultured cells to microgravity can change their net surface charge-density especially when the cells are fed. Collectively, the results from this pituitary cell experiment document the advantage of using coupled cell culture and CFE techniques in the microgravity environment.

Hymer, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Nucleation and growth of crystals under cirrus and polar stratospheric cloud conditions

Laboratory studies examine phase changes of hygroscopic substances which occur as aerosol in stratosphere and troposphere (sodium chloride, ammonium sulfate, ammonium bisulfate, nitric acid, sulfuric acid), under controlled conditions, in samples volume 1 to 10(exp -4) ml. Crystallization of salts from supersaturated solutions is examined by slowly evaporating a solution drop on a substrate, under controlled relative humidity, until self nucleation occurs; controlled nucleation of ice in a mm capillary U-tube gives a measured ice crystallization velocity at known supercooling. Two states of crystallization occur for regions where hydrates exist. It is inferred that all of the materials readily exist as supersaturated/supercooled solutions; the degree of metastability appears to be slightly enhanced by inclusion of aircraft produced soot. The crystallization velocity is taken as a measure of viscosity. Results suggest an approach to a glass transition at high molality, supersaturation and/or supercooling within the range of atmospheric interest. It is hypothesized that surface reactions occur more readily on solidified particles - either crystalline or glass, whereas volume reactions are more important on droplets with sufficiently low viscosity and volume diffusivity. Implications are examined for optical properties of such particles in the atmosphere. In a separate experiment, crystal growth was examined in a modified thermal vapor diffusion chamber over the range of cirrus temperature (-30 to -70 C) and under controlled supersaturation and air pressure. The crystals grew at a velocity of 1-2 microns/s, thickness 60-70 micron, in the form of thin column crystals. Design criteria are given for a system to investigate particle growth down to -100 C, (PSC temperatures) where nitric acid particles can be grown under similar control and in the form of hydrate crystals.

Hallett, John↗
NASA NTRS1990

Lifetime studies of high power rhodium/tungsten and molybdenum electrodes for application to AMTEC (alkali metal thermal-to-electric converter)

A detailed and fundamental model for the electrochemical behavior of AMTEC electrodes is developed which can aid in interpreting the processes which occur during prolonged operation of these electrodes. Because the sintering and grain growth of metal particles is also a well-understood phenomenon, the changes in electrode performance which accompany its morphological evolution may be anticipated and modeled. The grain growth rate observed for porous Mo AMTEC electrodes is significantly higher than that predicted from surface diffusion data obtained at higher temperatures and incorporated into the grain growth model. The grain growth observed under AMTEC conditions is also somewhat higher than that measured for Mo films on BASE (beta-alumina solid electrolyte) substrates in vacuum or at similar temperatures. Results of modeling indicate that thin Mo electrodes may show significant performance degradation for extended operation (greater than 10,000 h) at higher operating temperatures (greater than 1150 K), whereas W/Rh and W/Pt electrodes are expected to show adequate performance at 1200 K for lifetimes greater than 10,000 h. It is pointed out that current collection grids and leads must consist of refractory metals such as Mo and W which do not accelerate sintering or metal migration.

Williams, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Features of Self-Assembling Organic Bilayers Important to the Formation of Anisotropic Inorganic Materials in Microgravity Conditions

There is a growing need for inorganic anisotropic particles in a variety of materials science applications. Structural, optical, and electrical properties can be greatly augmented by the fabrication of composite materials with anisotropic microstructures or with anisotropic particles uniformly dispersed in an isotropic matrix. Examples include structural composites, magnetic and optical recording media, photographic film, certain metal and ceramic alloys, and display technologies including flat panel displays. While considerable progress has been made toward developing an understanding of the synthesis of powders composed of monodispersed, spherical particles, these efforts have not been transferred to the synthesis of anisotropic nanoparticles. The major objective of the program is to develop a fundamental understanding of the growth of anisotropic particles at organic templates, with emphasis on the chemical and structural aspects of layered organic assemblies that contribute to the formation of anisotropic inorganic particles.

Talham, Daniel R.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Wave generation in the transport of particles from large solar flares

The growth rate of Alfven waves produced by energetic solar protons streaming outward from large solar flares is estimated. The mathematical development is directly analogous to that used to describe the self-containment of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. It is found that sufficient intensities of streaming protons can generate Alfven waves that reduce the scattering mean free path of the particles that produce the waves. This scattering impedes further flow of particles. The estimated growth rate of the waves depends linearly upon the particle intensity so that lower energy particles are much more strongly affected than high-energy particles for typical solar spectra.

Reames, Donald V.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Application of Aerosol Hygroscopicity Measured at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program's Southern Great Plains Site to Examine Composition and Evolution

A Differential Mobility Analyzer/Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA/TDMA) was used to measure submicron aerosol size distributions, hygroscopicity, and occasionally volatility during the May 2003 Aerosol Intensive Operational Period (IOP) at the Central Facility of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program's Southern Great Plains (ARM SGP) site. Hygroscopic growth factor distributions for particles at eight dry diameters ranging from 0.012 micrometers to 0.600 micrometers were measured throughout the study. For a subset of particle sizes, more detailed measurements were occasionally made in which the relative humidity or temperature to which the aerosol was exposed was varied over a wide range. These measurements, in conjunction with backtrajectory clustering, were used to infer aerosol composition and to gain insight into the processes responsible for evolution. The hygroscopic growth of both the smallest and largest particles analyzed was typically less than that of particles with dry diameters of about 0.100 micrometers. It is speculated that condensation of secondary organic aerosol on nucleation mode particles is largely responsible for the minimal hygroscopic growth observed at the smallest sizes considered. Growth factor distributions of the largest particles characterized typically contained a nonhygroscopic mode believed to be composed primarily of dust. A model was developed to characterize the hygroscopic properties of particles within a size distribution mode through analysis of the fixed size hygroscopic growth measurements. The performance of this model was quantified through comparison of the measured fixed size hygroscopic growth factor distributions with those simulated through convolution of the size-resolved concentration contributed by each of the size modes and the mode-resolved hygroscopicity. This transformation from sizeresolved hygroscopicity to mode-resolved hygroscopicity facilitated examination of changes in the hygroscopic properties of particles within a size distribution mode that accompanied changes in the sizes of those particles. This model was used to examine three specific cases in which the sampled aerosol evolved slowly over a period of hours or days.

Gasparini, Roberto↗
NASA NTRS2004

Diffraction and imaging study of imperfections of crystallized lysozyme with coherent X-rays

Phase-contrast X-ray diffraction imaging and high-angular-resolution diffraction combined with phase-contrast radiographic imaging were employed to characterize defects and perfection of a uniformly grown tetragonal lysozyme crystal in the symmetric Laue case. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of a 4 4 0 rocking curve measured from the original crystal was approximately 16.7 arcsec and imperfections including line defects, inclusions and other microdefects were observed in the diffraction images of the crystal. The observed line defects carry distinct dislocation features running approximately along the <1 1 0> growth front and have been found to originate mostly in a central growth area and occasionally in outer growth regions. Inclusions of impurities or formations of foreign particles in the central growth region are resolved in the images with high sensitivity to defects. Slow dehydration led to the broadening of a fairly symmetric 4 4 0 rocking curve by a factor of approximately 2.6, which was primarily attributed to the dehydration-induced microscopic effects that are clearly shown in X-ray diffraction images. The details of the observed defects and the significant change in the revealed microstructures with drying provide insight into the nature of imperfections, nucleation and growth, and the properties of protein crystals.

Muramidase/chemistry↗
NASA NTRS2014

Behavior of Particle Depots in Molten Silicon During Float-Zone Growth in Strong Magnetic Fields

Solar cells made from directionally solidified silicon cover 57% of the photovoltaic industry's market [1]. One major issue during directional solidification of silicon is the precipitation of foreign phase particles. These particles, mainly SiC and Si3N4, are precipitated from the dissolved crucible coating, which is made of silicon nitride, and the dissolution of carbon monoxide from the furnace atmosphere. Due to their hardness and size of several hundred micrometers, those particles can lead to severe problems during the wire sawing process for wafering the ingots. Additionally, SiC particles can act as a shunt, short circuiting the solar cell. Even if the particles are too small to disturb the wafering process, they can lead to a grit structure of silicon micro grains and serve as sources for dislocations. All of this lowers the yield of solar cells and reduces the performance of cells and modules. We studied the behaviour of SiC particle depots during float-zone growth under an oxide skin, and strong static magnetic fields. For high field strengths of 3T and above and an oxide layer on the sample surface, convection is sufficiently suppressed to create a diffusive like regime, with strongly dampened convection [2, 3]. To investigate the difference between atomically rough phase boundaries and facetted growth, samples with [100] and [111] orientation were processed.

Jauss, T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Discovery of a shell around Alpha Lyrae

IRAS observations of Alpha Lyrae reveal a large infrared excess beyond 12 microns. The excess over an extrapolation of a 10,000 K blackbody is a factor of 1.3 at 25 microns, 7 at 60 microns, and 16 at 100 microns. The source of 60 microns emission has a diameter of about 20 arcsec. This is the first detection of a large infrared excess from a main-sequence star without significant mass loss. The most likely origin of the excess is thermal radiation from solid particles more than a millimeter in radius, located approximately 85 AU from Alpha Lyr and heated by the star to an equilibrium temperature of 85 K. These results provide the first direct evidence outside of the solar system for the growth of large particles from the residual of the prenatal cloud of gas and dust.

Aumann, H. H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

On the growth of nitric and sulfuric acid aerosol particles under stratospheric conditions

A theory for the formation of frozen aerosol particles in the Antarctic stratosphere was developed and applied to the formation of polar stratospheric clouds. The theory suggests that the condensed ice particles are composed primarily of nitric acid and water, with small admixtures of sulfuric and hydrochloric acids in solid solution. The proposed particle formation mechanism is in agreement with the magnitude and seasonal behavior of the optical extinction observed in the winter polar stratosphere.

Hamill, Patrick↗
NASA NTRS2020

Linkage among Ice Crystal Microphysics, Mesoscale Dynamics and Cloud and Precipitation Structures Revealed By Collocated Microwave Radiometer and Multi-Frequency Radar Observations

Ice clouds and falling snow are ubiquitous globally and play important roles in the Earth’s radiation budget and precipitation processes. Ice particle microphysical properties (e.g., size, habit and orientation) are not only influenced by ambient environment’s dynamic and thermodynamic conditions, but also intimately connect to the cloud radiative effects and particle fall speeds, which therefore impact up to the future climate projection and down to the details of the surface precipitation (e.g., onset-time, location, type and strength). Our previous work revealed that high-frequency Polarimetric radiance Difference (PD) from passive microwave sensors is a good indicator of the bulk aspect ratio of horizontally oriented ice particles that are often occur inside anvil clouds and/or stratiform precipitations. In this current work, we further investigate the dynamic/thermodynamic mechanisms and cloud/precipitation structures associated with ice-phase microphysics corresponding to different PD signals. In order to do so, collocated CloudSat radar (W-band) and Global Precipitation Measurement Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (GPM-DPR, Ku/Ka bands) observations as well as European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmosphere background profiles are grouped according to the magnitude of PD for only stratiform precipitation and/or anvil cloud scenes. We found that horizontally-oriented snow aggregates or large snow particles are likely the major contributor to the high-PD signals at 166 GHz, while low-PD magnitudes can be attributed to small cloud ice, randomly oriented snow aggregates, riming snow or super-cooled water. Further, high (low) PD scenes are found to be associated with stronger (weaker) wind shear and higher (lower) ambient humidity, both of which help promote (prohibit) the growth of frozen particles and the organization of convective systems. An ensemble of squall line cases is studied at the end to demonstrate that the PD asymmetry in the leading and trailing edges of the deep convection line is closely tied to the anvil cloud and stratiform precipitation layers respectively, suggesting the potential usefulness of PD as a proxy of stratiform/convective precipitation flag, as well as a proxy of convection life stage.

Ice crystal microphysics↗
NASA NTRS1994

Rates for neutron-capture reactions on tungsten isotopes in iron meteorites

High-precision W isotopic analyses by Harper and Jacobsen indicate the W-182/W-183 ratio in the Toluca iron meteorite is shifted by -(3.0 +/- 0.9) x 10(exp -4) relative to a terrestrial standard. Possible causes of this shift are neutron-capture reactions on W during Toluca's approximately 600-Ma exposure to cosmic ray particles or radiogenic growth of W-182 from 9-Ma Hf-182 in the silicate portion of the Earth after removal of W to the Earth's core. Calculations for the rates of neutron-capture reactions on W isotopes were done to study the first possibility. The LAHET Code System (LCS) which consists of the Los Alamos High Energy Transport (LAHET) code and the Monte Carlo N-Particle(MCNP) transport code was used to numerically simulate the irradiation of the Toluca iron meteorite by galactic-cosmic-ray (GCR) particles and to calculate the rates of W(n, gamma) reactions. Toluca was modeled as a 3.9-m-radius sphere with the composition of a typical IA iron meteorite. The incident GCR protons and their interactions were modeled with LAHET, which also handled the interactions of neutrons with energies above 20 MeV. The rates for the capture of neutrons by W-182, W-183, and W-186 were calculated using the detailed library of (n, gamma) cross sections in MCNP. For this study of the possible effect of W(n, gamma) reactions on W isotope systematics, we consider the peak rates. The calculated maximum change in the normalized W-182/W-183 ratio due to neutron-capture reactions cannot account for more than 25% of the mass 182 deficit observed in Toluca W.

Masarik, J.↗