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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 1,765 records · Page 98
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2010

Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of miniphantom on in-air output ratio

Purpose: The aim of the study was to quantify the effect of miniphantoms on in-air output ratio measurements, i.e., to determine correction factors for in-air output ratio. Methods: Monte Carlo (MC) simulations were performed to simulate in-air output ratio measurements by using miniphantoms made of various materials (PMMA, graphite, copper, brass, and lead) and with different longitudinal thicknesses or depths (2-30 g/cm{sup 2}) in photon beams of 6 and 15 MV, respectively, and with collimator settings ranging from 3x3 to 40x40 cm{sup 2}. EGSnrc and BEAMnrc (2007) software packages were used. Photon energy spectra corresponding to the collimator settings were obtained from BEAMnrc code simulations on a linear accelerator and were used to quantify the components of in-air output ratio correction factors, i.e., attenuation, mass energy absorption, and phantom scatter correction factors. In-air output ratio correction factors as functions of miniphantom material, miniphantom longitudinal thickness, and collimator setting were calculated and compared to a previous experimental study. Results: The in-air output ratio correction factors increase with collimator opening and miniphantom longitudinal thickness for all the materials and for both energies. At small longitudinal thicknesses, the in-air output ratio correction factors for PMMA and graphite are close to 1. The maximum magnitudes of the in-air output ratio correction factors occur at the largest collimator setting (40x40 cm{sup 2}) and the largest miniphantom longitudinal thickness (30 g/cm{sup 2}): 1.008{+-}0.001 for 6 MV and 1.012{+-}0.001 for 15 MV, respectively. The MC simulations of the in-air output ratio correction factor confirm the previous experimental study. Conclusions: The study has verified that a correction factor for in-air output ratio can be obtained as a product of attenuation correction factor, mass energy absorption correction factor, and phantom scatter correction factor. The correction factors obtained in the present study can be used in studies involving in-air output ratio measurements using miniphantoms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Year-end report on FY13 activities for J8A6

The Russian-3 (R3) HANE, a 60 km high-latitude burst with yield estimated at 300 kt, was chosen for the demonstration. This test was selected because it allowed LLNL to leverage existing funding, which was directed at extending LLNL’s capability to simulate HANEs at atmospheric altitudes (<100 km). David Larsen (LLNL) developed a new particle-tracing code that tracks monoenergetic electrons of various energies from a point source as they interact with the atmosphere, losing energy and ‘pitch-angle scattering’ as they are transported. A relatively large fraction of the initial electrons are able to escape the atmosphere and were handed off to LANL for further processing to calculate the effect on space based assets. LANL binned the electrons into a phase-space density as a function of energy and equatorial pitch-angle and showed that all of the electrons would travel along field lines to the conjugate point in the Southern hemisphere, where they would likely be absorbed, because their equatorial pitch-angles were too field-aligned to permit them to ‘mirror’ above the atmosphere and be ‘trapped’. Thus, the initial LLNL output did not produce any trapped electrons to input into LANL’s diffusion code and so no study of the long-term evolution of the trapped population and its effect on space-based assets could be performed. It was recognized that LLNL’s calculation did not properly model the low-probability, large-angle scattering associated with a single Coulomb interaction between a beta-decay electron and the nucleus of the neutral particles in the high atmosphere, which would be the dominant interaction above some altitude (>100 km) and might allow the electrons to be pitch-angle scattered sufficiently to become trapped. A second LLNL calculation that properly included this single interaction probability was conducted and the output processed by LANL. It was shown that a small fraction of the initial population (~0.01%) would be ‘locally trapped’; however, even this small population would likely be absorbed within a few minutes as the electrons drifted around earth and eventually ended up on field lines where they would be absorbed in the atmosphere. The output of the second LLNL calculation was found to produce about 4x fewer backscattered electrons than previous work (Selesnick et al 2012), and so the remainder of the FY13 LANL effort on the project was aimed at trying to resolve this discrepancy. LANL implemented a stochastic differential equation to simulate the backscatter process so that the results could be compared to Larsen and Selesnick. Initial results from this capability have been obtained, but no quantitative comparison to Larsen or Selesnick has been done yet.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

A NEW MULTI-DIMENSIONAL GENERAL RELATIVISTIC NEUTRINO HYDRODYNAMICS CODE FOR CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE. II. RELATIVISTIC EXPLOSION MODELS OF CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE

We present the first two-dimensional general relativistic (GR) simulations of stellar core collapse and explosion with the COCONUT hydrodynamics code in combination with the VERTEX solver for energy-dependent, three-flavor neutrino transport, using the extended conformal flatness condition for approximating the space-time metric and a ray-by-ray-plus ansatz to tackle the multi-dimensionality of the transport. For both of the investigated 11.2 and 15 M{sub Sun} progenitors we obtain successful, though seemingly marginal, neutrino-driven supernova explosions. This outcome and the time evolution of the models basically agree with results previously obtained with the PROMETHEUS hydro solver including an approximative treatment of relativistic effects by a modified Newtonian potential. However, GR models exhibit subtle differences in the neutrinospheric conditions compared with Newtonian and pseudo-Newtonian simulations. These differences lead to significantly higher luminosities and mean energies of the radiated electron neutrinos and antineutrinos and therefore to larger energy-deposition rates and heating efficiencies in the gain layer with favorable consequences for strong nonradial mass motions and ultimately for an explosion. Moreover, energy transfer to the stellar medium around the neutrinospheres through nucleon recoil in scattering reactions of heavy-lepton neutrinos also enhances the mentioned effects. Together with previous pseudo-Newtonian models, the presented relativistic calculations suggest that the treatment of gravity and energy-exchanging neutrino interactions can make differences of even 50%-100% in some quantities and is likely to contribute to a finally successful explosion mechanism on no minor level than hydrodynamical differences between different dimensions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Calculation of electron-impact rotationally elastic total cross sections for NH{sub 3}, H{sub 2}S, and PH{sub 3} over the energy range from 0.01 eV to 2 keV

This paper report results of calculation of the total cross section Q{sub T} for electron impact on NH{sub 3}, H{sub 2}S, and PH{sub 3} over a wide range of incident energies from 0.01 eV to 2 keV. Total cross sections Q{sub T} (elastic plus electronic excitation) for incident energies below the ionization threshold of the target were calculated using the UK molecular R-matrix code through the Quantemol-N software package and cross sections at higher energies were derived using the spherical complex optical potential formalism. The two methods are found to give self-consistent values where they overlap. The present results are, in general, found to be in good agreement with previous experimental and theoretical results.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Calculating alpha Eigenvalues in a Continuous-Energy Infinite Medium with Monte Carlo

The α eigenvalue has implications for time-dependent problems where the system is sub- or supercritical. We present methods and results from calculating the α-eigenvalue spectrum for a continuous-energy infinite medium with a simplified Monte Carlo transport code. We formulate the α-eigenvalue problem, detail the Monte Carlo code physics, and provide verification and results. We have a method for calculating the α-eigenvalue spectrum in a continuous-energy infinite-medium. The continuous-time Markov process described by the transition rate matrix provides a way of obtaining the α-eigenvalue spectrum and kinetic modes. These are useful for the approximation of the time dependence of the system.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Fluoride-Cooled High-Temperature Pebble-Bed Reactor Reference Plant Model Updates

This work presents the latest improvements to, and investigations performed with, the Fluoride-Cooled High-Temperature Pebble-Bed Reactor reference plant models for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. These models, developed with the Comprehensive Reactor Analysis Bundle, or BlueCRAB, serve as the foundation for the future development of detailed design evaluation models based on license applications. BlueCRAB is the code suite proposed for non-light-water reactor systems safety analyses, and it incorporates various simulation tools developed by the Nuclear Energy Advance Modeling and Simulation program, including the Griffin code for reactor physics, the Pronghorn and SAM codes for core thermal fluids, the BISON code for solid conduction and fuel performance, and the SAM code for system analysis. The primary objective of this work is to assess the level of readiness of BlueCRAB for modeling fluoride-cooled high-temperature pebble-bed reactors. We first developed numerical models in BlueCRAB that include the key physics for this technology, ensuring an adequate level of fidelity for modeling the core performance during accident scenarios. This was followed by simulation of transient scenarios, two loss-of-forced-cooling events (one protected and one unprotected), and two control rod withdrawal events (one delayed and one prompt supercritical reactivity insertion). The analysis includes comparisons between the 2-D thermal fluid porous media models in Pronghorn and SAM, comparisons between coupled Pronghorn-Griffin and coupled SAM-Griffin models for two loss-of-forced cooling events and one control rod withdrawal event, and comparisons between SAM single-solve and domain-overlapping approaches for multi-scale thermal fluid coupling. In addition, we performed comparisons between 3-D, 2-D, and 0-D neutronic models for the two control rod withdrawal scenarios with Pronghorn-Griffin. The results show that the BlueCRAB models led to physically intuitive solutions for the scenarios examined. The changes in the various scalar and vector fields such as the neutron flux, power, temperatures, densities, pressures, and velocities are all within the expected ranges, and their distributions can be explained from the system response of the transients and the geometric and material variations. Several comparisons suggest that the porous media models in Pronghorn and SAM can lead to similar solutions, even though they are based on different methodologies. The simulations demonstrate that there are differences between the various levels of fidelity, and it is advisable to have flexible tools that can cover the breadth and depth of needs that may arise in future technical evaluations. We believe that BlueCRAB’s capabilities represent a significant asset for confirmatory analyses aimed at resolving important safety questions.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Measurements of trapped protons and cosmic rays from recent shuttle flights

We have flown two new charged particle detectors in five recent Shuttle flights. In this paper we report on the dose rate, equivalent dose rate, and radiation quality factor for trapped protons and cosmic radiation separately. A comparison of the integral Linear Energy Transfer (LET) spectra with recent transport code calculations show significant disagreement. Using the calculated dose rate from the omni-directional AP8MAX model with IGRF reference magnetic field epoch 1970, and observed dose rate as a function of (averaged over all geographic latitude) and longitude, we have determined the westward drift of the South Atlantic anomaly. We have also studied the east-west effect, and observed a 'second' radiation belt. A comparison of the galactic cosmic radiation lineal energy transfer spectra with model calculations shows disagreement comparable to those of the trapped protons.

Badhwar, G. D.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Detector Backgrounds at the Higgs Factory Muon Collider: MARS $vs$ FLUKA

Simulations for the 125-GeV Higgs Factory (HF) Muon Collider (MC) have shown large background particle loads on the collider detector. To verify level, source and composition of background calculations were performed using FLUKA and MARS codes for two shielding configurations. After comprehensive tuning of muon beam parameters, geometry setups and scoring procedures, background particle distributions at the detector entrance were simulated and compared. The spatial distributions and energy spectra of background particles obtained by two codes are rather similar. Average numbers of background particles simulated using MARS and FLUKA agree within a factor of two.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development of a Monte Carlo code for the data analysis of the {sup 18}F(p,α){sup 15}O reaction at astrophysical energies

Novae are astrophysical events (violent explosion) occurring in close binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and a main-sequence star or a star in a more advanced stage of evolution. They are called 'narrow systems' because the two components interact with each other: there is a process of mass exchange with resulting in the transfer of matter from the companion star to the white dwarf, leading to the formation of this last of the so-called accretion disk, rich mainly of hydrogen. Over time, more and more material accumulates until the pressure and the temperature reached are sufficient to trigger nuclear fusion reactions, rapidly converting a large part of the hydrogen into heavier elements. The products of 'hot hydrogen burning' are then placed in the interstellar medium as a result of violent explosions. Studies on the element abundances observed in these events can provide important information about the stages of evolution stellar. During the outbursts of novae some radioactive isotopes are synthesized: in particular, the decay of short-lived nuclei such as {sup 13}N and {sup 18}F with subsequent emission of gamma radiation energy below 511 keV. The gamma rays from products electron-positron annihilation of positrons emitted in the decay of {sup 18}F are the most abundant and the first observable as soon as the atmosphere of the nova starts to become transparent to gamma radiation. Hence the importance of the study of nuclear reactions that lead both to the formation and to the destruction of {sup 18}F. Among these, the {sup 18}F(p,α){sup 15}O reaction is one of the main channels of destruction. This reaction was then studied at energies of astrophysical interest. The experiment done at Riken, Japan, has as its objective the study of the {sup 18}F(p,α){sup 15}O reaction, using a beam of {sup 18}F produced at CRIB, to derive important information about the phenomenon of novae. In this paper we present the experimental technique and the Monte Carlo code developed to be used in the data analysis process.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Improvements in transport calculations by the optimized multigroup libraries for fast neutron systems

This paper shows how to improve the accuracy of the transport calculations using in the APOLLO2 code the optimized multigroup libraries calculated by AEMC for fast neutron systems. These ameliorations concern the fission source calculation and the self-shielding models. The calculation of the fission source was generalized to fission spectra including an incident neutron energy dependence. The subgroup self-shielding model was updated for a mixture of resonant nuclides. Some tests on a Pu-239 sphere without reflectors and a fast sodium cell show that the use of four fission spectra guarantees a correct representation of the fission source. The test on a Pu-239 sphere with a thick steel reflector proves that the subgroup self-shielding, accounting for the mutual shielding of several resonant nuclides, allows us to improve the accuracy of the neutron transport solution in the reflector. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Photonuclear reaction based high-energy x-ray spectrometer to cover from 2 MeV to 20 MeV

A photonuclear-reaction-based hard x-ray spectrometer is developed to measure the number and energy spectrum of fast electrons generated by interactions between plasma and intense laser light. In this spectrometer, x-rays are converted to neutrons through photonuclear reactions, and the neutrons are counted with a bubble detector that is insensitive to x-rays. The spectrometer consists of a bundle of hard x-ray detectors that respond to different photon-energy ranges. Proof-of-principle experiment was performed on a linear accelerator facility. A quasi-monoenergetic electron bunch (N{sub e} = 1.0 × 10{sup −6} C, E{sub e} = 16 ± 0.32 MeV) was injected into a 5-mm-thick lead plate. Bremsstrahlung x-rays, which emanate from the lead plate, were measured with the spectrometer. The measured spectral shape and intensity agree fairly well with those computed with a Monte Carlo simulation code. The result shows that high-energy x-rays can be measured absolutely with a photon-counting accuracy of 50%–70% in the energy range from 2 MeV to 20 MeV with a spectral resolution (Δhν/hν) of about 15%. Quantum efficiency of this spectrometer was designed to be 10{sup −7}, 10{sup −4}, 10{sup −5}, respectively, for 2–10, 11–15, and 15–25 MeV of photon energy ranges.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Fracton models from product codes

We explore a deep connection between fracton order and product codes. In particular, we propose and analyze conditions on classical seed codes which lead to fracton order in the resulting quantum product codes. Depending on the properties of the input codes, product codes can realize either Type-I or Type-II fracton models, in both nonlocal and local constructions. For the nonlocal case, we show that a recently proposed model of lineons on nonlocal graphs can be obtained as a hypergraph product code. Interestingly, constrained mobility in this model arises only from energy barriers associated with the graph. For the local case, we introduce a novel type of classical LDPC code defined on a planar aperiodic tiling. By considering the specific example of the pinwheel tiling, we demonstrate the systematic construction of local Type-I and Type-II fracton models as product codes. Our work establishes product codes as a natural setting for exploring fracton order.

Fractons↗
DOE OSTI2019

Improvements to PVWatts for Fixed and One-Axis Tracking Systems

This work presents improvements to the widely used NREL PVWatts photovoltaic system energy model to improve modeling accuracy for typical fixed and one axis system designs. These improvements allow users to more credibly and quickly evaluate competing system designs in early stage feasibility, and are shown to improve PVWatts' system performance prediction capabilities without major impact to ease of use.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Non-adiabatic Excited State Molecule Dynamics Modeling of Photochemistry and Photophysics of Materials

Understanding and controlling excited state dynamics lies at the heart of all our efforts to design photoactive materials with desired functionality. This tailor-design approach has become the standard for many technological applications (e.g., solar energy harvesting) including the design of organic conjugated electronic materials with applications in photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. Over the years, our team has developed efficient LANL-based codes to model the relevant photophysical processes following photoexcitation (spatial energy transfer, excitation localization/delocalization, and/or charge separation). The developed approach allows the non-radiative relaxation to be followed on up to ~10 ps timescales for large realistic molecules (hundreds of atoms in size) in the realistic solvent dielectric environment. The Collective Electronic Oscillator (CEO) code is used to compute electronic excited states, and the Non-adiabatic Excited State Molecular Dynamics (NA-ESMD) code is used to follow the non-adiabatic dynamics on multiple coupled Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces. Our preliminary NA-ESMD simulations have revealed key photoinduced mechanisms controlling competing interactions and relaxation pathways in complex materials, including organic conjugated polymer materials, and have provided a detailed understanding of photochemical products and intermediates and the internal conversion process during the initiation of energetic materials. This project will be using LANL-based CEO and NA-ESMD codes to model nonradiative relaxation in organic and energetic materials. The NA-ESMD and CEO codes belong to a class of electronic structure/quantum chemistry codes that require large memory, “long-queue-few-core” distribution of resources in order to make useful progress. The NA-ESMD simulations are trivially parallelizable requiring ~300 processors for up to one week runtime to reach a meaningful restart point.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Neutron yields for reactions induced by 120 GeV protons on thick copper target

We developed an experimental method to measure neutron energy spectrum for 120-GeV protons on a thick copper target at Fermilab Test Beam Facility (FTBF). The spectrum in the energy range from 16 to 1600 MeV was obtained for 60-cm long copper target by time-of-flight technique with an NE213 scintillator and 5.5-m flight path. Energy spectra of neutrons generated from an interaction with beam and materials are important to design shielding structure of high energy accelerators. Until now, the energy spectra for the incident energy up to 3 GeV have been measured by several groups, Ishibashi et al., Amian et al., and Leray et al. In the energy region above 3 GeV, few experimental data are available because of small number of facilities for neutron experiment. On the other hand, concerning simulation codes, theoretical models for particle generation and transportation are switched from intermediate to high energy one around this energy. The spectra calculated by the codes have not been examined using experimental data. In shielding experiments using 120 GeV hadron beam, experimental data shows systematic differences from calculations. Hagiwara et al. have measured leakage neutron spectra behind iron and concrete shield from 120 GeV proton on target at anti-proton target station in Fermilab by using Bonner Spheres with unfolding technique. In CERN, Nakao et al reported experimental results of neutron spectra behind iron and concrete wall from 120 GeV/c proton and pion mixed beam on copper by using NE213 liquid scintillators with unfolding technique. Both of the results reported systematic discrepancies between experimental and calculation results. Therefore, experimental data are highly required to verify neutron production part of calculations. In this study, we developed an experimental method to measure neutron energy spectrum for 120 GeV proton on target. The neutron energy was determined using time-of-flight technique. We used the Fermilab Test Beam Facility (FTBF) in Fermilab that provided 120 GeV proton beam with intensity of 2 x 10{sup 5}/4 sec in every minute. The point of this study was determination of experimental configuration to satisfy enough statistic and energy resolution of neutrons.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Establishing capabilities for quantum computing and simulations for energy applications

Quantum information science (QIS) is creating potential transformative opportunities to exploit intricate quantum mechanical phenomena in new ways for obtaining and processing information to advance many areas of science and engineering. Since the National Quantum Initiative Act was signed into law in 2018, developing QIS capability and competency is one of the most urgent tasks of DOE to make sure the US win the quantum race. The QIS contains four pillars: quantum computing, quantum simulations, quantum sensing, and quantum networking. To apply QIS in energy related applications, the key is to develop the capability of quantum computing &amp; simulation tools. In this project, we propose to develop the capability of quantum computing and simulations at NETL to target fossil energy related problems. We will install a simulator (e. g. IBM qiskit) on the NETL supercomputer to simulate the environments of quantum computer. Based on the current available quantum algorithms for quantum chemistry, we will develop quantum computing codes to perform simulation which will focus on fossil energy sector challenges, including CO2 capture &amp; conversion, sensing, and fuel conversion. We then will seek opportunities to run our codes on real quantum computers (such as IBM-Q, google Sycamore, etc.). Through this project, the new capability of quantum computing and simulations will be established at NETL. In addition, the NETL workforce in this area will be trained ready to conduct more complicated tasks in line with NETL missions to enhance the nation’s energy foundation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Energy conversion and transfer for plasmas in a magnetic expansion configuration

A two-dimensional axisymmetric particle-in-cell code with Monte Carlo collision conditions has been used to study particle energy transfer in plasmas and conversion in applied magnetic and electric fields appropriate to coaxial acceleration. The research incorporates a computation scheme with: a model of single particle magnetic interactions; a model of single particle interactions in electric and magnetic fields; and a model of multi-particle collisional interactions in order to understand the energy transfer processes and conversion mechanisms of charged plasma particles. This approach predicts electron and ion motions along with their energy variations for physical conditions that occur in the related models; the results allow comparison with experimental data for magnetic field strengths of 0.01–0.05 T and electrode voltages of 22.0–32.0 V. With the incorporation of magnetic and electric field effects on charged particles, the multi-particle model includes electron-neutral ionization collisions, ion-neutral charge exchange collisions, and electron-ion Coulomb collisions. This research presents a new approach to achieve an underlying understanding of the plasma energy transfer and conversion in the external electric and magnetic fields that is not possible using magnetohydrodynamics continuum representations. Results indicate the following innovative conclusions: (1) Radial and azimuthal energies of magnetized electrons are converted into an axial electron energy component in the diverging magnetic field, and the azimuthal kinetic energy of unmagnetized ions is converted into axial and radial components. (2) In electric and magnetic fields, electric field energy is primarily converted into axial kinetic energy of magnetized electrons by the energy transformation effects of magnetic fields, and for unmagnetized ions, the radial kinetic energy component dominates in the conversion of electric field energy. (3) For the collisional plasma, electron kinetic energy tends to increase (or decrease) to a terminal value since electrons lose energy in collisions then gain energy again from the field. Ions acquire most energy directly from the electric field, although part of the electric field energy arrives to the ions by collisions. Further, the ion axial energy component dominates the total ion energy. The collision processes are found to be integral and essential for the conversion of the plasma non-directed energy gain to be converted into the resultant axial energy, the magnitudes of which are found to be in agreement with experimental results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗