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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,441 records · Page 80
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

A structural map of oncomiR-1 at single-nucleotide resolution

The miR-17–92a cluster, also known as ‘oncomiR-1’, is an RNA transcript that plays a pivotal regulatory role in cellular processes, including the cell cycle, proliferation and apoptosis. Its dysregulation underlies the development of several cancers. Oncomir-1 comprises six constituent miRNAs, each processed with different efficiencies as a function of both developmental time and tissue type. The structural mechanisms that regulate such differential processing are unknown, and this has impeded our understanding of the dysregulation of oncomiR-1 in pathophysiology. By probing the sensitivity of each nucleotide in oncomiR-1 to reactive small molecules, we present a secondary structural map of this RNA at single-nucleotide resolution. The secondary structure and solvent accessible regions of oncomiR-1 reveal that most of its primary microRNA domains are suboptimal substrates for Drosha-DGCR8, and therefore resistant to microprocessing. The structure indicates that the binding of trans-acting factors is required to remodel the tertiary organization and unmask cryptic primary microRNA domains to facilitate their processing into pre-microRNAs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Machine Learning-Based Process Control for Injection Molding of Recycled Polypropylene

The increased interest in artificial intelligence in manufacturing has driven the adoption of machine learning to optimize processes and improve efficiency. A key challenge in injection molding is the variability of recycled materials, which affects part quality and processing stability. This study presents a novel closed-loop process control approach for injection molding, leveraging machine learning to adaptively predict processing inputs and quality outcomes. The methodology was tested on five blends of recycled polypropylene (rPP), using artificial neural networks (ANNs), linear regression, and polynomial regression to model the relationships between material properties and process parameters. The dataset was split 80/20 into training and testing sets. The ANN model was implemented using TensorFlow and Keras, with six hidden layers of 32 neurons per layer, ReLU activation, and an Adam optimizer. Empirical tuning and early stopping were used to optimize performance and prevent overfitting. Predictions were evaluated based on mean absolute error (MAE), mean squared error (MSE), and percentage error. The results showed that yield stress, ultimate elongation, and part weight were accurately predicted within a 5% error for linear and polynomial regression models and within a 10% error for the ANN. However, modulus predictions were less reliable, with errors of ~11% for ANN and linear regression and ~40% for polynomial regression, reflecting the inherent variability of this property in rPP blends. Predictions of processing inputs had errors ranging from 3% to 25%, depending on the model and response variable. No single modeling approach was consistently superior across all responses, highlighting the complexity of the relationship between material properties, process parameters, and quality metrics. Overall, the work demonstrates that closed-loop process control, powered by machine learning, can effectively predict key quality parameters in injection molding of recycled materials. The proposed approach can improve process stability and material utilization, facilitating increased adoption of sustainable materials.

Krantz, Joshua↗
DOE OSTI2025

A comparison of plastic and visco-plastic constitutive models for accurate predictions in PM-HIP

Powder metallurgy hot isostatic pressing (PM-HIP) is an advanced manufacturing process that can efficiently produce near net shape parts with high material utilization and uniform microstructures. While the PM-HIP process is used frequently to produce small-scale components, its application to large-scale components is still limited due to inadequate understanding of its complex processes that cause unpredictable post-HIP shape distortions. A computational model can be a cost-effective alternative to exhaustive experimentation required to understand the PM-HIP process fully. Therefore, we present a comparison of plastic and visco-plastic models that are frequently used to model the PM-HIP process. We show that the predictions of powder densification behavior and shape distortions obtained from both the models are similar under most conditions and agree well with experimental observations.

Sarkar, Subrato [ORNL]↗
DOE OSTI2014

Innovative Elution Processes for Recovering Uranium from Seawater

Utilizing amidoxime-based polymer sorbents for extraction of uranium from seawater has attracted considerable interest in recent years. Uranium collected in the sorbent is recovered typically by elution with an acid. One drawback of acid elution is deterioration of the sorbent which is a significant factor that limits the economic competitiveness of the amidoxime-based sorbent systems for sequestering uranium from seawater. Developing innovative elution processes to improve efficiency and to minimize loss of sorbent capacity become essential in order to make this technology economically feasible for large-scale industrial applications. This project has evaluated several elution processes including acid elution, carbonate elution, and supercritical fluid elution for recovering uranium from amidoxime-based polymer sorbents. The elution efficiency, durability and sorbent regeneration for repeated uranium adsorption- desorption cycles in simulated seawater have been studied. Spectroscopic techniques are used to evaluate chemical nature of the sorbent before and after elution. A sodium carbonate-hydrogen peroxide elution process for effective removal of uranium from amidoxime-based sorbent is developed. The cause of this sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide synergistic leaching of uranium from amidoxime-based sorbent is attributed to the formation of an extremely stable uranyl peroxo-carbonato complex. The efficiency of uranium elution by the carbonate-hydrogen peroxide method is comparable to that of the hydrochloric acid elution but damage to the sorbent material is much less for the former. The carbonate- hydrogen peroxide elution also does not need any elaborate step to regenerate the sorbent as those required for hydrochloric acid leaching. Several CO2-soluble ligands have been tested for extraction of uranium from the sorbent in supercritical fluid carbon dioxide. A mixture of hexafluoroacetylacetone and tri-n-butylphosphate shows the best result but uranium removal from the sorbent reaches only 80% after 10 hours of leaching. Some information regarding coordination of vanadium with amidoxime molecules and elution of vanadium from amidoxime- based sorbents is also given in the report.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-Throughput Analysis of Materials for Chemical Looping Processes

Chemical looping is a promising approach for improving the energy efficiency of many industrial chemical processes. However, a major limitation of modern chemical looping technologies is the lack of suitable active materials to mediate the involved subreactions. Identification of suitable materials has been historically limited by the scarcity of high-temperature (>600 °C) thermochemical data to evaluate candidate materials. An accuratethermodynamic approach is demonstrated here to rapidly identify active materials which is applicable to a wide variety of chemical looping chemistries. Application of this analysis to chemical looping combustion correctly classifies 17/17 experimentally studied redox materials by their viability and identifies over 1300 promising yet previously unstudied active materials. This approach is further demonstrated by analyzing redox pairs for mediating a novel chemical looping process for producing pure SO2 from raw sulfur and air which could provide a more efficient and lower emission route to sulfuric acid. 12 promising redox materials for this process are identified, two of which are supported by previous experimental studies of their individual oxidation and reduction reactions. This approach provides the necessary foundation for connecting process design with high-throughput material discovery to accelerate the innovation and development of a wide range of chemical looping technologies.

chemical looping↗
DOE OSTI2016

A superstructure representation, generation, and modeling framework for chemical process synthesis

We present a framework for the efficient representation, generation, and modeling of superstructures for process synthesis. First, we develop a new representation based on three basic elements: units, ports, and conditioning streams. Second, we present four rules based on “minimal” and “feasible” component sets for the generation of simple superstructures containing all feasible embedded processes. Third, in terms of modeling, we develop a modular approach, and formulate models for each basic element. We also present a canonical form of element models using input/output variables and constrained/free variables. The proposed methods provide a coherent framework for superstructure‐based process synthesis, allowing efficient model generation and modification. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 62: 3199–3214, 2016

Wu, WenZhao↗
NASA NTRS1988

An intelligent processing environment for real-time simulation

The development of a highly efficient and thus truly intelligent processing environment for real-time general purpose simulation of continuous systems is described. Such an environment can be created by mapping the simulation process directly onto the University of Alamba's OPERA architecture. To facilitate this effort, the field of continuous simulation is explored, highlighting areas in which efficiency can be improved. Areas in which parallel processing can be applied are also identified, and several general OPERA type hardware configurations that support improved simulation are investigated. Three direct execution parallel processing environments are introduced, each of which greatly improves efficiency by exploiting distinct areas of the simulation process. These suggested environments are candidate architectures around which a highly intelligent real-time simulation configuration can be developed.

Carroll, Chester C.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cost and life cycle analysis for deep CO 2 emissions reduction of steelmaking: Blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace and electric arc furnace technologies

Iron and steel manufacturing is the largest contributor to CO 2 emissions among heavy industries worldwide. This is mostly due to the use of coal in blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) process for virgin (primary) steel production. The electricity generation mix used in the electric arc furnace (EAF) process to recycle scrap steel also contributes to the CO 2 emission associated with secondary steel production. To decarbonize iron and steel sector, we investigated decarbonization options for BF-BOF and EAF processes, including energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage, and the use of clean energy sources, in various BF-BOF and EAF process configurations. Additionally, for each decarbonization approach, we evaluated the CO 2 reduction potential via life cycle analysis (LCA) and estimated the associated cost through techno-economic analysis (TEA). A typical U.S. BF-BOF for virgin steel production has a cradle-to-gate (CTG) CO 2 emissions of 1,990 kg/MT steel with a levelized cost of steel (LCOS) of $\$439$/MT steel, while a typical U.S. EAF process for secondary steel production in the United States has a CTG CO 2 emissions of 270 kg/MT steel with a LCOS of $\$365$/MT steel. Combining renewable energy sources and carbon capture, BF-BOF CTG CO 2 emissions can be reduced to 16 kg/MT steel, and EAF configurations can achieve similar deep reductions to reach 25 kg/MT steel. The corresponding LCOS with these decarbonization levels is estimated to increase to $\$542$/MT steel and $\$348$/MT steel, respectively. The estimated CO 2 avoidance costs vary from -$\$90$/MT CO 2 to $\$646$/MT CO 2 , depending on the various decarbonization technologies and energy prices.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS2012

Broad-Bandwidth FPGA-Based Digital Polyphase Spectrometer

With present concern for ecological sustainability ever increasing, it is desirable to model the composition of Earth s upper atmosphere accurately with regards to certain helpful and harmful chemicals, such as greenhouse gases and ozone. The microwave limb sounder (MLS) is an instrument designed to map the global day-to-day concentrations of key atmospheric constituents continuously. One important component in MLS is the spectrometer, which processes the raw data provided by the receivers into frequency-domain information that cannot only be transmitted more efficiently, but also processed directly once received. The present-generation spectrometer is fully analog. The goal is to include a fully digital spectrometer in the next-generation sensor. In a digital spectrometer, incoming analog data must be converted into a digital format, processed through a Fourier transform, and finally accumulated to reduce the impact of input noise. While the final design will be placed on an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the building of these chips is prohibitively expensive. To that end, this design was constructed on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). A family of state-of-the-art digital Fourier transform spectrometers has been developed, with a combination of high bandwidth and fine resolution. Analog signals consisting of radiation emitted by constituents in planetary atmospheres or galactic sources are downconverted and subsequently digitized by a pair of interleaved analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). This 6-Gsps (gigasample per second) digital representation of the analog signal is then processed through an FPGA-based streaming fast Fourier transform (FFT). Digital spectrometers have many advantages over previously used analog spectrometers, especially in terms of accuracy and resolution, both of which are particularly important for the type of scientific questions to be addressed with next-generation radiometers.

Jamot, Robert F.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Usefulness of multiqubit W-type states in quantum information processing

We analyze the efficiency of multiqubit W-type states as resources for quantum information. For this, we identify and generalize four-qubit W-type states. Our results show that these states can be used as resources for deterministic quantum information processing. The utility of results, however, is limited by the availability of experimental setups to perform and distinguish multiqubit measurements. We therefore emphasize protocols where two users want to establish an optimal bipartite entanglement using the partially entangled W-type states. We find that for such practical purposes, four-qubit W-type states can be a better resource in comparison to three-qubit W-type states. For a dense coding protocol, our states can be used deterministically to send two bits of classical message by locally manipulating a single qubit. In addition, we also propose a realistic experimental method to prepare the four-qubit W-type states using standard unitary operations and weak measurements.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Solid Phase Processing at the Extreme

The effective application of high-flow-stress materials in the realm of Solid Phase Processing frequently necessitates operating at elevated temperatures and substantially high force. These rigorous processing conditions give rise to intricate predicaments concerning the durability of the tools and dies involved, as well as the efficient utilization of process energy. This project is centered on the investigation of the fundamental scientific aspects inherent to these challenges. We aim to delve into the details of how materials react when subjected to intense shear forces at die interfaces, determine the metallurgical interactions occurring at the interfaces with the dies, and investigate the consequences of extreme temperatures on material flow, microstructural evolution, and resultant properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1989

Reversal electron attachment ionizer for detection of trace species

An in-line reversal electron, high-current ionizer capable of focusing a beam of electrons to a reversal region and executing a reversal of the electrons, such that the electrons possess zero kinetic energy at the point of reversal, may be used to produce both negative and positive ions. A sample gas is introduced at the point of electron reversal for low energy electron-(sample gas) molecule attachment with high efficiency. The attachment process produces negative ions from the sample gas, which includes species present in trace (minute) amounts. These ions are extracted efficiently and directed to a mass analyzer where they may be detected and identified. The generation and detection of positive ions is accomplished in a similar fashion with minimal adjustment to potentials applied to the apparatus.

Bernius, Mark T.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Reversal electron attachment ionizer for detection of trace species

An in-line reversal electron, high-current ionizer capable of focusing a beam of electrons to a reversal region and executing a reversal of said electrons, such that the electrons possess zero kinetic energy at the point of reversal, may be used to produce both negative and positive ions. A sample gas is introduced at the point of electron reversal for low energy electron-(sample gas) molecule attachment with high efficiency. The attachment process produces negative ions from the sample gas, which includes species present in trace (minute) amounts. These ions are extracted efficiently and directed to a mass analyzer where they may be detected and identified. The generation and detection of positive ions is accomplished in a similar fashion with minimal adjustment to potentials applied to the apparatus.

Bernius, Mark T.↗
DOE OSTI2017

A New Graphical Dismantling Process Simulation Technology for Flexible Planning of Nuclear Facility

The dismantling of highly radioactive components of the nuclear facility is one of the most difficult activities in decommissioning. In the planning stage, the dismantling scenario including dismantling equipment and processes has a significant effect on the cost and safety of the whole decommissioning. High level radiation of the dismantling object such as a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and its internals restricts access by human workers, and makes an accident during the dismantling process more difficult to deal with. Decommissioning of nuclear facilities demand a large scale of budget and high level of safety, and therefore the preliminary verification of dismantling scenarios by graphical simulation has special importance at planning stage. In recent years, the manufacturing industry has aggressively adopted the virtual manufacturing technology to verify the facilities and processes with high efficiency. The virtual manufacturing technology was beginning to be adopted in the area of the nuclear facility decommissioning. The dismantling process of the Rotary Specimen Rack (RSR) in the Korea Research Reactor-1 and 2 was established and it was also applied to replace the steam generators on time and on budget in San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Current virtual manufacturing technologies are not sufficient for the area of nuclear facility decommissioning because the object segmenting function absolutely required for graphical simulations over various dismantling scenarios is unavailable. This paper proposes a new technology for graphical decommissioning simulator which is able to simulate various dismantling scenarios over nuclear facilities including repetitive object cuttings of heavy and complex structures by applying flexible cutting algorithm.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Process Intensification in Multicomponent Distillation: A Review of Recent Advancements

Process Intensification (PI) is an emerging concept in chemical engineering that describes the design innovations that lead to significant shrinkage in size and boost in efficiency of a process plant. Distillation, the most commonly used separation technique in the chemical industry, is a crucial component of PI. We systematically discuss the following aspects of PI in non-azeotropic multicomponent distillation: 1) Introducing thermal couplings to eliminate intermediate reboilers and condensers to save energy and capital cost; 2) Improving operability of thermally coupled columns by means of eliminating vapor streams in thermal couplings with only liquid transfers or column section rearrangement; 3) Enabling double and multi-effect distillation of thermally coupled configurations to further reduce heat duty; 4) Performing simultaneous heat and mass integration among thermally coupled columns to reduce the number of columns and heat duty; and 5) Conducting any thermally coupled distillation in n-product streams using 1 to n - 2 column shells with operable novel dividing wall columns. We demonstrate these aspects of PI through examples to illustrate how they lead to compact, easy-to-operate, energy efficient and cost effective multicomponent distillation system designs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Multiphysics simulation of microscale copper printing by confined electrodeposition using a nozzle array

3D printing of metals at the microscale and nanoscale is crucial to produce high-density interconnects and intricate structures in electronic devices. Conventional melting and sintering processes are not suitable for these scales due to a reliance on individual metal particles in the size range of tens of micrometers. Confined electrodeposition (CED) is an established alternative to conventional metal 3D printing processes in which an electrolyte is used to selectively induce deposition of the metal on the printing surface. However, commercialization and efficiency of this process have been limited due to a reliance on sub-micrometer nozzles to achieve desirable deposition rates and single nozzle to achieve uniformity of printed structures. Here, we address these challenges by computationally analyzing an array of microscale nozzles. We tailor the convection within the electrolyte to alter both deposition rate and geometric uniformity of the printed structures. The results show that for large nozzles the evaporation alone is not sufficient to obtain high deposition rates, yet an external pressure can be used to increase deposition and alter uniformity (thickness) of printed structures. Our results can be used to design and analyze new experiments toward parallel multi-nozzle deposition using CED toward high-throughput metal printing.

3D printing↗
DOE OSTI2012

CMS Workflow Execution using Intelligent Job Scheduling and Data Access Strategies

Complex scientific workflows can process large amounts of data using thousands of tasks. The turnaround times of these workflows are often affected by various latencies such as the resource discovery, scheduling and data access latencies for the individual workflow processes or actors. Minimizing these latencies will improve the overall execution time of a workflow and thus lead to a more efficient and robust processing environment. In this paper, we propose a pilot job based infrastructure that has intelligent data reuse and job execution strategies to minimize the scheduling, queuing, execution and data access latencies. The results have shown that significant improvements in the overall turnaround time of a workflow can be achieved with this approach. The proposed approach has been evaluated, first using the CMS Tier0 data processing workflow, and then simulating the workflows to evaluate its effectiveness in a controlled environment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1987

Producing Hydrogen With Sunlight

Costs high but reduced by further research. Producing hydrogen fuel on large scale from water by solar energy practical if plant costs reduced, according to study. Sunlight attractive energy source because it is free and because photon energy converts directly to chemical energy when it breaks water molecules into diatomic hydrogen and oxygen. Conversion process low in efficiency and photochemical reactor must be spread over large area, requiring large investment in plant. Economic analysis pertains to generic photochemical processes. Does not delve into details of photochemical reactor design because detailed reactor designs do not exist at this early stage of development.

Biddle, J. R.↗