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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 NTRS2014

Deciphering Solar Magnetic Activity. I. On the Relationship Between the Sunspot Cycle and the Evolution of Small Magnetic Features

Sunspots are a canonical marker of the Sun's internal magnetic field which flips polarity every ~22 yr. The principal variation of sunspots, an ~11 yr variation, modulates the amount of the magnetic field that pierces the solar surface and drives significant variations in our star's radiative, particulate, and eruptive output over that period. This paper presents observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and Solar Dynamics Observatory indicating that the 11 yr sunspot variation is intrinsically tied to the spatio-temporal overlap of the activity bands belonging to the 22 yr magnetic activity cycle. Using a systematic analysis of ubiquitous coronal brightpoints and the magnetic scale on which they appear to form, we show that the landmarks of sunspot cycle 23 can be explained by considering the evolution and interaction of the overlapping activity bands of the longer-scale variability.

Sun: interior↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integrating Maximum Entropy Production Theory and Machine Learning to Improve Global Evapotranspiration Modeling

Accurate estimation of terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET) is vital for understanding global water and energy cycles. However, current global ET estimations are not well constrained. This study introduces an integrated framework combining the Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) theory with Random Forest (RF) model to improve global ET estimation. Specifically, in contrast to direct ET estimation by the RF model, the integrated framework (MEP‐RF) trains to predict error of MEP‐simulated ET. MEP‐RF outperforms RF in spatiotemporal extrapolation. Attribution analysis with in situ observations reveals that the inputs of MEP are the most critical variables for the ET process, including net radiation, vegetated area, soil moisture, and surface temperature. We further drive MEP‐RF with global reanalysis and satellite data sets of these four inputs, yielding a global mean terrestrial ET of 548 mm/year, with 77% attributed to transpiration. The global ET increased at a rate of 0.85 mm/year per year during 2003–2021, primarily due to vegetation greening rather than rising temperature, while decreasing soil moisture led to decreasing regional ET. The integrated framework provides a novel approach for the estimation of global ET without the need for hard‐to‐obtain and thus uncertain inputs, such as wind speed, surface roughness, aerodynamic and canopy stomatal resistance. Therefore, MEP‐RF offers an independent method on existing global ET products. It represents a promising physically based approach that can be incorporated into Earth System Models to enhance water and energy cycle simulations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Energy Prediction of the Chicago Metropolitan Area Using Distributed Transportation MBSE Framework

Energy consumption impact of vehicle powertrain is traditionally assessed using standard and regulatory drive cycles. In this paper, energy consumption is determined by studying all the trips occurring in the Chicago Metropolitan Area in a 24 hour period. The data is generated by combining Polaris, an agent based traffic flow model with SVTrip, a stochastic model that generates 1 Hz vehicle speed profiles and Autonomie, a detailed vehicle level modeling tool used to predict fuel consumption. Different scenarios are constructed to define trips for different timeframes and assumptions. Vehicle fleet distribution, vehicle technologies and automation levels are applied to represent an appropriate vehicle fleet for each scenario. Analysis of energy consumption is then discussed with a particular emphasis on the impact of powertrain technology and vehicle types.

Autonomie↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assessing the National Off-Cycle Benefits of 2-Layer HVAC Technology Using Dynamometer Testing and a National Simulation Framework

Some CO2-reducing technologies have real-world benefits not captured by regulatory testing methods. This paper documents a two-layer heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system that facilitates faster engine warmup through strategic increased air recirculation. The performance of this technology was assessed on a 2020 Hyundai Sonata. Empirical performance of the technology was obtained through dynamometer tests at Argonne National Laboratory. Performance of the vehicle across multiple cycles and cell ambient temperatures with the two-layer technology active and inactive indicated fuel consumption reduction in nearly all cases. A thermally sensitive powertrain model, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's FASTSim Hot, was calibrated and validated against vehicle testing data. The developed model included the engine, cabin, and HVAC system controls. Validation of component thermal models and engine efficiency ensured accurate thermal dynamics, fuel consumption, and two-layer benefit. The real-world benefit of the two-layer technology was calculated by simulating the validated powertrain model across a representative test matrix comparing performance with and without the two-layer system. Simulation across the test matrix revealed a real-world representative benefit of 0.0835%. Analysis of test matrix results at the regional level revealed the most benefit in cold climates and rural regions. Mean results across cycle length sensitivity simulations revealed a larger real-world benefit of 0.0872%. These benefit values can be considered a more accurate assessment of real-world technology performance. Future work is planned to explore the requisite number of drive cycles to ensure the full technology benefit is captured.

2-layer↗
DOE OSTI2025

System Analysis of an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) - Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Hybrid Cycle

The variability of renewable energy sources poses challenges for reliable grid operation. Conventional thermal power sources, though reliable, often lack operational flexibility. Hybrid energy systems that integrate Solid Oxide Fuel cells (SOFC) with Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) offer a promising solution by achieving relatively higher efficiency and grid-following capability. This study investigates performance of a 100-kW pressurized SOFC-ICE hybrid cycle. In this configuration, unutilized SOFC fuel is used to drive the engine, with a turbocharger providing air supply and an external reformer generating syngas. System components were numerically modeled using MATLAB/SIMULINK for the SOFC and reformer, and EBSILON® for the ICE and balance of plant. Parametric studies varied fuel utilization (70-90%), reformer temperature (600 – 1000K), anode off-gas recirculation (0 – 70%), and current density (0.2 – 0.55 A/cm2). Results show that the SOFC and ICE operate as thermally independent topping and bottoming cycles, achieving peak efficiency of 62% under optimized conditions.

hybrid↗
NASA NTRS2009

Turboelectric Distributed Propulsion Engine Cycle Analysis for Hybrid-Wing-Body Aircraft

Meeting NASA's N+3 goals requires a fundamental shift in approach to aircraft and engine design. Material and design improvements allow higher pressure and higher temperature core engines which improve the thermal efficiency. Propulsive efficiency, the other half of the overall efficiency equation, however, is largely determined by the fan pressure ratio (FPR). Lower FPR increases propulsive efficiency, but also dramatically reduces fan shaft speed through the combination of larger diameter fans and reduced fan tip speed limits. The result is that below an FPR of 1.5 the maximum fan shaft speed makes direct drive turbines problematic. However, it is the low pressure ratio fans that allow the improvement in propulsive efficiency which, along with improvements in thermal efficiency in the core, contributes strongly to meeting the N+3 goals for fuel burn reduction. The lower fan exhaust velocities resulting from lower FPRs are also key to meeting the aircraft noise goals. Adding a gear box to the standard turbofan engine allows acceptable turbine speeds to be maintained. However, development of a 50,000+ hp gearbox required by fans in a large twin engine transport aircraft presents an extreme technical challenge, therefore another approach is needed. This paper presents a propulsion system which transmits power from the turbine to the fan electrically rather than mechanically. Recent and anticipated advances in high temperature superconducting generators, motors, and power lines offer the possibility that such devices can be used to transmit turbine power in aircraft without an excessive weight penalty. Moving to such a power transmission system does more than provide better matching between fan and turbine shaft speeds. The relative ease with which electrical power can be distributed throughout the aircraft opens up numerous other possibilities for new aircraft and propulsion configurations and modes of operation. This paper discusses a number of these new possibilities. The Boeing N2 hybrid-wing-body (HWB) is used as a baseline aircraft for this study. The two pylon mounted conventional turbofans are replaced by two wing-tip mounted turboshaft engines, each driving a superconducting generator. Both generators feed a common electrical bus which distributes power to an array of superconducting motor-driven fans in a continuous nacelle centered along the trailing edge of the upper surface of the wing-body. A key finding was that traditional inlet performance methodology has to be modified when most of the air entering the inlet is boundary layer air. A very thorough and detailed propulsion/airframe integration (PAI) analysis is required at the very beginning of the design process since embedded engine inlet performance must be based on conditions at the inlet lip rather than freestream conditions. Examination of a range of fan pressure ratios yielded a minimum Thrust-specific-fuel-consumption (TSFC) at the aerodynamic design point of the vehicle (31,000 ft /Mach 0.8) between 1.3 and 1.35 FPR. We deduced that this was due to the higher pressure losses prior to the fan inlet as well as higher losses in the 2-D inlets and nozzles. This FPR is likely to be higher than the FPR that yields a minimum TSFC in a pylon mounted engine. 1

Felder, James L.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Combining CO2 Electrolysis with Biological Upgrading to Fuels and Chemicals: Turning Waste into Fuels

The utilization of flue gas-derived CO2 presents an opportunity to enhance carbon utilization in the bioethanol industry, contributing to the production of valuable products. In the context of a 90 million-gallon-per-year corn ethanol plant generating approximately 30 tons per hour of 99% pure CO2, a collaborative effort involving six national laboratories has been established. This initiative, known as the CO2 Reduction and Upgrading for e-Fuels (CO2RUe) Consortium, is funded by the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Technologies Office (BETO). The primary objective of the CO2RUe Consortium is to explore innovative approaches to harness CO2 as a valuable feedstock. This interdisciplinary consortium integrates electrochemistry with biological upgrading techniques, aiming to yield sustainable, value-added products and aviation fuels. The presentation will delve into the recent advancements in the realms of electrochemistry and biological upgrading, with a specific focus on formic acid and CO. Additionally, the talk will include an analysis of future electricity grid scenarios, technoeconomic evaluations, and life-cycle assessments. These assessments aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of various conversion pathways on both cost and carbon intensity. The CO2RUe Consortium is at the forefront of steering the development of economically favorable and sustainable processes for CO2 utilization. The presentation will showcase the consortium's progress in driving the advancement of technology and processes, emphasizing the economic viability and sustainability of CO2 utilization within the broader context of the bioethanol industry.

biological upgrading↗
DOE OSTI2024

Depot-Based Vehicle Data for National Analysis of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle Charging

Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs) are a major source of greenhouse gases and local criteria air pollutants. Electrifying MHDVs may reduce these harmful emissions, which disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities. Due to their relatively high per-vehicle energy needs, consistent fleet operations, and frequent colocation of multiple vehicles at depots, MHDVs may have more spatially and temporally concentrated charging demands than light-duty passenger electric vehicles. That charging concentration means their electrification may require careful advance planning and coordination to manage potential impacts to the electrical grid via charge management or infrastructure upgrades. However, MHDV duty cycles and parking schedules are highly variable across vocations of operation, and there is a shortage of nationally representative, vocationally diverse public data describing typical MHDV operations. This report summarizes the methodology - designed with national representativeness in mind - used to create a new set of data describing typical daily driving distances, dwell durations, and normalized electric vehicle depot charging load curves for MHDVs. The dataset reflects the subset of MHDV operating patterns that may originate from a consistent depot each day and rely on the same depot for charging. In addition to trucks with depot-centric vocational patterns, the data describes operations of transit buses and school buses, each with a depot-centric focus. The dataset is available to the public and suitable for national analysis. It can inform research, infrastructure planning, and policymaking regarding the electrification of MHDVs.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2021

REopt Lite User Manual

REopt Lite evaluates the economic viability of grid-connected solar photovoltaics, wind, combined heat and power, and electric and thermal storage at commercial and small industrial sites. It allows building owners to identify the system sizes and dispatch strategies that minimize the site’s life cycle cost of energy. REopt Lite also estimates the amount of time on-site generation and storage can sustain the site's critical load during a grid outage and allows the user the choice of optimizing for energy resilience. It is primarily used to inform project development decisions and to support research on the factors that drive project feasibility for market development and policy analysis. It is available through a web interface, application programing interface, and open-source code. This user manual provides an overview of the model, including its capabilities and typical applications; inputs and outputs; economic calculations; technology descriptions; and model parameters, variables, and equations. The model is highly flexible and is continually evolving to meet the needs of each analysis. Therefore, this report is not an exhaustive description of all capabilities, but rather a summary of the core components of the model.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Representative Modules for Accelerated Thermal Cycling and Static Load Testing

In this work, we explore the influence of module size on the rate of interconnect solder bond thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) damage and the probability of cell fracture. For the solder bond TMF damage evaluation, structural mechanics models of crystalline silicon PV models are created to solve with the Finite Element Method. For the probability of cell fracture evaluation, Weibull analysis and weakest link theory are employed to resolve the probability of crystalline silicon PV cell fracture when measured as bare cells and when stressed in reduced- and full-sized modules. Results conclusively demonstrate that the rate of solder bond TMF damage is independent of module size, interconnect location across the cell and cell location across the module and that smaller, representative, modules must be loaded to a much higher level than their parent full-sized modules to achieve an equivalent driving force for cell fracture.

accelerated testing↗
DOE OSTI2024

Structural and chemical evolutions of a magnesium vanadium oxide cathode under electrochemical cycling in magnesium batteries

The design of cathode materials that remain chemically and structurally stable during repetitive ion insertion and extraction poses a significant challenge in developing multivalent batteries. The cycling stability of traditional metal oxide-based cathode is challenged by sluggish diffusion of multivalent cations and parasitic reactivity at interfacial regimes, including the cathode electrolyte interphase layer (CEI). Understanding the reactions at the cathode-electrolyte interface, particularly those induced by non-stoichiometric surface layers, is a crucial design parameter for both cathode materials and electrolytes. Here, in this study, we employed multimodal analysis, including in situ and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to examine the surface reactions and subsequent structural and chemical evolutions of the CEI on high voltage magnesium vanadium oxide (MgV 2 O 4 ) spinel cathode during the Mg 2+ insertion/extraction processes. The results revealed that the presence of non-stoichiometric surface layers in the magnesium vanadium oxide cathode drive the decomposition of bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSI - ) anion, leading to the formation of the CEI layer. The CEI layer could inhibit the Mg 2+ ion transfer processes. Accompanying this reactivity-driven degradation, the magnesium vanadium oxide cathode undergoes pulverization, forming clusters of nanosized particles. This process likely improves cycling ability by creating new intercalation sites and shortening the diffusion pathway for the Mg 2+ cations. This study demonstrates that controlling surface stoichiometry and engineering morphological properties are critical design parameters for high performance cathodes for multivalent batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Gear Test Assembly - Experimental Testing and Analysis of Gears and Bearings - FY2026

The Gear Test Assembly (GTA) is an experimental test apparatus built and installed in the Mechanisms and Engineering Test Loop (METL) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). While designed to accommodate a variety of components intended for use in advanced compact in-vessel transfer machine, the focus of GTA been the testing of large radial spur gears. The performance of the components used in GTA motivates the choices made in the design, components, and material choices for the forthcoming METL test articles; the Gripper Test Assembly (GrTA), and the Bearing Test Assembly (BTA). To date, GTA has completed nine experimental testing campaigns and achieved over 21 million revolutions under prototypic sodium fast reactor loads and operating conditions. This report provides an overview and results for the two most recent experiments Campaign #8 and Campaign #9. `Campaign #8 was the first campaign to make use of a set of nickel alloy radial spur gears, made from Hastelloy C-22HS, and combined with heat-treated tapered roller bearings. The bearings and torque profile used allowed Campaign #8 to be directly compared with Campaign #1 where Inconel 718 gears were used instead. Campaign #8 attained 1,058,880 shaft revolutions within 23% of the 1,314,855 revolutions achieved in Campaign #1. These results demonstrate that the heat-treated tapered roller bearings show consistent increased lifetimes, approximately three times longer than for non heat-treated taper rollers, and that the particular material of the gear does not play a substantial role in performance. Similar to Campaign #7 where bearing failure resulted in fragmentation and transport of bearing material into the gear teeth led to tooth damage in the Inconel gears, a similar process led to the damage of the Hastelloy gears. Subsequent NDE analysis showed that the damage was only limited to the tooth surface and does not extend into the gear interiors. Based on the NDE reports, the Hastelloy gears can be reconditioned and put back into service for future campaigns as was done for the Inconel gears. Reconditioned Inconel 718 gears damaged in Campaign #7 were returned to service in Campaign #9 and paired with non heat-treated tapered roller bearings. In Campaign #9 a novel set of operating conditions were implemented whereby the gears and bearings were cycled between hot, submerged refueling conditions where fuel handling operations occurred and cold, dry, and inert conditions where the sodium was drained and the vessel was allowed to cool simulating long, ex-vessel storage of the fuel handling machine. A total of eight of these operating cycles were achieved before a bearing failure occurred after the accumulation of 475,692 shaft revolutions were achieved. During Campaign #9, one of the drive motors was damaged and over the course of a 240 day standby period, the entire GTA drive system was upgraded from a 480VAC system to a 240VAC system that provided the opportunity to consolidate wall-space in the METL facility and provide more space for additional test articles being installed in the coming year. The over 475,000 shaft revolutions achieved in Campaign #9 eclipses the previous record for lifetime of non heat-treated tapered roller bearings held by Campaign #3 of 392,000 shaft revolutions. Further analysis and future campaigns hope to shed light on the cause of this approximately 17% increase in lifetime.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1979

Design tradeoff studies and sensitivity analysis, appendix B

Further work was performed on the Near Term Hybrid Passenger Vehicle Development Program. Fuel economy on the order of 2 to 3 times that of a conventional vehicle, with a comparable life cycle cost, is possible. The two most significant factors in keeping the life cycle cost down are the retail price increment and the ratio of battery replacement cost to battery life. Both factors can be reduced by reducing the power rating of the electric drive portion of the system relative to the system power requirements. The type of battery most suitable for the hybrid, from the point of view of minimizing life cycle cost, is nickel-iron. The hybrid is much less sensitive than a conventional vehicle is, in terms of the reduction in total fuel consumption and resultant decreases in operating expense, to reductions in vehicle weight, tire rolling resistance, etc., and to propulsion system and drivetrain improvements designed to improve the brake specific fuel consumption of the engine under low road load conditions. It is concluded that modifications to package the propulsion system and battery pack can be easily accommodated within the confines of a modified carryover body such as the Ford Ltd.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2025

Preliminary techno-economic assessment of gas switching reforming (GSR) of natural gas for pure hydrogen production and power generation with integrated CO2 capture

The increasing demand for hydrogen and the CO2 intensity of natural gas (NG) reforming motivate the development of low-carbon-emission hydrogen production technologies. Gas Switching Reforming (GSR) with integrated CO2 capture, a technology based on Chemical Looping Reforming (CLR), has been experimentally proven and shows potential for scale-up. In this study, select oxygen carriers (OC) (NiO/Al2O3, Fe2O3-CeO2/Al2O3, and magnetite) were tested in methane steam reforming in a fixed bed reactor to determine their relative reactivities under relevant conditions for GSR (800 °C, 7 bar total pressure). Process models were then developed to perform techno-economic analysis (TEA) of GSR for hydrogen production (GSR-H2) and a combined cycle (GSR-CC) in which high-purity H2 is fired in a gas turbine to produce electricity. Operating at 10 bar and 1100 °C and with the additional recovery steps implemented increased H2 production by ∼ 30% and improved efficiency relative to prior studies. For GSR-H2, the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) is 1.61–1.64 $/kg-H2, competitive with a reference SMR case, though operating and maintenance costs are higher due to increased electricity demand. GSR-CC has a significantly higher levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) than its reference NGCC (natural gas combined cycle) plant, suggesting it is less competitive; however, increasing production scale could make it more attractive. Life-cycle results for GSR-H2 indicate NG consumption drives ∼ 75% of total global warming impacts (∼2.3 kg CO2 eq/kg H2). An environmental, health, and safety screening suggests iron-based carriers are comparatively safer, whereas NiO may pose greater risks. Overall, GSR-H2 is a scalable, competitive option for hydrogen production using nickel and non-nickel OC.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
NASA NTRS2004

Oh! I Slipped the Surly Bounds of Earth....and Ran into Space Weather!

Over the past decade the concept of space weather has been introduced and matured in both the scientific community and popular press. Likewise the concept of space climatology recently also is being advanced. Closely linked to these concepts are their impacts on ground- and space-based technological systems; one such system commonly mentioned is manned space flight exemplified by the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). From a manned space flight perspective, space weather and space climatology have significant effects on the amount of radiation exposure received by humans in space from the ambient high-energy charged particles present in interplanetary space and trapped in the geomagnetosphere. Whereas the impact of space weather for most technological systems is usually discrete and well correlated in time, the principle impact of space weather and space climatology is to increase the probability of latent cancer formation in thetraveler cohort. In this regard, while space weather may be the dominating factor for a given mission, over the life of a long-term program such as the Space Shuttle or ISS space climatology is the controlling factor of latent cancer risk. Human radiation exposure enhancements associated with space weather disturbances has been a concern among scientist and mission controllers since the inception of manned spaceflight nearly forty years ago. This led NASA to develop, in conjunction with the Environmental Science Services Administration s Space Disturbance Forecast Center and the USAF/AWS, the Solar Particle Alert Network (SPAN)-the foundation of an initial U.S. space weather monitoring and forecasting service. Since Apollo, routine space flight operations have evolved to include the use of space weather and climatology data provided through a world-wide network of operational space weather data services to predict and recommend actions to minimize astronaut radiation exposures. NASA Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) flight controllers use real-time space weather data to detect and assess the impact of solar particle events, outer electron belt enhancements, the formation of pseudo-stable additional trapped radiation belts, and the solar cycle modulation of trapped radiation belts and galactic cosmic rays. Energetic particle data from GOES spacecraft are automatically ingested from NOAA Space Environment Center data servers and used to drive a model for the estimating the exposure to astronauts from solar particle events. While adequate for current manned space flight support, the existing operational space weather support system requires improvements to address the anticipated evolution in both the character of manned missions as well as space flight operations management. Necessary space weather data improvements include: reliably available (near) real-time space weather data on a fixed schedule via redundant access methods that support autonomous data acquisition by computer systems behind enterprise firewalls; and rapid transition of promising research sensors into operational systems.

Golightly, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

A New High-Speed, High-Cycle, Gear-Tooth Bending Fatigue Test Capability

A new high-speed test capability for determining the high cycle bending-fatigue characteristics of gear teeth has been developed. Experiments were performed in the test facility using a standard spur gear test specimens designed for use in NASA Glenn s drive system test facilities. These tests varied in load condition and cycle-rate. The cycle-rate varied from 50 to 1000 Hz. The loads varied from high-stress, low-cycle loads to near infinite life conditions. Over 100 tests were conducted using AISI 9310 steel spur gear specimen. These results were then compared to previous data in the literature for correlation. Additionally, a cycle-rate sensitivity analysis was conducted by grouping the results according to cycle-rate and comparing the data sets. Methods used to study and verify load-path and facility dynamics are also discussed.

Stringer, David B.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Computerized Design and Generation of Low-Noise Gears with Localized Bearing Contact

The results of research projects directed at the reduction of noise caused by misalignment of the following gear drives: double-circular arc helical gears, modified involute helical gears, face-milled spiral bevel gears, and face-milled formate cut hypoid gears are presented. Misalignment in these types of gear drives causes periodic, almost linear discontinuous functions of transmission errors. The period of such functions is the cycle of meshing when one pair of teeth is changed for the next. Due to the discontinuity of such functions of transmission errors high vibration and noise are inevitable. A predesigned parabolic function of transmission errors that is able to absorb linear discontinuous functions of transmission errors and change the resulting function of transmission errors into a continuous one is proposed. The proposed idea was successfully tested using spiral bevel gears and the noise was reduced a substantial amount in comparison with the existing design. The idea of a predesigned parabolic function is applied for the reduction of noise of helical and hypoid gears. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been investigated by developed TCA (tooth contact analysis) programs. The bearing contact for the mentioned gears is localized. Conditions that avoid edge contact for the gear drives have been determined. Manufacturing of helical gears with new topology by hobs and grinding worms has been investigated.

Litvin, Faydor L.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Catabolism and interactions of uncultured organisms shaped by eco-thermodynamics in methanogenic bioprocesses

We currently understand the carbon cycle in methanogenic environments as trophic interactions revolving around interspecies H 2 transfer between organotrophs and methanogens. However, many H 2 -generating processes are thermodynamically sensitive to H 2 accumulation and can be inhibited by high H 2 concentrations produced by other metabolisms. To uncover how anaerobes combat this H 2 conflict in situ, we employ metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to revisit a model ecosystem that has inspired many foundational discoveries in anaerobic ecology – methanogenic bioreactors. Through analysis of 15 anaerobic digesters, we recover 1343 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) and corresponding gene expression profiles for diverse uncultured lineages spanning 66 phyla and reconstruct their individual metabolic capacities. We discover that diverse uncultured organotrophic populations can drive H 2 -sensitive degradation through (i) metabolic coupling with concurrent H 2 -tolerant catabolism, (ii) unprecedented shifts from H 2 generation to CO 2 -reducing formate transfer and cytochrome/pili-mediated direct interspecies electron transfer for avoiding thermodynamic conflict, and (iii) integration of low-concentration O 2 as an ancillary thermodynamics-enhancing electron sink. Archaeal populations in situ support the above processes through novel metabolisms distinct from conventional methanogenesis – high-affinity H 2 oxidation driven by methyl-reducing methanogenesis and concomitant uptake of formate, electrons, and acetate from HS metabolism by Methanothrix. In total, synthesis of omics analyses and eco-thermodynamics reveals overlooked metabolic behavior and interactions of uncultured organisms that address a central issue in methanogenic carbon cycling, thermodynamic conflict among diverse concurrent metabolic processes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗