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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Advanced Engineering Environments for Space Transportation System Development

There are significant challenges facing today's launch vehicle industry. Global competition, more complex products, geographically-distributed design teams, demands for lower cost, higher reliability and safer vehicles, and the need to incorporate the latest technologies quicker, all face the developer of a space transportation system. Within NASA, multiple technology development and demonstration projects are underway toward the objectives of safe, reliable, and affordable access to space. New information technologies offer promising opportunities to develop advanced engineering environments to meet these challenges. Significant advances in the state-of-the-art of aerospace engineering practice are envisioned in the areas of engineering design and analytical tools, cost and risk tools, collaborative engineering, and high-fidelity simulations early in the development cycle. At the Marshall Space Flight Center, work has begun on development of an advanced engineering environment specifically to support the design, modeling, and analysis of space transportation systems. This paper will give an overview of the challenges of developing space transportation systems in today's environment and subsequently discuss the advanced engineering environment and its anticipated benefits.

Thomas, L. Dale↗
NASA NTRS1999

Analysis of the Laser Lightcraft Vehicle

Advanced propulsion research and technology concepts require launch and space flight technologies, which can drastically reduce mission costs. Laser propulsion is a concept in which energy of a thrust producing reaction mass is supplied via beamed energy from an off-board power source. A variety of laser beamed energy concepts were theoretically and experimentally investigated since the early 1970's. During the 1980's the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDIO) research lead to the invention of the Laser Lightcraft concept. Based upon the Laser Lightcraft concept, the propulsion research center, TD 40, within the Space Transportation Directorate of NASA MSFC has set out to develop technologies required for launching small payloads into Earth Orbit for a cost of $1.0M or $1000/lb to $100/lb. The near term objectives are to demonstrate technologies and capabilities essential for a future earth to orbit launch capability. Laser propulsion offers the advantages of both high thrust and good specific impulse, I(sp) in excess of 1000 s(exp -1). Other advantages are the simplicity and reliability of the engine because of few moving parts; simplistic propellant feed system, and low specific fuel consumption as a result of high specific impulse. Major limitations of this approach are the laser power available, absorption and distortion of the pulsed laser beam through the atmosphere, and coupling laser power into thrust throughout the flight envelope. This summer's effort focused on performance of the laser engine, which included 1) optical ray tracing and 2), a time dependent calculation of the optically induced blast wave.

Feikema, Douglas A.↗
DOE OSTI2022

EV Charging and the Impacts of Electricity Demand Charges

These slides were presented at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator's (LACI's) April 2022 combined Light-Duty and Goods Movement Working Group meetings. The talk summarized recent and ongoing research at NREL to model EV charging demands for passenger and commercial M/HD vehicles and estimate the impacts of utility demand charges on charging costs.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,POWER TRANSMISSION AND↗
NASA NTRS1992

The SIMPSONS project: An integrated Mars transportation system

In response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for an integrated transportation system network for an advanced Martian base, Frontier Transportation Systems (FTS) presents the results of the SIMPSONS project (Systems Integration for Mars Planetary Surface Operations Networks). The following topics are included: the project background, vehicle design, future work, conclusions, management status, and cost breakdown. The project focuses solely on the surface-to-surface transportation at an advanced Martian base.

Kaplan, Matthew↗
NASA NTRS1980

Design study of flat belt CVT for electric vehicles

A continuously variable transmission (CVT) was studied, using a novel flat belt pulley arrangement which couples the high speed output shaft of an energy storage flywheel to the drive train of an electric vehicle. A specific CVT arrangement was recommended and its components were selected and sized, based on the design requirements of a 1700 KG vehicle. A design layout was prepared and engineering calculations made of component efficiencies and operating life. The transmission efficiency was calculated to be significantly over 90% with the expected vehicle operation. A design consistent with automotive practice for low future production costs was considered, together with maintainability. The technology advancements required to develop the flat belt CVT were identified and an estimate was made of how the size of the flat belt CVT scales to larger and smaller design output torques. The suitability of the flat belt CVT for alternate application to an electric vehicle powered by an electric motor without flywheel and to a hybrid electric vehicle powered by an electric motor with an internal combustion engine was studied.

Kumm, E. L.↗
DOE OSTI2022

A 1MHz Oak Ridge AC / DC Converter for UAV Contactless Charger Implementation

In this paper, a 1 MHz single-phase Oak Ridge Converter (ORC) AC/DC wireless power transfer (WPT) system is introduced for unmanned air vehicle (UAV) charging applications. The proposed advanced solution eliminates the design, weight, volume, and the cost of the power factor correcting (PFC) front-end rectifier compared to the conventional practices. Additionally, grid power quality requirements can be achieved with the presented innovative idea. With this method, single stage WPT primary side uses the hybrid grid frequency and high frequency (60 Hz and 1 MHZ) from ac source through the coupler coils and to UAV battery with GaN FETs. Experimental results of the single-phase system is presented to confirm the mathematical analyses with the source voltage of 110 VAC, RMS and output voltage of 40 VDC at 1 kW power with 6 inches air gap between couplers. The primary coupler consists of a ferrite-backed single-turn coil with a radius of 1.5 ft, and the secondary coupler is made with an air-core single-turn coil with radius of 1.2 ft. The system overall ac to dc efficiency is measured 77 % acquiring 0.99 power factor (PF) and 3.3 % current total harmonic distortion (THD) at 1 kW power.

Asa, Erdem↗
NASA NTRS1982

PPOD Programmable pilot-oriented display

A general-purpose low cost research microprocessor system for general aviation was developed. This system is intended to be the vehicle for individual research efforts in low cost airborne hardware and software as well as advanced microprocessor based navigation systems and techniques. Two such research projects were undertaken, yielding results in the areas of micro hardware/software design, cost and performance, and pilot/computer interface. Low-cost flight software reliability and a time-difference based Loran approach procedure that eliminates the need for propagation corrections and latitude/longitude transformations are also discussed.

Elias, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Orbit transfer rocket engine integrated control and health monitoring system technology readiness assessment

The objectives of this task were to: (1) estimate the technology readiness of an integrated control and health monitoring (ICHM) system for the Aerojet 7500 lbF Orbit Transfer Vehicle engine preliminary design assuming space based operations; and (2) estimate the remaining cost to advance this technology to a NASA defined 'readiness level 6' by 1996 wherein the technology has been demonstrated with a system validation model in a simulated environment. The work was accomplished through the conduct of four subtasks. In subtask 1 the minimally required functions for the control and monitoring system was specified. The elements required to perform these functions were specified in Subtask 2. In Subtask 3, the technology readiness level of each element was assessed. Finally, in Subtask 4, the development cost and schedule requirements were estimated for bringing each element to 'readiness level 6'.

Bickford, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Future space transportation system architecture avionics requirements

NASA began a multi-center study in January 1993 to examine options for providing the most cost effective space transportation system in the future. The key advanced avionics requirements for these vehicle concepts are envisioned to provide significantly improved operational efficiency and effectiveness. It is very desirable to have adaptive guidance, navigation, and control approaches that will allow launch and return in almost any weather condition. The vehicles must be able to accommodate atmospheric density variations and winds without software changes. The flight operations must become much more autonomous in all flight regimes like an aircraft, and preflight checkout should make use of the onboard systems. When the vehicle returns to the launch site, subsystem health must be known and maintenance tasks scheduled accordingly. Ground testing of most subsystems must be eliminated. Also, the health monitoring system must be designed to enhance the ability to abort the mission significantly and save the crew and the vehicle. The displays and controls must be much less complex than current systems and must significantly reduce pilot work load. It is important to have low power, light weight displays and controls. Rendezvous and docking and all flight phases must have autopilot capability to reduce pilot work load for routine operations and in abort situations. The vehicles must have the demonstrated ability to return to the launch site. Abort from all mission phases can put additional demands on the communications system.

Stone, Howard↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Trends from the Alternative Fueling Station Locator (Third Quarter 2023)

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure continues to rapidly change and grow. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Alternative Fueling Station Locator, this report provides a snapshot of the state of EV charging infrastructure in the United States in the third calendar quarter of 2023 (Q3 2023) by charging level, network, and location. Additionally, this report measures the current state of charging infrastructure compared to the infrastructure requirement scenario outlined in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) report, The 2030 National Charging Network: Estimating U.S. Light-Duty Demand for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. This information is intended to help transportation planners, policymakers, researchers, infrastructure developers, and others understand the rapidly changing landscape of EV charging infrastructure. This is the fifteenth report in a series. Reports from previous quarters can be found in the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) and NREL publication databases, as well as the AFDC Charging Infrastructure Trends page (https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_infrastructure_trends.html).

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Trends from the Alternative Fueling Station Locator: Fourth Quarter 2023

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure continues to rapidly change and grow. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Alternative Fueling Station Locator, this report provides a snapshot of the state of EV charging infrastructure in the United States in the fourth calendar quarter of 2023 (Q4 2023) by charging level, network, and location. Additionally, this report measures the current state of charging infrastructure compared to the infrastructure requirement scenario outlined in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) report, The 2030 National Charging Network: Estimating U.S. Light-Duty Demand for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. This information is intended to help transportation planners, policymakers, researchers, infrastructure developers, and others understand the rapidly changing landscape of EV charging infrastructure. This is the sixteenth report in a series. Reports from previous quarters can be found in the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) and NREL publication databases, as well as the AFDC Charging Infrastructure Trends page (https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_infrastructure_trends.html).

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Trends from the Alternative Fueling Station Locator: First Quarter 2024

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure continues to rapidly change and grow. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Alternative Fueling Station Locator, this report provides a snapshot of the state of EV charging infrastructure in the United States in the first calendar quarter of 2024 (Q1 2024) by charging level, network, and location. Additionally, this report measures the current state of charging infrastructure compared to the infrastructure requirement scenario outlined in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) report, "The 2030 National Charging Network: Estimating U.S. Light-Duty Demand for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure" (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/85654.pdf). This information is intended to help transportation planners, policymakers, researchers, infrastructure developers, and others understand the rapidly changing landscape of EV charging infrastructure. This is the 17th report in a series. Reports from previous quarters can be found in the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) and NREL publication databases, as well as the AFDC Charging Infrastructure Trends page (https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_infrastructure_trends.html).

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRS2026

NASA Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) Phase 2 Q3’GFY25 to Q2’GFY26 Unlimited Rights Annual Report for CLIN 1 and 2

The HyTEC Phase 2 Project focuses on the development and demonstration of high-power density, small engine core gas turbine engine technologies. The focus of HyTEC on these small engine core technologies will provide direct benefits to the next single-aisle class aircraft in terms of thermal efficiency, as well as integrate with other technologies, through increased hybridization, as they mature to provide substantial continuous fuel burn reductions during the aircraft lifecycle. These advances will strengthen the US position in the commercial aviation engine market and enable cost benefits in commercial aviation. In Government fiscal year 26 the HyTEC Project was closed and contract moved to the Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools Project. GE Aerospace is executing two major work plans as part of the HyTEC Phase 2 contract. The first is Contract Line-Item Number (CLIN) 001 and its objective is to mature High Pressure Turbine (HPT) aerodynamics technology to TRL 5 through multiple rigs so that it may be incorporated into a complete TRL 6 evaluation and unlock learnings for the engine core demonstration as applicable. CLIN 002, the second work plan, is to design, procure and test a cost shared portion of technologies on the TRL6 Compact Core test vehicle. The compact core demonstrated through HyTEC Phase 2 along with the HPT rig TRL advancement directly matures the technologies being developed as part of the CFM RISE demonstrator program which is targeting a more than 20% fuel burn reduction at the engine level versus today’s state of the art. The RISE program’s objective is to advance both the novel Open Fan architecture, compact core technologies and advanced systems such as hybrid electric needed to achieve the desired fuel burn reduction to TRL6 ahead of a new product introduction in the single-aisle class aircraft in the 2030s timeframe.

gas turbine engine↗
DOE OSTI2024

Delivering Clean Air in Denver: Propane Trucks and Infrastructure in Mail Delivery Application

In 2021, Drive Clean Colorado, a Denver-based Clean Cities coalition, initiated the deployment of five Class 6 medium-duty propane autogas delivery trucks into a United States Postal Service (USPS) mail delivery contractor fleet with the goal of providing a proof-of-concept demonstration for mail delivery fleets nationwide. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, the project, titled "Delivering Clean Air in Denver: Propane Trucks and Infrastructure in Mail Delivery Application," enabled the purchase and deployment of the propane-powered trucks, refueling infrastructure, and supporting analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Key objectives of the analysis included calculating the propane vehicles' emissions reductions, analyzing the costs and operational performance of the propane fleet compared to conventional diesel-powered vehicles, and evaluating the viability of propane as a clean and cost-effective alternative to conventional diesel trucks (AFDC 2023b, 2023c). The primary goal of the project was to demonstrate alternative fuel vehicles in a mail transport application and evaluate the viability of propane as a clean and cost-effective alternative to conventional diesel trucks. This proof-of-concept demonstration is expected to lead to improved understanding of the performance attributes, costs, and operational issues to inform technology adoption decisions, helping to spur market transformation toward lower-emission truck fleets. By reducing the risk of first adoption, potential exists to transform the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail delivery system into a lower-carbon national fleet. This technical report details the vehicle duty cycle characterization and fleet cost and performance comparison performed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in addition to estimated emissions reductions for delivery operations.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Model Quality and Measurement Density Impact on Volt/Volt Ampere Reactive Optimization Performance

The operation of the utility grid is being reshaped by the continuous addition of distributed energy resources and advanced metering infrastructure, which challenge existing grid control strategies. Some utilities deploy advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) to assist with the consolidation of various applications and to augment situational awareness in response to the new power delivery dynamics. An ADMS is an integrated software platform that provides utilities with a way to enhance their reliability, control, and optimization with advanced applications, such as volt/VAR optimization (VVO). A VVO application could serve as a vehicle to deliver cost savings by providing the utility with a method to reduce rates by controlling the voltage and decreasing the energy usage in their service territory. Some utilities are reluctant to integrate an ADMS, because it is a significant investment that requires approval from the public regulatory commission and/or their customers. This paper evaluates the impact on VVO performance when using a lower-quality network model supplemented with additional measurements, which could provide an implementation for cost savings. The results show that a better model quality would provide the highest energy savings; however, some level of telemetry is necessary in all scenarios to prevent voltage exceedances.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1991

Advances in robust flight design

Current launch vehicle trajectory design philosophies, generally based on maximizing payload capability, result in an expensive and time-consuming iteration in trajectory design for each mission. However, for a launch system that is not performance-driven, a flight design that is robust to variations in missions and provides single-engine-out capability can be highly cost-effective. This philosophy has led to the development of two flight design concepts to reduce recurring costs: standard trajectories and command multiplier steering. Preliminary analyses of these two concepts had proven the feasibility and showed encouraging results in applications to an Advanced Launch System vehicle. Recent progress has demonstrated the effective and efficient integration of the two concepts with minimal payload penalty.

Wong, Kelvin K.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Operation, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain of Lithium-ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has a rich history of funding key innovations in batteries through multiple programs, including the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs sponsored by the Vehicle Technologies Office and Advanced Manufacturing Office. These DOE-sponsored innovations have been critical in lowering the cost of lithium-ion batteries to less than $160/kWh and increasing their energy density to more than 250 Wh/kg, enhancing the nation’s electrification system and achieving higher degrees of decarbonization. These investments continue to be crucial for positioning the United States as the hub for the most cumulative battery R&D programs worldwide. However, major breakthroughs in battery manufacturing are still needed to enable an electrified future evolving to predominantly incorporate rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. This will require a strong battery manufacturing base that will not only enable cutting-edge advancements in materials and manufacturing sciences but will also allow the United States to become a world leader in this fast-growing area. This review aims at supporting DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program to give technology background and information that can be used to develop the basis for loan topics and evaluate battery applications. Such a program can represent a significant stride toward reinforcing the US position in advanced manufacturing by introducing artificial intelligence, machine learning, and sensing and smart controls to facilitate, expedite, and lead the battery industry by 2030.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Vehicle Residual Value Analysis by Powertrain Type and Impacts on Total Cost of Ownership

Vehicle depreciation is a key factor in determining the total cost of vehicle ownership and consumer purchase behavior. This report examines how light-duty-vehicle residual values have evolved over time for conventional and advanced vehicle technologies, accounting for important factors such as market segment, size class, and country of assembly. Advancements in electric vehicle technology have led to plug-in vehicles exhibiting depreciation curves similar to those of conventional vehicles. This report compares two methods for determining depreciation trends (snapshot method and time-series method) in order to identify potential impacts on calculating vehicle total cost of ownership given differing data availability.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗