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NASA NTRS1985

Identification and verification of frequency-domain models for XV-15 tilt-rotor aircraft dynamics

Frequency-domain methods are used to extract the open-loop dynamics of the XV-14 tilt-rotor aircraft from flight test data for the cruise condition (V = 170 knots). The frequency responses are numerically fitted with transfer-function forms to identify equivalent model characteristics. The associated handling quality parameters meet or exceed Level 2, Category A, requirements for fixed-wing military aircraft. Step response matching is used to verify the time-domain fidelity of the transfer-function models for the cruise and hover flight conditions. The transient responses of the model and aircraft are in close agreement in all cases, except for the normal acceleration response to elevator deflection in cruise. This discrepancy is probably due to the unmodeled rotor rpm dynamics. The utility of the frequency-domain approach for dynamics identification and analysis is clearly demonstrated.

Tischler, M. B.↗

NASA NTRS1988

On the simultaneous improvement of a satellite orbit and determination of sea surface topography using altimeter data

A method is presented in satellite altimetry that attempts to simultaneously determine the geoid and sea surface toography with minimum wavelengths of about 500 km and to reduce the radial orbit errors caused by geopotential uncertainties. The modeling of these errors is made using the linearized Lagrangian perturbation theory. Observation equations are developed using sea surface heights and crossover discrepancies as observables. A minimum variance solution with prior information can then provide estimates of parametrs representing the sea surface topography and corrections to the orbit. The potential of the method is demonstrated in a solution where simulated geopotential errors and the Levitus sea surface topography are used to generate the observables for a Seasat 3 day arc. The simulation results suggest that the method can be used to efficiently process real altimeter data.

Engelis, Theodossios↗

NASA NTRS1991

Latitudinal dynamics of steady solar wind flows

In many previous studies, it has been assumed that the streamlines of the solar wind are in a purely radial direction beyond a few solar radii. Therefore, the nonradial modulations by the magnetic force and gas pressure is neglected at large heliocentric distances. The work reported in this paper includes a two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) study of the latitudinal structure of solar wind flows. The dynamical effects of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) are investigated by MHD solutions and by comparing them with both one-dimensional and two-dimensional hydrodynamic (HD) solutions. The corotational effect of the sun and the influence of transient events in the solar atmosphere are neglected. With such a simplification, the latitudinal structure of the steady solar wind is controlled by the dynamic balance of the magnetic force and the gas pressure. Several different patterns of the evolution of the solar wind latitudinal structure are exhibited in the calculation. The results indicate the existence of a proton number density maximum at the magnetic neutral line, whether or not there is a density maximum or minimum at the inner boundary. The drift motion of magnetic field lines toward the magnetic neutral line enhances the magnetic field strength around the neutral sheet, which may provide a possible explanation of the discrepancy between the measured IMF at 1 AU and that extrapolated from the photospheric magnetic field by the current source-surface modeling.

Yang, W.-H.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Containerless, Low-Gravity Undercooling of Ti-Ce Alloys in the MSFC Drop Tube

Previous tests of the classical nucleation theory as applied to liquid-liquid gap miscibility systems found a discrepancy between experiment and theory in the ability to undercool one of the liquids before the L1-L2 separation occurs. To model the initial separation process in a two-phase liquid mixture, different theoretical approaches, such as free-energy gradient and density gradient theories, have been put forth. If there is a large enough interaction between the critical liquid and the crucible, both models predict a wetting temperature (T(sub w)) above which the minority liquid perfectly wets and layers the crucible interface, but only on one side of the immiscibility dome. Materials with compositions on the other side of the dome will have simple surface adsorption by the minority liquid before bulk separation occurs when the coexistence (i.e., binoidal) line in reached. If the interaction between the critical liquid and the crucible were to decrease, T(sub w) would increase, eventually approaching the critical consolute temperature (T(sub cc)). If this situation occurs, then there could be large regions of the miscibility gap where non-perfect wetting conditions prevail resulting in droplets of L1 liquid at the surface having a non-zero contact angle. The resulting bulk structure will then depend on what happens on the surface and the subsequent processing conditions. In the past several decades, many experiments in space have been performed on liquid metal binary immiscible systems for the purpose of determining the effects that different crucibles may have on the wetting and separation process of the liquids. Potard performed experiments that showed different crucible materials could cause the majority phase to preferentially wet the container and thus produce a dispersed microstructure of the minority phase. Several other studies have been performed on immiscibles in a semi-container environment using an emulsion technique. Only one previous study was performed using completely containerless processing of immiscible metals and the results of that investigation are similar to some of the emulsion studies. In all the studies, surface wetting was attributed as the cause for the similar microstructures or the asymmetry in the ability to undercool the liquid below the binoidal on one side of the immiscibility dome. By removing the container completely from the separation process, it was proposed that the loss of the crucible/liquid interaction would produce a large shift in T(sub w) and thus change the wetting characteristics at the surface. By investigating various compositions across the miscibility gap, a change in the type and amount of liquid wetting at the surface of a containerless droplet should change the surface nucleating behavior of the droplet - whether it be the liquid-liquid wetting or the liquid-to-solid transition. Undercooling of the liquid into the metastable region should produce significant differences in the separation process and the microstructure upon solidification. In this study, we attempt to measure these transitions by monitoring the temperature of the sample by optical pyrometry. Microstructural analysis will be made to correlate with the degree of undercooling and the separation mechanisms involved.

Robinson, M. B.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Satellite Investigations of Aerosol Radiative Forcing

Biomass burning aerosols have a wide spatial distribution that is governed by the geographic distribution of their source regions and tropospheric circulation. Annually, more than 114 teragrams of smoke is produced that have residence times ranging from days to weeks depending upon their size and chemical composition. These aerosols reflect the incoming solar directly which is called the "direct effect" and they also modify the reflective properties of clouds which is called the "indirect effect". The direct top of atmosphere (TOA) globally averaged radiative forcing estimate range from -0.2 to -1.1 W/sq m . The uncertainties in this estimate are due to the various assumptions (see Introduction) involved in the calculations. While the TOA radiative forcing estimates provide valuable information on the effects of aerosols on climate, equally important are the downward shortwave irradiances (DSWI) at the surface and the atmospheric heating/cooling rate profiles. For example, the DSWI irradiance calculations show large discrepancies between measurements and calculations in the presence of biomass burning aerosols due to the inaccurate characterization of aerosols in radiative transfer models. The DSWI is an important component of the surface radiation balance and the atmospheric effects govern both local and regional circulation patterns. Very few studies have attempted to estimate the surface and atmospheric effects of biomass burning aerosols largely due to the lack of information on the microphysical and chemical properties of biomass burning aerosols. The major focus of this effort is to estimate the direct TOA radiative forcing of aerosols using satellite measurements.

Christopher, Sundar A.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Absorption of Solar Radiation by Clouds: An Overview

This talk provides an overview of the subject of absorption of solar radiation by clouds in the earth's atmosphere. The paper summarizes the available evidence which points to disagreements between theoretical and observed values of cloud absorption (and reflections). The importance of these discrepancies, particularly to remote sensing of clouds as well as to studies of cloud physics and earth radiation budgets, is emphasized. Existing cloud absorption and reflection measurements are reviewed and the persistent differences that exist between calculated and measured near-infrared cloud albedos are highlighted. Various explanations for these reflection and absorption discrepancies are discussed under two separate paths: a theoretician's approach and an experimentalist's approach. Examples for the former approach include model accuracy tests, large-droplet hypothesis, excess absorbing aerosol, enhanced water vapor continuum absorption, and effects of cloud inhomogeneity. The latter approach focuses on discussions of instrumental device, calibration, operational strategy, and signal/noise separation. A recommendation for future activities on this subject will be given.

Tsay, Si-Chee↗

NASA NTRS2002

Temperature Dependence of the Rate Constant for the CH3 Recombination Reaction: A Loss Process in Outer Planet Atmospheres

The methyl free radical (CH3) has been observed in the atmospheres of Saturn and Neptune by the ISO satellite. There are discrepancies between the column densities for the CH3 radical derived from the ISO observations and the column densities derived from atmospheric photochemical models. For Neptune the model column density is 1.5 times that derived from ISO. For Saturn the model is 6 times that from ISO. The recombination of methyl radicals is the major loss process for methyl in these atmospheres. The serious disagreement between observed and calculated levels of CH3 has led to suggestions that the atmospheric models greatly underestimated the loss of CH3 due to poor knowledge of the rate of the reaction (1) CH3 + CH3 + M goes to C2H6 + M at the low temperatures and pressures of these atmospheric systems. Although the reaction CH3 + CH3 + M goes to C2H6 + M has been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally, the laboratory conditions have been, with only a few exceptions, higher temperatures (T greater than 298K), higher pressures (P greater than or equal to 10 Torr - 13.3 mbar) or M=Ar rather than H2 or He as the bath gas.

Cody, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Environmental Snapshots for Satellite Multi-Angle Aerosol Retrieval Validation During the ACE-Asia Field Campaign

On five occasions spanning the ACE-Asia field experiment in spring 2001, the multi-angle imaging MISR instrument, flying aboard the NASA Earth Observing System s Terra satellite, took quarter-kilometer data over a 400-km-wide swath, coincident with high-quality observations by multiple instruments on two or more participating surface and airborne platforms. The cases capture a range of clean, polluted, and dusty aerosol conditions. They represent some of the best opportunities during ACE- Asia for comparative studies among intensive and extensive aerosol observations in their environmental context. We inter-compare related measurements and discuss the implications of apparent discrepancies for each case, at a level of detail appropriate to the analysis of satellite observations. With a three-stage optical modeling process, we synthesize data from multiple sources into layer-by-layer snapshots that summarize what we know about the state of the atmosphere and surface at key locations during each event, to be used for satellite vicarious calibration and aerosol retrieval validation. Aerosols within a few kilometers of the surface were composed primarily of pollution and Asian dust mixtures, as expected. Accumulation and coarse-mode particle size distributions varied little among the events studied, but column aerosol optical depth changed by more than a factor of four, and the near-surface proportion of dust ranged from about 25% to 50%. The amount of absorbing material in the sub-micron fraction was highest when near-surface winds crossed Beijing and the Korean Peninsula, and was considerably lower for all other cases. Ambiguities remain in segregating size distributions by composition; having simultaneous single scattering albedo measurements at more than a single wavelength would significantly reduce the resulting optical model uncertainties, as would integral constraints from surface and atmospheric radiative flux observations. The consistency of component particle micro-physical properties among the five events, even in this relatively complex aerosol environment, suggests that global, satellite-derived maps of aerosol-air-mass-type extent, combined with targeted in situ measurements, can provide a detailed global picture of aerosol behavior. Further joint satellite and in situ analysis is needed to assess the spatial variability of both intensive and extensive aerosol properties within aerosol air masses in two spatial dimensions.

Kahn, Ralph↗

NASA NTRS2009

Analysis of Mass Averaged Tissue Doses in CAM, CAF, MAX, and FAX

To estimate astronaut health risk due to space radiation, one must have the ability to calculate exposure-related quantities averaged over specific organs and tissue types. In this study, we first examine the anatomical properties of the Computerized Anatomical Man (CAM), Computerized Anatomical Female (CAF), Male Adult voXel (MAX), and Female Adult voXel (FAX) models by comparing the masses of various tissues to the reference values specified by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Major discrepancies are found between the CAM and CAF tissue masses and the ICRP reference data for almost all of the tissues. We next examine the distribution of target points used with the deterministic transport code HZETRN to compute mass averaged exposure quantities. A numerical algorithm is used to generate multiple point distributions for many of the effective dose tissues identified in CAM, CAF, MAX, and FAX. It is concluded that the previously published CAM and CAF point distributions were under-sampled and that the set of point distributions presented here should be adequate for future studies involving CAM, CAF, MAX, or FAX. It is concluded that MAX and FAX are more accurate than CAM and CAF for space radiation analyses.

Slaba, Tony C.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Factors and Considerations for Modeling Loss of a GaN-based Inverter

The article investigates the impacts of four often-neglected factors on the loss model of a GaN-based full-bridge inverter: parasitic capacitance of the devices, dynamics of junction temperature (Tj) under time-varying power dissipation (Ploss), case temperature estimation, and detailed considerations of the passive components. Procedures to calculate the converter loss considering the above factors are proposed and implemented. A 4.5-kW hard-switching inverter prototype using gallium nitrite (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors is used to experimentally demonstrate the impact of each factor on the converter loss model. Furthermore, it is found that the accuracy of a converter loss model is mainly affected by the passive components at the light load condition, whereas the thermal and loss models of the active components become the major factors as the output power increases. The results show that after considering the above factors, the converter loss discrepancy between calculation and measurement can be reduced from 30.6 W (28%) to 2.5 W (less than 3%) at heavy load (Po = 4.5 kW), while at the light load condition (Po = 500 W), it is reduced from 3.9 W (28%) to 2.6 W (16%). Furthermore, the difference between simulated and measured case temperature of the GaN devices is within 6 °C.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2023

Characterization of a platform for the gas transport, collection, and identification of fission products in the high-intensity laser environment

Recent progress in the production of laser accelerated high flux proton beams opens new possibilities for the study of fission in unique environments. To this end, we are currently pursuing the development of a platform for the swift gas transport, collection, and identification of fission products. Fission is induced in targets fixed inside a sealed chamber through which a carrier gas flows, transporting fission products to a carbon filter for collection and online spectroscopy. This has been recently demonstrated using target normal sheath accelerated protons at the PHELIX laser facility. There were large discrepancies between measured rates and those expected based on established fission yields and measured beam parameters. These discrepancies prompted a large number of tests at the Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC), where fission in uranium is induced by bremsstrahlung photons generated by 21 MeV electrons from a linear electron accelerator. Here, the results are compared to a series of models that account for the slowing of energetic fission fragments in the carrier gas and the fluid dynamics of the gas flow that transports fission products to the collection filter. Characterization of the apparatus reveals a few mechanisms that together account for a portion of the previously observed discrepancies at the PHELIX laser facility. However, additional research is necessary before high-accuracy experiments can be performed with the apparatus. Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by LLNL under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1998

Finite Element and Plate Theory Modeling of Acoustic Emission Waveforms

A comparison was made between two approaches to predict acoustic emission waveforms in thin plates. A normal mode solution method for Mindlin plate theory was used to predict the response of the flexural plate mode to a point source, step-function load, applied on the plate surface. The second approach used a dynamic finite element method to model the problem using equations of motion based on exact linear elasticity. Calculations were made using properties for both isotropic (aluminum) and anisotropic (unidirectional graphite/epoxy composite) materials. For simulations of anisotropic plates, propagation along multiple directions was evaluated. In general, agreement between the two theoretical approaches was good. Discrepancies in the waveforms at longer times were caused by differences in reflections from the lateral plate boundaries. These differences resulted from the fact that the two methods used different boundary conditions. At shorter times in the signals, before reflections, the slight discrepancies in the waveforms were attributed to limitations of Mindlin plate theory, which is an approximate plate theory. The advantages of the finite element method are that it used the exact linear elasticity solutions, and that it can be used to model real source conditions and complicated, finite specimen geometries as well as thick plates. These advantages come at a cost of increased computational difficulty, requiring lengthy calculations on workstations or supercomputers. The Mindlin plate theory solutions, meanwhile, can be quickly generated on personal computers. Specimens with finite geometry can also be modeled. However, only limited simple geometries such as circular or rectangular plates can easily be accommodated with the normal mode solution technique. Likewise, very limited source configurations can be modeled and plate theory is applicable only to thin plates.

Prosser, W. H.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Accuracy of environmental tracers and consequences for determining the Type Ia supernova magnitude step

Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are standardizable candles that allow us to measure the recent expansion rate of the Universe. Due to uncertainties in progenitor physics, potential astrophysical dependencies may bias cosmological measurements if not properly accounted for. The dependency of the intrinsic luminosity of SNe Ia with their host-galaxy environment is often used to standardize SNe Ia luminosity and is commonly parameterized as a step function. This functional form implicitly assumes two-populations of SNe Ia. In the literature, multiple environmental indicators have been considered, finding different, sometimes incompatible, step function amplitudes. We compare these indicators in the context of a two-populations model, based on their ability to distinguish the two populations. We show that local Hα-based specific star formation rate (lsSFR) and global stellar mass are better tracers than, for instance, host galaxy morphology. We show that tracer accuracy can explain the discrepancy between the observed SNe Ia step amplitudes found in the literature. Using lsSFR or global mass to identify the two populations can explain all other observations, though lsSFR is favoured. As lsSFR is strongly connected to age, our results favour a prompt and delayed population model. In any case, there exists two populations that differ in standardized magnitude by at least 0.121 ± 0.010 mag.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2019

On the observable spectrum of theories with a Brout–Englert–Higgs effect

The physical, observable spectrum in gauge theories is made up from gauge-invariant states. The Fröhlich–Morchio–Strocchi mechanism allows in the standard model to map these states to the gauge-dependent elementary W, Z and Higgs states. This is no longer necessarily the case in theories with a more general gauge group and Higgs sector. We classify and predict the physical spectrum for a wide range of such theories, with special emphasis on GUT-like cases, and show that discrepancies between the spectrum of elementary fields and physical particles frequently arise.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Growth Curve Parameterization of Metabolic Activity of Yeast Cells for BioSentinel

The goal of the BioSentinel small satellite payload is to measure the effect of deep space radiation on the growth and metabolic activity of yeast cells. Raw test data is generated by fluidics cards containing yeast cells rehydrated at different periods, with metabolic activity measured by the reduction of alamarBlue. Each card well has a sensor array that measures the amount of red, green, and infrared light transmitted through the yeast culture. This illumination data is then converted to absorbance values, which are further converted into concentrations. The ultimate objective is to convert these concentrations into biologically-relevant metrics that can be compared against one another to determine changes due to differential radiation exposure. Beginning with IR absorbance data (corresponding to cell density) from ground studies, three parameters from a sigmoidal growth curve were extracted and analyzed: 𝜆 (lag phase), 𝜇 (max growth rate), and A (max cell growth). The data was fit to the Gompertz model of microbial growth using non-linear regression (Minitab), as the fit error was reduced compared to the simpler logistic growth curve. Graphs showed that the data contained a discrepancy (drift) in the lag phase that is attributable to a slow, constant loss of moisture. Correcting this discrepancy by fitting the first 25 hours of the data to a power function and subtracting these values from the absorbance readings obtained a better statistical fit to the growth curve in the lag phase. A power fit was selected over a linear fit because it reflected the effects of constant volume loss. This correction to the BioSentinel data analysis pipeline will enable quantitative statistical analysis of the effect of different levels of deep space radiation on yeast cells. Future work includes automation of drift correction and curve modeling to extract these parameters directly from data.

Growth Curve↗

DOE OSTI2023

Integrated Quantum-Classical Protocol for the Realistic Description of Solvated Multinuclear Mixed-Valence Transition-Metal Complexes and Their Solvatochromic Properties

Linear cyanide-bridged polymetallic complexes, which undergo photoinduced metal-to-metal charge transfer, represent prototypical systems for studying long-range electron-transfer reactions and understanding the role played by specific solute–solvent interactions in modulating the excited-state dynamics. Here, to tackle this problem, while achieving a statistically meaningful description of the solvent and of its relaxation, one needs a computational approach capable of handling large polynuclear transition-metal complexes, both in their ground and excited states, as well as the ability to follow their dynamics in several environments up to nanosecond time scales. Here, we present a mixed quantum classical approach, which combines large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on an accurate quantum mechanically derived force field (QMD-FF) and self-consistent QMD polarized point charges, with IR and UV–vis spectral calculations to model the solvation dynamics and optical properties of a cyano-bridged trinuclear mixed-valence compound (trans-[(NC) 5 Fe III (μ-CN)Ru II (pyridine) 4 (μ-NC)Fe III (CN) 5 ] 4– ). We demonstrate the reliability of the QMD-FF/MD approach in sampling the solute conformational space and capturing the local solute–solvent interactions by comparing the results with higher-level quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) MD reference data. The IR spectra calculated along the classical MD trajectories in different solvents correctly predict the red shift of the CN stretching band in the aprotic medium (acetonitrile) and the subtle differences measured in water and methanol, respectively. By explicitly including the solvent molecules around the cyanide ligands and calculating the thermal averaged absorption spectra using time-dependent density functional theory calculations within the Tamm–Dancoff approximation, the experimental solvatochromic shift is quantitatively reproduced going from water to methanol, while it is overestimated for acetonitrile. This discrepancy can likely be traced back to the lack of important dispersion interactions between the solvent cyano groups and the pyridine substituents in our micro solvation model. The proposed protocol is applied to the ground state in water, methanol, and acetonitrile and can be flexibly generalized to study excited-state nonequilibrium solvation dynamics.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2017

Fully Kinetic versus Reduced-kinetic Modeling of Collisionless Plasma Turbulence

We report the results of a direct comparison between different kinetic models of collisionless plasma turbulence in two spatial dimensions. The models considered include a first-principles fully kinetic (FK) description, two widely used reduced models (gyrokinetic (GK) and hybrid-kinetic (HK) with fluid electrons), and a novel reduced gyrokinetic approach (KREHM). Two different ion beta (β{sub i}) regimes are considered: 0.1 and 0.5. For β{sub i}=0.5, good agreement between the GK and FK models is found at scales ranging from the ion to the electron gyroradius, thus providing firm evidence for a kinetic Alfvén cascade scenario. In the same range, the HK model produces shallower spectral slopes, presumably due to the lack of electron Landau damping. For β{sub i}=0.1, a detailed analysis of spectral ratios reveals a slight disagreement between the GK and FK descriptions at kinetic scales, even though kinetic Alfvén fluctuations likely still play a significant role. The discrepancy can be traced back to scales above the ion gyroradius, where the FK and HK results seem to suggest the presence of fast magnetosonic and ion Bernstein modes in both plasma beta regimes, but with a more notable deviation from GK in the low-beta case. The identified practical limits and strengths of reduced-kinetic approximations, compared here against the FK model on a case-by-case basis, may provide valuable insight into the main kinetic effects at play in turbulent collisionless plasmas, such as the solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Uncertainty Quantification Analysis of Both Experimental and CFD Simulation Data of a Bench-scale Fluidized Bed Gasifier

Adequate assessment of the uncertainties in modeling and simulation is becoming an integral part of the simulation based engineering design. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the application of non-intrusive Bayesian uncertainty quantification (UQ) methodology in multiphase (gas-solid) flows with experimental and simulation data, as part of our research efforts to determine the most suited approach for UQ of a bench scale fluidized bed gasifier. UQ analysis was first performed on the available experimental data. Global sensitivity analysis performed as part of the UQ analysis shows that among the three operating factors, steam to oxygen ratio has the most influence on syngas composition in the bench-scale gasifier experiments. An analysis for forward propagation of uncertainties was performed and results show that an increase in steam to oxygen ratio leads to an increase in H2 mole fraction and a decrease in CO mole fraction. These findings are in agreement with the ANOVA analysis performed in the reference experimental study. Another contribution in addition to the UQ analysis is the optimization-based approach to guide to identify next best set of additional experimental samples, should the possibility arise for additional experiments. Hence, the surrogate models constructed as part of the UQ analysis is employed to improve the information gain and make incremental recommendation, should the possibility to add more experiments arise. In the second step, series of simulations were carried out with the open-source computational fluid dynamics software MFiX to reproduce the experimental conditions, where three operating factors, i.e., coal flow rate, coal particle diameter, and steam-to-oxygen ratio, were systematically varied to understand their effect on the syngas composition. Bayesian UQ analysis was performed on the numerical results. As part of Bayesian UQ analysis, a global sensitivity analysis was performed based on the simulation results, which shows that the predicted syngas composition is strongly affected not only by the steam-to-oxygen ratio (which was observed in experiments as well) but also by variation in the coal flow rate and particle diameter (which was not observed in experiments). The carbon monoxide mole fraction is underpredicted at lower steam-to-oxygen ratios and overpredicted at higher steam-to-oxygen ratios. The opposite trend is observed for the carbon dioxide mole fraction. These discrepancies are attributed to either excessive segregation of the phases that leads to the fuel-rich or -lean regions or alternatively the selection of reaction models, where different reaction models and kinetics can lead to different syngas compositions throughout the gasifier. To improve quality of numerical models used, the effect that uncertainties in reaction models for gasification, char oxidation, carbon monoxide oxidation, and water gas shift will have on the syngas composition at different grid resolution, along with bed temperature were investigated. The global sensitivity analysis showed that among various reaction models employed for water gas shift, gasification, char oxidation, the choice of reaction model for water gas shift has the greatest influence on syngas composition, with gasification reaction model being second. Syngas composition also shows a small sensitivity to temperature of the bed. The hydrodynamic behavior of the bed did not change beyond grid spacing of 18 times the particle diameter. However, the syngas concentration continued to be affected by the grid resolution as low as 9 times the particle diameter. This is due to a better resolution of the phasic interface between the gases and solid that leads to stronger heterogeneous reactions. This report is a compilation of three manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals for the series of studies mentioned above.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗