Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Spray Forming”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9

Small-Scale Spray Releases: Initial Aerosol Test Results

One of the events postulated in the hazard analysis at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear facilities is a breach in process piping that produces aerosols with droplet sizes in the respirable range. The current approach for predicting the size and concentration of aerosols produced in a spray leak involves extrapolating from correlations reported in the literature. These correlations are based on results obtained from small engineered spray nozzles using pure liquids with Newtonian fluid behavior. The narrow ranges of physical properties on which the correlations are based do not cover the wide range of slurries and viscous materials that will be processed in the WTP and across processing facilities in the DOE complex. Two key technical areas were identified where testing results were needed to improve the technical basis by reducing the uncertainty due to extrapolating existing literature results. The first technical need was to quantify the role of slurry particles in small breaches where the slurry particles may plug and result in substantially reduced, or even negligible, respirable fraction formed by high-pressure sprays. The second technical need was to determine the aerosol droplet size distribution and volume from prototypic breaches and fluids, specifically including sprays from larger breaches with slurries where data from the literature are scarce. To address these technical areas, small- and large-scale test stands were constructed and operated with simulants to determine aerosol release fractions and net generation rates from a range of breach sizes and geometries. The properties of the simulants represented the range of properties expected in the WTP process streams and included water, sodium salt solutions, slurries containing boehmite or gibbsite, and a hazardous chemical simulant. The effect of antifoam agents was assessed with most of the simulants. Orifices included round holes and rectangular slots. For the combination of both test stands, the round holes ranged in size from 0.2 to 4.46 mm. The slots ranged from (width × length) 0.3 × 5 to 2.74 × 76.2 mm. Most slots were oriented longitudinally along the pipe, but some were oriented circumferentially. In addition, a limited number of multi-hole test pieces were tested in an attempt to assess the impact of a more complex breach. Much of the testing was conducted at pressures of 200 and 380 psi, but some tests were conducted at 100 psi. Testing the largest postulated breaches was deemed impractical because of the much larger flow rates and equipment that would be required. This report presents the experimental results and analyses for the aerosol measurements obtained in the small-scale test stand. It includes a description of the simulants used and their properties, equipment and operations, data analysis methodologies, and test results. The results of tests investigating the role of slurry particles in plugging small breaches are reported in Mahoney et al. (2012). The results of the aerosol measurements in the large-scale test stand are reported in Schonewill et al. (2012) along with an analysis of the combined results from both test scales.

Mahoney, Lenna A.↗

Ignition and Flame Development in the Case of Diesel Fuel Injection

To investigate the process of ignition and combustion in the case of spray injection into heated air, a new form of apparatus is developed and the tests carried out with it described. Photographs of the spray before and after ignition are obtained at frequencies of 500 pictures per second. Pressures and temperatures are simultaneously recorded on oscillograms. Information on the initial conditions, ignition time lag, period of complete combustion, place where ignition starts, and general course of the combustion is obtained.

Holfelder, Otto↗

Ambient cure polyimide foams

Flame and temperature resistant polyimide foams are prepared by the reaction of an aromatic dianhydride, (pyromellitic dianhydride) with an aromatic polyisocyanate, (polymethylene polyphenylisocyanate), in the presence of an inorganic acid and furfuryl alcohol. Usable acids include dilute sulfuric acid, dilute nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, polyphosphoric acid, and phosphoric acid, with the latter being preferred. The dianhydride and the isocyanate in about equimolar proportions constitute about 50% of the reaction mixture, the rest being made up with the acid and the alcohol in a ratio of about 1:10. An exothermic reaction between the acid and the alcohol provides the heat necessary for the other components to polymerize without recourse to external heat sources. The mixture can be sprayed on any surface to form polymeric foam in locations where the application of heat is not practical or possible, for instance, between walls or on mine tunnel surfaces.

Sawko, P. M.↗

Silicone/Acrylate Copolymers

Two-step process forms silicone/acrylate copolymers. Resulting acrylate functional fluid is reacted with other ingredients to produce copolymer. Films of polymer were formed by simply pouring or spraying mixture and allowing solvent to evaporate. Films showed good weatherability. Durable, clear polymer films protect photovoltaic cells.

Dennis, W. E.↗

Properties of filamentary sublimation residues from dispersions of clay in ice

Results are reported from experimental studies of the formation of ice mixed with mineral particles in an effort to simulate similar processes on natural surfaces such as at the Martian poles, on comet nuclei and on icy satellites. The study consisted of low-pressure, low-temperature sublimations of water ice from dilutions of water-clay (montmorillonite and Cabosil) dispersions of various component ratios. Liquid dispersions were sprayed into liquid nitrogen to form droplets at about -50 C. Both clay-water dispersions left a filamentary residue on the bottom of the Dewar after the water ice had sublimated off. The residue was studied with optical and SEM microscopy, the latter method revealing a high electrical conductivity in the residue. The results suggest that the sublimation of the water ice can leave a surface crust, which may be analogous to processes at the Martian poles and on comet nuclei. The process could proceed by the attachment of water molecules to salt crystals during the hottest part of the Martian year. The residue remaining was found to remain stable up to 370 C, be porous, and remain resilient, which could allow it to insulate ice bodies such as comets in space.

Saunders, R. S.↗

The Mechanism of Atomization Accompanying Solid Injection

A brief historical and descriptive account of solid injection is followed by a detailed review of the available theoretical and experimental data that seem to throw light on the mechanism of this form of atomization. It is concluded that this evidence indicates that (1) the atomization accompanying solid injection occurs at the surface of the liquid after it issues as a solid stream from the orifice; and (2) that such atomization has a mechanism physically identical with the atomization which takes place in an air stream, both being due merely to the formation, at the gas-liquid interface, of fine ligaments under the influence of the relative motion of gas and liquid, and to their collapse, under the influence of surface tension, to form the drops in the spray.

Castleman, R A , Jr↗

Self-Calibrating, Variable-Flow Pumping System

Pumping system provides accurate, controlled flows of two chemical liquids mixed in spray head and react to form rigid or flexible polyurethane or polyisocyanurate foam. Compatible with currently used polyurethane-based coating materials and gas-bubble-forming agents (called "blowing agents" in industry) and expected to be compatible with materials that used in near future. Handles environmentally acceptable substitutes for chlorofluorocarbon foaming agents.

Walls, Joe T.↗

Multivariate Quantitative Chemical Analysis

Technique of multivariate quantitative chemical analysis devised for use in determining relative proportions of two components mixed and sprayed together onto object to form thermally insulating foam. Potentially adaptable to other materials, especially in process-monitoring applications in which necessary to know and control critical properties of products via quantitative chemical analyses of products. In addition to chemical composition, also used to determine such physical properties as densities and strengths.

Kinchen, David G.↗

Composite foam structures

A composite rigid foam structure that has a skin or coating on at least one of its surfaces. The skin is formed in situ by thermal spray techniques. The skin is bonded substantially throughout the surface of the porous substrate to the peripheries of the pores. The skin on the average does not penetrate the surface of the substrate by more than the depth of about 2 to 5 pores. Thus, thermal spraying the skin onto the rigid foam produces a composite that is tightly and uniformly bonded together without unduly increasing the weight of the composite structure. Both thermal conductivity and bonding are excellent.

Williams, Brian E.↗

Method for making surfactant-templated thin films

An evaporation-induced self-assembly method to prepare a porous, surfactant-templated, thin film by mixing a silica sol, a solvent, a surfactant, and an interstitial compound, evaporating a portion of the solvent to form a liquid, crystalline thin film mesophase material, and then removal of the surfactant template. Coating onto a substrate produces a thin film with the interstitial compound either covalently bonded to the internal surfaces of the ordered or disordered mesostructure framework or physically entrapped within the ordered or disordered mesostructured framework. Particles can be formed by aerosol processing or spray drying rather than coating onto a substrate. The selection of the interstitial compound provides a means for developing thin films for applications including membranes, sensors, low dielectric constant films, photonic materials and optical hosts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Column Formation in Suspension Plasma-Sprayed Coatings and Resultant Thermal Properties

The suspension plasma spray (SPS) process was used to produce coatings from yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powders with median diameters of 15 {micro}m and 80 nm. The powder-ethanol suspensions made with 15-{micro}m diameter YSZ particles formed coatings with microstructures typical of the air plasma spray (APS) process, while suspensions made with 80-nm diameter YSZ powder yielded a coarse columnar microstructure not observed in APS coatings. To explain the formation mechanisms of these different microstructures, a hypothesis is presented which relates the dependence of YSZ droplet flight paths on droplet diameter to variations in deposition behavior. The thermal conductivity (k{sub th}) of columnar SPS coatings was measured as a function of temperature in the as-sprayed condition and after a 50 h, 1200 C heat treatment. Coatings produced from suspensions containing 80 nm YSZ particles at powder concentrations of 2, 8, and 11 wt.% exhibited significantly different k{sub th} values. These differences are connected to microstructural variations between the SPS coatings produced by the three suspension formulations. Heat treatment increased the k{sub th} of the coatings generated from suspensions containing 2 and 11 wt.% of 80 nm YSZ powder, but this k{sub th} increase was less than has been observed in APS coatings.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quadratic formula for determining the drop size in pressure-atomized sprays with and without swirl

We use a theoretical framework based on the integral form of the conservation equations, along with a heuristic model of the viscous dissipation, to find a closed-form solution to the liquid atomization problem. The energy balance for the spray renders to a quadratic formula for the drop size as a function, primarily of the liquid velocity. The Sauter mean diameter found using the quadratic formula shows good agreements and physical trends, when compared with experimental observations. This approach is shown to be applicable toward specifying initial drop size in computational fluid dynamics of spray flows.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Time variation in the reaction-zone structure of two-phase spray detonations.

A detailed theoretical analysis of the time-varying detonation structure in a monodisperse spray is presented. The theory identifies experimentally observed reaction-zone overpressures as deriving from blast waves formed therein by the explosive ignition of the spray droplets, and follows in time the motion, change in strength, and interactions of these blast waves with one another, and with the leading shock. The results are compared with experimental data by modeling the motion of a finite-size circular pressure transducer through the theoretical data field in an x-t space.

Pierce, T. H.↗

Elucidating Processes Controlling Arctic Atmospheric Aerosol Sources, Aging, and Mixing States (Final Report)

Atmospheric aerosols play critical roles in the Earth’s energy budget, directly by scattering or absorbing solar and terrestrial radiation and indirectly by serving as seeds (nuclei) for cloud droplet and ice crystal formation and by depositing on snow and ice surface, thereby changing the surface albedo. These effects are dependent on aerosol particle size and chemical composition and impact the hydrological cycle as well. This project provided single-particle size and chemical composition measurements across the entire annual cycle in the high Arctic and in the Alaskan Arctic during fall – winter, addressing the most significant gaps in Arctic aerosol observational data. These needs were based on recent rapid sea ice loss across the entire Arctic, as well as the major annual delays in sea ice freeze-up during fall in the Chukchi Sea and increased wintertime sea ice fracturing in the Beaufort Sea, both off the North Slope of Alaska. Two DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) field campaigns were conducted for atmospheric aerosol sampling. The Aerosols during the Polar Utqiagvik Night (APUN – ‘snow on ground’ in Iñupiaq) ARM field campaign at Utqagivik, Alaska was conducted from Oct. 28 – Dec. 22, 2018. Aerosol sizing instrumentation and a single-particle mass spectrometer were successfully deployed for size-resolved number concentration measurements and measurements of individual particle size and chemical composition, respectively. These results show the influence of locally-produced sea spray aerosol, with high cloud-forming potential, due to delayed sea ice freeze-up in the fall. During the 2019‐2020 international Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, daily atmospheric aerosol particles were collected aboard the German icebreaker Polarstern in the Central Arctic from Nov. 2019 – Oct. 2020. Sea salt aerosol and marine organics were observed year-round during MOSAiC with varying morphologies and sources. These findings are important because most Arctic models do not include a sea spray aerosol source, despite this source increasing with declining sea ice extent. In addition to collecting new samples and data, this project also conducted further analysis of previously collected single-particle chemical composition measurements within the North Slope of Alaska oil fields and at Utqiaġvik, AK, during Aug. – Sep. 2015 and 2016 field campaigns. This work resulted in the discovery of chemical reactions of oil field combustion emissions occurring within fog droplets across the North Slope of Alaska and forming secondary aerosol, showing the impact of Arctic oil field emissions beyond black carbon aerosol and greenhouse gases. In addition, the distribution of chemical species across the aerosol population within the oil fields was quantified, using these data and a previously development framework. We also presented the first ambient evidence of the collision of two atmospheric particles resulting in formation of an organic-coated ammonium sulfate particle of marine origin, which has implications for cloud formation with declining sea ice extent. Overall, this project has elucidated connections between seawater biogeochemistry, resource extraction activities, atmospheric composition, clouds, and the energy budget of the Arctic region. The results of this project are expected to improve weather and sea ice forecasting for security and development in the Arctic and beyond.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The Successful Transfer of Space Derived Convergent Spray: An Application for Industrial Roof Coatings and Interstate Bridge Repair

A partnership was formed between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and United Technologies USBI Company to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate a technology that uses a solventless spray process for depositing a lightweight, highly filled roof coating on low-sloped commercial roofs. Although the levels of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from industrial roof coating's and paint operations have been reduced in recent years, this partnership,was an effort to further reduce VOC emission levels and to also demonstrate the use of reclaimed automobile tire rubber as a filler material in roof coating systems. Different materials and coatings were evaluated and tested before the final selection used to coat the roofs of two small buildings at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center during fiscal year 1997. The project successfully leveraged the investment of EPA, NASA and private sector resources to demonstrate a pre-commercial roofing coating process. This process utilizes the Convergent Spray Technologies process, which was initially developed by USBI to apply highly-filled, thermal protection coatings to the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters. A second partnership between the NASA, Federal Highway Administration, Alabama Department of Transportation and USBI Company was formed to develop and demonstrate the Convergent Spray Technology as a method of applying a skid resistant coating to interstate roads and concrete bridge decking's. Again, different materials and coatings were evaluated and tested before the final selection of ground flint and resin. Two field demonstrations were performed during fiscal year 1997 for the purpose of evaluating the coating system under actual highway conditions. These coatings were applied on Interstate 65 near Huntsville Alabama, and in the Mobile Bankhead tunnel. The system performed this task without the use of harmful solvents, and accomplished the process in a single application. This project successfully leveraged the investment of NASA, Federal Highway Administration, the Alabama Department of Transportation, and private sector funding.

McMillan, Vernotto C.↗

Film coatings for contoured surfaces

Thickness of fluorocarbon elastomer films applied in contoured shapes by vacuum forming is difficult to control at sharply curved areas. Process for spraying contoured fluorocarbon elastomer films of uniform strength and thickness has been used instead of vacuum forming to fabricate curtain covering external tank of Space Shuttle. Conventional spray equipment may be used.

Flanery, H. E.↗

Influence of the process parameters on the spray pyrolysis technique, on the synthesis of gadolinium doped-ceria thin film

Graphical abstract: Gas-tight CGO made by spray pyrolysis suitable to be used as SOFC electrolyte. Display Omitted Highlights: ► Dense and crystalline CGO films deposited by spray pyrolysis on various substrates. ► Solvent did not have a strong influence on the film microstructure, defect concentration or thickness. ► The substrate did not have a strong influence on the film microstructure, defect concentration or thickness. ► Films with at least 2.5 μm of thickness presented high impermeability. ► The films obtained are suitable to use as a SOFC electrolyte. -- Abstract: This work presents the results of a process of optimization applied to gadolinia-doped ceria (Ce{sub 0.8}Gd{sub 0.2}O{sub 1.9−x}, or CGO) thin films, deposited by spray pyrolysis (SP). Spray pyrolysis is a high thermal deposition method that combines material deposition and heat treatment. This combination is advantageous since the post-deposition heat treatment step is not necessary. However, stresses are solidified in the coating during the deposition, which may lead to the initiation of a crack in the coating. The aim of this work was to achieve thin, dense, and continuous CGO coatings, which may be used as gas separation membranes and as a solid state electrochemical interfaces. Dense, flat, low-defect substrates such as silica slides, silicon mono crystal wafers, and porous substrates were used as substrates in this work. Cerium ammonium nitrate and gadolinium acetylacetonate were dissolved in ethanol and butyl carbitol to form a precursor solution that was sprayed on the heated substrates. Process parameters such as solvent composition, deposition rate and different heating regimes were analyzed. The microstructure was analyzed by secondary electron microscopy (SEM) and was found that thin, dense, and defect-free films could be produced on dense and porous substrates. The results obtained show that it is possible to obtain a CGO dense film deposited by spray pyrolysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the films were crystalline after the deposition without requiring post-deposition heat treatment. The crystallite size does not vary significantly as a function of the annealing temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Detailed assessment of diesel spray atomization models using visible and X-ray extinction measurements

The physical mechanisms characterizing the breakup of a diesel spray into droplets are still unknown. This gap in knowledge has largely been due to the challenges of directly imaging this process or quantitatively measuring the outcomes of spray breakup, such as droplet size. Recent x-ray measurements by Argonne National Laboratory, utilized in this work, provide needed information about the spatial evolution of droplet sizes in selected regions of the spray under a range of injection pressures (50–150 MPa) and ambient densities (7.6–22.8 kg/m3) relevant for diesel operating conditions. Ultra-small angle x-ray scattering (USAXS) measurements performed at the Advanced Photon Source are presented, which quantify Sauter mean diameters (SMD) within optically thick regions of the spray that are inaccessible by conventional droplet sizing measurement techniques, namely in the near-nozzle region, along the spray centerline, and within the core of the spray. To quantify droplet sizes along the periphery of the spray, a complementary technique is proposed and introduced, which leverages the ratio of path-integrated x-ray and visible laser extinction (SAMR) measurements to quantify SMD. The SAMR and USAXS measurements are then utilized to evaluate current spray models used for engine computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations. We explore the ability of a carefully calibrated spray model, premised on aerodynamic wave growth theory, to capture the experimentally observed trends of SMD throughout the spray. The spray structure is best predicted with an aerodynamic primary and secondary breakup process that is represented with a slower time constant and larger formed droplet size than conventionally recommended for diesel spray models. Additionally, spray model predictions suggest that droplet collisions may not influence the resultant droplet size distribution along the spray centerline in downstream regions of the spray.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗