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

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At least 1,693 records · Page 94
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Performance Enhancement of the Transcritical CO2 Cycle with a Near-Isothermal Liquid Piston Compression by an Ejector

This study investigates the use of an ejector in a transcritical CO2 cycle employing a near-isothermal liquid piston compressor, with the objective of mitigating refrigerant degassing in mineral oil. While the liquid piston compressor demonstrated high isothermal efficiency (˜90%), overall cycle performance was limited by CO2 degassing during chamber pressure fluctuations. A thermodynamic model was developed to compare baseline and ejector-assisted cycles, incorporating solubility correlations, entrainment ratio characteristics, and a degassing correction factor. Results indicate that the ejector increased suction pressure and reduced CO2–oil solubility variation, which improved refrigerant intake and reduced degassing losses. Despite these benefits, the ejector-assisted cycle showed a lower coefficient of performance (COP) than the baseline. Possible contributing factors include the limited marginal benefit of pressure reduction in a highly efficient isothermal compressor, reduced effectiveness of the separator due to the use of a suction-line heat exchanger in both cycles, and uncertainties in the solubility data under transient conditions. These findings suggest that degassing mitigation is essential for realizing the potential of liquid piston compression, but ejector integration alone is unlikely to enhance COP. Future work should focus on ejector optimization, improved oil–refrigerant management, introducing less-soluble working liquids, and experimental validation under realistic operating conditions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2011

Li+ alumino-silicate ion source development for the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX-II)

To heat targets to electron-volt temperatures for the study of warm dense matter with intense ion beams, low mass ions, such as lithium, have an energy loss peak (dE/dx) at a suitable kinetic energy. The Heavy Ion Fusion Sciences (HIFS) program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will carry out warm dense matter experiments using Li{sup +} ion beam with energy 1.2-4 MeV in order to achieve uniform heating up to 0.1-1 eV. The accelerator physics design of Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX-II) has a pulse length at the ion source of about 0.5 {micro}s. Thus for producing 50 nC of beam charge, the required beam current is about 100 mA. Focusability requires a normalized (edge) emittance {approx}2 {pi}-mm-mrad. Here, lithium aluminosilicate ion sources, of {beta}-eucryptite, are being studied within the scope of NDCX-II construction. Several small (0.64 cm diameter) lithium aluminosilicate ion sources, on 70%-80% porous tungsten substrate, were operated in a pulsed mode. The distance between the source surface and the mid-plane of the extraction electrode (1 cm diameter aperture) was 1.48 cm. The source surface temperature was at 1220 C to 1300 C. A 5-6 {micro}s long beam pulsed was recorded by a Faraday cup (+300 V on the collector plate and -300 V on the suppressor ring). Figure 1 shows measured beam current density (J) vs. V{sup 3/2}. A space-charge limited beam density of {approx}1 mA/cm{sup 2} was measured at 1275 C temperature, after allowing a conditioning time of about {approx} 12 hours. Maximum emission limited beam current density of {ge} 1.8mA/cm{sup 2} was recorded at 1300 C with 10-kV extractions. Figure 2 shows the lifetime of two typical sources with space-charge limited beam current emission at a lower extraction voltage (1.75 kV) and at temperature of 1265 {+-} 7 C. These data demonstrate a constant, space-charge limited beam current for 20-50 hours. The lifetime of a source is determined by the loss of lithium from the alumino-silicate material either as ions or as neutral atoms. Our measurements suggest that for the low duty factor ({approx}10{sup -8}) required for NDCX-II, the lifetime of an emitter depends mostly on the duration that the emitter spends at elevated temperature, that is, at {ge} 1250 C. At this temperature, lithium loss is due mostly to neutral loss (not charged ion extraction). Extension of the lifetime of the source may be possible by lowering the temperature between beam pulses, when the idling time is sufficiently long between shots. The NDCX-II design seeks to operate the ion source at the maximum current density without running into heat management and lifetime problems. In preparation to fabricate a large (10.9 cm in diameter) source for the NDCXII experiment, recently a 7.6 cm diameter source has been fabricated. The method of fabrication of this larger source is similar to that of fabrication of a 6.3mm diameter source, except a longer furnace heating time was used due to mass differences. NDCX-II construction is in progress. Progress of lithium source study for NDCX-II is available in literature.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

ALLOYING-DRIVEN PHASE STABILITY IN GROUP-VB TRANSITION METALS UNDER COMPRESSION

The change in phase stability of Group-VB (V, Nb, and Ta) transition metals due to pressure and alloying is explored by means of first-principles electronic-structure calculations. It is shown that under compression stabilization or destabilization of the ground-state body-centered cubic (bcc) phase of the metal is mainly dictated by the band-structure energy that correlates well with the position of the Kohn anomaly in the transverse acoustic phonon mode. The predicted position of the Kohn anomaly in V, Nb, and Ta is found to be in a good agreement with data from the inelastic x-ray or neutron scattering measurements. In the case of alloying the change in phase stability is defined by the interplay between the band-structure and Madelung energies. We show that band-structure effects determine phase stability when a particular Group-VB metal is alloyed with its nearest neighbors within the same d-transition series: the neighbor with less and more d electrons destabilize and stabilize the bcc phase, respectively. When V is alloyed with neighbors of a higher (4d- or 5d-) transition series, both electrostatic Madelung and band-structure energies stabilize the body-centered-cubic phase. The opposite effect (destabilization) happens when Nb or Ta is alloyed with neighbors of the 3d-transition series.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Simulating Study of Premixed Charge Compression Ignition on Light-Duty Diesel Fuel Economy and Emissions Control

We utilize the Powertrain Systems Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) combined with transient engine and aftertreatment component models to simulate the impact of premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) on the fuel economy and emissions of light-duty (LD) diesel-powered conventional and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Our simulated aftertreatment train consists of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), lean NOx trap (LNT), and catalyzed diesel particulate filter (DPF). The results indicate that utilizing PCCI combustion significantly reduces fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions for the conventional diesel-powered vehicle with NOx and particulate emissions controls. These benefits result from a favorable engine speed-load distribution over the cycle combined with a corresponding reduction in the need to regenerate the LNT and DPF. However, the current PCCI technology appears to offer less potential benefit for diesel HEVs equipped with similar emissions controls. This is because PCCI can only be activated over a relatively small part of the drive cycle. Thus we conclude that future utilization of PCCI in diesel HEVs will require significant extension of the available speed-load range for PCCI and revision of current HEV engine management strategies before significant benefits can be realized.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Control of synchrotron radiation effects during recirculation with bunch compression

Studies of beam quality during recirculation have been extended to an arc providing bunch compression with positive momentum compaction. It controls both incoherent and coherent synchrotron radiation (ISR and CSR) using methods including optics balance and generates little microbunching gain. We detail the dynamical basis for the design, discuss the design process, give an example, and provide simulations of ISR and CSR effects. Reference will be made to a complete analysis of microbunching effects.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

DEVELOPMENT OF COLD CLIMATE HEAT PUMP USING TWO-STAGE COMPRESSION

This paper uses a well-regarded, hardware based heat pump system model to investigate a two-stage economizing cycle for cold climate heat pump applications. The two-stage compression cycle has two variable-speed compressors. The high stage compressor was modelled using a compressor map, and the low stage compressor was experimentally studied using calorimeter testing. A single-stage heat pump system was modelled as the baseline. The system performance predictions are compared between the two-stage and single-stage systems. Special considerations for designing a cold climate heat pump are addressed at both the system and component levels.

Cold Climate↗
DOE OSTI2014

Case Study - Compressed Natural Gas Refuse Fleets

This case study explores the use of heavy-duty refuse trucks fueled by compressed natural gas highlighting three fleets from very different types of organizations.

compressed natural gas, CNG, refuse, Republic Serv↗
DOE OSTI2016

Thermal Charging Study of Compressed Expanded Natural Graphite/Phase Change Material Composites

The thermal charging performance of phase change materials, specifically paraffin wax, combined with compressed expanded natural graphite foam is studied under constant heat flux and constant temperature conditions. By varying the heat flux between 0.39 W/cm2 and 1.55 W/cm2 or maintaining a boundary temperature of 60 C for four graphite foam bulk densities, the impact on the rate of thermal energy storage is discussed. Thermal charging experiments indicate that thermal conductivity of the composite is an insufficient metric to compare the influence of graphite foam on the rate of thermal energy storage of the PCM composite. By dividing the latent heat of the composite by the time to melt for various boundary conditions and graphite foam bulk densities, it is determined that bulk density selection is dependent on the applied boundary condition. A greater bulk density is advantageous for samples exposed to a constant temperature near the melting temperature as compared to constant heat flux conditions where a lower bulk density is adequate. Furthermore, the anisotropic nature of graphite foam bulk densities greater than 50 kg/m3 is shown to have an insignificant impact on the rate of thermal charging. These experimental results are used to validate a computational model for future use in the design of thermal batteries for waste heat recovery.

Compressed expanded natural graphite↗
DOE OSTI2017

Contextual Compression of Large-Scale Wind Turbine Array Simulations

Data sizes are becoming a critical issue particularly for HPC applications. We have developed a user-driven lossy wavelet-based storage model to facilitate the analysis and visualization of large-scale wind turbine array simulations. The model stores data as heterogeneous blocks of wavelet coefficients, providing high-fidelity access to user-defined data regions believed the most salient, while providing lower-fidelity access to less salient regions on a block-by-block basis. In practice, by retaining the wavelet coefficients as a function of feature saliency, we have seen data reductions in excess of 94 percent, while retaining lossless information in the turbine-wake regions most critical to analysis and providing enough (low-fidelity) contextual information in the upper atmosphere to track incoming coherent turbulent structures. Our contextual wavelet compression approach has allowed us to deliver interative visual analysis while providing the user control over where data loss, and thus reduction in accuracy, in the analysis occurs. We argue this reduced but contextualized representation is a valid approach and encourages contextual data management.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effect of Fuel Properties on Spray and Combustion Characteristics under Compression Ignition Engine Conditions

In this paper, a review of experimental findings from multiple laboratories using different fuels was performed based on the Engine Combustion Network’s (ECN) Spray A. The main objective was to achieve a better understanding of fuel properties’ effects on spray and combustion characteristics at compression ignition (CI) engine conditions. The experimental summary includes results from a total of 26 fuels and they were classified into four categories: Primary Reference Fuels (PRF), jet fuels, gasoline fuels, and diesel fuels. The spray and combustion behaviors of those fuels, including liquid and vapor penetrations, lift-off length, and ignition delay, were analyzed and correlated with basic fuel properties. The results showed that higher density, boiling temperature and viscosity generally lead to longer liquid length. At reacting conditions, a higher cetane number results in a shorter ignition delay and lift-off length. Furthermore, a strong negative correlation between ignition delay/lift-off-length and cetane number was observed for a wide range of fuels. In the second part of this paper, 3-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) formulation was performed on PRF fuels to obtain detailed insight into how the fuel physical and chemical properties affect the spray and combustion processes. The results showed that lower ignitability occurred as the iso-octane content in fuel increased and this led to a leaner fuel environment and lower emissions at a higher PRF.

fuel properties, spray and combustion characterist↗
DOE OSTI2019

Advancing Turbulent Spray and Combustion Models for Compression Ignition Engine Simulations

This thesis seeks to investigate the turbulent mixing influence on spray atomization and combustion processes encountered in compression ignition diesel engines. Despite greater thermal efficiency of diesel engine than spark ignition engine, the nature of stratified air-fuel mixture and non-premixed flame gives rise to unacceptable levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), thus the use of diesel engines has often been limited to heavy-duty vehicle and industrial power sources. However, recent advancement in diesel engine combustion strategies, e.g. low temperature com-bustion (LTC), has demonstrated promising pathways towards improvement in the engine-out pollutants. Therefore, particularly in the effort of computer-aided en-gine design tasks, such a new engine design concept requires more accurate modeling techniques applicable over a broader range of engine operating conditions than those of conventional engine strategies. In the notion of challenges in new engine operat-ing conditions, this thesis aims to present successful implementation of improvement in numerical modeling techniques in high-pressure spray atomization and resulting turbulent spray flame of interest. Three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in in-cylinder turbu-lent combustion is considered an integral part of engine design progress, but rather a cost-prohibitive to apply over a broad range of engine relevant conditions. In spite of successful use of existing spray atomization modeling, prior researchers have pointed out some degree of failure in LTC targeted injection strategies. Furthermore, finite rate and strong nonlinearity of chemistry influenced by local turbulent mixing still re-main in challenges to account for in cost-efficient CFD analysis. In this context, a new attempt of hybrid spray primary breakup modeling is presented and demonstrated in successful application aimed at LTC technique. In addition, the Representative Interactive Flamelets (RIF) model with aid of multi-flamelets approach is extensively assessed in terms of predictive capability against classical combustion model. The combustion model employed in this study are fully examined in the general diesel combustion metric, e.g., ignition delay and flame lift-off length as well as newly sug-gested test metric, combustion recession. The combustion recession has been recently idenfied, but still remain largely unknown. Since the governing physics of this phe-nomenon is characterized by turbulent mixing coupled with finite rate chemistry, this can be considered as a relevant test metric for turbulent combustion models. In ad-dition, very recent experimental studies have introduced a new non-sooting diesel combustion technique by manipulating direct injection method. The ducted fuel in-jection (DFI) has thus been demonstrated with its potential of low soot emissions. Knowing that the duct equipped ahead of injector nozzle was identifed to enhance turbulent mixing, investigations of DFI combustion may prove the effectiveness of turbulece-chemistry interaction modeling. This thesis presents comprehensive under-standings of aformentioned diesel combustion techniques in terms of several important physics keywords, e.g., turbulent mixing and detailed chemistry

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Infrared absorption spectroscopy of dynamically compressed water

Presentation describes development of a time-stretch spectroscopy diagnostic using dispersed supercontinuum laser pulses. The technique is applied to near-infrared measurements of liquid water during multiple shock compression.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Technology Enablers for Advanced Gasoline Compression Ignition Engines

To meet current emission regulations and increasingly demanding global fleet CO2 standards on fuel economy and future trends towards life cycle GHG emissions, advanced combustion engines remain significant in the passenger vehicle sector to achieve high efficiency and low emissions over the full operating range. Lean burn gasoline compression ignition (GCI) technology has shown to have the most potential in reaching these goals, although it faces challenges in the operating range. In this study, an advanced GCI engine is considered with the capability to operate under two combustion modes, namely low temperature combustion (LTC) and GCI. They are enabled with the use of two Hyundai in-house developed technologies; an advanced valve control mechanism known as continuously variable valve duration (CVVD) and a high-pressure gasoline injection system. At low load, the engine utilizes dual CVVD and dual CVVT (continuously variable valve timing) mechanisms for both intake and exhaust valvetrains to enable NVO (negative valve overlap) to trap hot residuals. The hot residuals enable low load auto-ignition, and the phasing control of that auto-ignition is achieved by varying the degrees of NVO, and in turn, the amount of hot residuals. This is done in real time with respect to the changes in engine loads or operating conditions, significantly improving cylinder-phasing control in LTC mode, and subsequently is able to realize a fuel economy gain and reduced emission benefits. Early direct injection during NVO or intake stroke is used to form homogenous or quasi-homogenous air-fuel mixture for LTC. At mid to high loads, late direct injection of gasoline or GCI mode is employed to take advantage of the high volatility and high resistance to auto-ignition of gasoline fuel, so that diesel-engine like high combustion efficiency can be achieved with lower soot emissions for the same NOx level as diesel combustion. In this paper, the key control and fueling technologies that enable this multiple mode combustion are introduced, and the resultant analysis on engine test and CFD simulation at LTC and GCI operating conditions are presented in detail.

Gasoline compression ignition, low temperature com↗
DOE OSTI2011

Comparison of the generalized Riemann solver and the gas-kinetic scheme for inviscid compressible flow simulations

The generalized Riemann problem (GRP) scheme for the Euler equations and gas-kinetic scheme (GKS) for the Boltzmann equation are two high resolution shock capturing schemes for fluid simulations. The difference is that one is based on the characteristics of the inviscid Euler equations and their wave interactions, and the other is based on the particle transport and collisions. The similarity between them is that both methods can use identical MUSCL-type initial reconstructions around a cell interface, and the spatial slopes on both sides of a cell interface involve in the gas evolution process and the construction of a time-dependent flux function. Although both methods have been applied successfully to the inviscid compressible flow computations, their performances have never been compared. Since both methods use the same initial reconstruction, any difference is solely coming from different underlying mechanism in their flux evaluation. Therefore, such a comparison is important to help us to understand the correspondence between physical modeling and numerical performances. Since GRP is so faithfully solving the inviscid Euler equations, the comparison can be also used to show the validity of solving the Euler equations itself. The numerical comparison shows that the GRP exhibits a slightly better computational efficiency, and has comparable accuracy with GKS for the Euler solutions in 1D case, but the GKS is more robust than GRP. For the 2D high Mach number flow simulations, the GKS is absent from the shock instability and converges to the steady state solutions faster than the GRP. The GRP has carbuncle phenomena, likes a cloud hanging over exact Riemann solvers. The GRP and GKS use different physical processes to describe the flow motion starting from a discontinuity. One is based on the assumption of equilibrium state with infinite number of particle collisions, and the other starts from the non-equilibrium free transport process to evolve into an equilibrium one through particle collisions. The different mechanism in the flux evaluation deviates their numerical performance. Through this study, we may conclude scientifically that it may NOT be valid to use the Euler equations as governing equations to construct numerical fluxes in a discretized space with limited cell resolution. To adapt the Navier-Stokes (NS) equations is NOT valid either because the NS equations describe the flow behavior on the hydrodynamic scale and have no any corresponding physics starting from a discontinuity. This fact alludes to the consistency of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations with the continuum assumption and the necessity of a direct modeling of the physical process in the discretized space in the construction of numerical scheme when modeling very high Mach number flows. The development of numerical algorithm is similar to the modeling process in deriving the governing equations, but the control volume here cannot be shrunk to zero.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Predicting the tensile and compressive modulus of electrospun fiber mat‐reinforced hydrogels using the Halpin–Tsai equations

Abstract The reinforcement of mechanically‐weak hydrogels to yield composites with increased stiffness, strength, or toughness is a well‐established approach. In particular, introducing electrospun nanofibers into hydrogels is a common strategy for biomedical applications, as the resulting hierarchical structure mimics biology and allows for control over fiber diameter and alignment and tuning of mechanical properties. However, further study of the link between the constituent materials and the mechanical properties of the composite is uncommon. One potential model to understand the mechanical properties of fiber‐reinforced hydrogels involves the Halpin–Tsai equations, which relate the modulus values of the fibers and hydrogel matrix and the fiber volume fraction, to the modulus of the composite. To assess the application of this model to fiber‐reinforced hydrogels, predicted values were compared with experimental values from mechanical testing of a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) matrix reinforced with an electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) fiber mat. Although the equations described these systems well in tension, providing a facile approach to identify a fiber volume fraction that will achieve a desired modulus, the Halpin–Tsai approach was less successful under compression. This study motivates additional investigation of the role of structural features of hydrogel composites in determining mechanical properties to enable design of materials for specific applications.

Polymer Science↗
DOE OSTI2022

Formation of Point Shocks for 3D Compressible Euler

We consider the 3D isentropic compressible Euler equations with the ideal gas law. We provide a constructive proof of the formation of the first point shock from smooth initial datum of finite energy, with no vacuum regions, with nontrivial vorticity present at the shock, and under no symmetry assumptions . We prove that for an open set of Sobolev‐class initial data that are a small L ∞ perturbation of a constant state, there exist smooth solutions to the Euler equations which form a generic stable shock in finite time. The blowup time and location can be explicitly computed, and solutions at the blowup time are smooth except for a single point , where they are of cusp‐type with Hölder C 1/3 regularity. Our proof is based on the use of modulated self‐similar variables that are used to enforce a number of constraints on the blowup profile, necessary to establish global existence and asymptotic stability in self‐similar variables. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Mathematics↗