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Results for “Thermal diffusivity”

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
NASA NTRS1984

Investigation of Aeronomic Processes on the Basis of Ionospheric Sporadic E

A method by means of which the characteristics of atmospheric turbulence can be determined is discussed. Turbulent diffusivity deduced from ionospheric sporadic E in different altitudes above the ionospheric stations at Bekescsaba and Juliusrah are given. Seasonal variations in different altitudes above Bekescsaba are shown. An attempt was made to determine the variation of the turbulent diffusivity during and after geomagnetic disturbances by computing the horizontal wind velocity from the thermal wind equation. It is argued that the change of the turbulent diffusivity below the turbopause is opposed to that above the turbopause.

Bencze, P.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Comparison of microwave and conventional heating for CO 2 desorption from zeolite 13X

In this study, we investigate microwave irradiation as an alternative to conventional heating for temperature swing adsorption processes. The performance of microwave and conventional heating during sorbent regeneration was evaluated by measuring CO 2 desorption from zeolite 13X at different temperatures. Experimentally, a fixed bed of zeolite 13X was saturated by a 150 sccm flow of 15 % CO 2 at room temperature followed by sorbent regeneration under nitrogen at 55, 100, or 150 °C by applying either microwave irradiation or conventional heating. Microwaves reduced sorbent regeneration times by at least half compared to regeneration by conventional heating. Under conventional regeneration, desorption curves were resolved into two peaks representing physisorbed CO 2 (mass diffusion limited) at low temperature and bicoordinated CO 2 (thermally limited) with increasing temperature. Under microwave regeneration, only one desorption peak was observed suggesting that CO 2 desorption was limited by mass diffusion through the porous zeolite 13X structure, rather than by temperature. Depending on microwave power, apparent activation energy of the microwave-assisted regeneration was 15.8–18.1 kJ/mol, compared to 41.5 kJ/mol for conventional regeneration. The reduction in apparent activation energy is mainly attributed to selective microwave heating of CO 2 adsorption sites (Na + sites) resulting in greater steady state temperatures of Na + relative to framework atoms, suggesting greater heating efficiency due to microwaves compared to conventional heat transfer. Due to rapid cycling and efficient heat transfer to CO 2 sites on zeolite 13X, microwave regeneration is found to increase adsorption/desorption cycling productivity and potentially reduce the energy penalty of temperature swing capture.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Inelastic phonon transport across atomically sharp metal/semiconductor interfaces

Understanding thermal transport across metal/semiconductor interfaces is crucial for the heat dissipation of electronics. The dominant heat carriers in non-metals, phonons, are thought to transport elastically across most interfaces, except for a few extreme cases where the two materials that formed the interface are highly dissimilar with a large difference in Debye temperature. In this work, we show that even for two materials with similar Debye temperatures (Al/Si, Al/GaN), a substantial portion of phonons will transport inelastically across their interfaces at high temperatures, significantly enhancing interface thermal conductance. Moreover, we find that interface sharpness strongly affects phonon transport process. For atomically sharp interfaces, phonons are allowed to transport inelastically and interface thermal conductance linearly increases at high temperatures. With a diffuse interface, inelastic phonon transport diminishes. Our results provide new insights on phonon transport across interfaces and open up opportunities for engineering interface thermal conductance specifically for materials of relevance to microelectronics.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1988

Cosmic-ray-modified stellar winds. II - A perturbation approach

A perturbation method is developed to describe the modification of a stellar wind flow with termination shock by the Galactic cosmic rays. The perturbation parameter epsilon used in the analysis is the ratio of the galactic cosmic-ray pressure to the thermal gas pressure at a large distance from the star. The positive galactic cosmic-ray pressure gradient serves to brake the outflowing stellar wind gas, particularly just upstream of the termination shock of the wind. A one-fluid polytropic model is used to describe the thermal stellar wind gas, with the coupling between the cosmic rays and the thermal gas being determined by an average hydrodynamical diffusion coefficient kappa describing the scattering of cosmic rays by magnetohydrodynamic waves traveling in the background flow. The analysis takes into account cosmic-ray modifications of the critical point of the wind, the thermal gas entropy constants on both sides of the shock, and the fluid velocity profile.

Ko, C. M.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ferroelectric properties and polarization dynamics in Ba{sub 4}Sm{sub 2}Ti{sub 4}Ta{sub 6}O{sub 30} tungsten bronze ceramics

Ferroelectricity and polarization reversal dynamics in Ba{sub 4}Sm{sub 2}Ti{sub 4}Ta{sub 6}O{sub 30} tungsten bronze ceramics were investigated by measuring dielectric spectra and the evolution of hysteresis loops over a wide temperature range. With decreasing temperature, the dielectric properties and differential scanning calorimetry results showed diffuse peaks at ∼280 K with large thermal hysteresis, suggesting a first order ferroelectric transition. A dielectric relaxation was observed at low temperature that followed the Vogel–Fulcher relationship. The saturation and remanent polarizations of the Ba{sub 4}Sm{sub 2}Ti{sub 4}Ta{sub 6}O{sub 30} ceramics showed remarkable dependence on the applied field and temperature. The temperature dependence of the coercive field was divided into three linear regions and fitted to the Vopsaroiu model. Activation energies for polarization reversal of 0.73, 0.79, and 0.65 eV were determined for the following three regions: (I) the diffuse ferroelectric transition region (323.15–293.15 K), (II) the region just below the ferroelectric transition temperature (293.15–233.15 K), and (III) the low temperature relaxation region (233.15–173.15 K), respectively. The decrease of the activation energy in region III was attributed to the low temperature relaxation of Ba{sub 4}Sm{sub 2}Ti{sub 4}Ta{sub 6}O{sub 30}.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1974

Model calculations for diffuse molecular clouds

A steady state isobaric cloud model is developed. The pressure, thermal, electrical, and chemical balance equations are solved simultaneously with a simple one dimensional approximation to the equation of radiative transfer appropriate to diffuse clouds. Cooling is mainly by CII fine structure transitions, and a variety of heating mechanisms are considered. Particular attention is given to the abundance variation of H2. Inhomogeneous density distributions are obtained because of the attenuation of the interstellar UV field and the conversion from atomic to molecular hyrodgen. The effects of changing the model parameters are described and the applicability of the model to OAO-3 observations is discussed. Good qualitative agreement with the fractional H2 abundance determinations has been obtained. The observed kinetic temperatures near 80 K can also be achieved by grain photoelectron heating. The problem of the electron density is solved taking special account of the various hydrogen ions as well as heavier ones.

Glassgold, A. E.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ion Thermal Decoupling and Species Separation in Shock-Driven Implosions

Anomalous reduction of the fusion yields by 50% and anomalous scaling of the burn-averaged ion temperatures with the ion-species fraction has been observed for the first time in DHe 3 -filled shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions. Two ion kinetic mechanisms are used to explain the anomalous observations: thermal decoupling of the D and He 3 populations and diffusive species separation. The observed insensitivity of ion temperature to a varying deuterium fraction is shown to be a signature of ion thermal decoupling in shock-heated plasmas. The burn-averaged deuterium fraction calculated from the experimental data demonstrates a reduction in the average core deuterium density, as predicted by simulations that use a diffusion model. Accounting for each of these effects in simulations reproduces the observed yield trends.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

1-nm-thick graphene tri-layer as the ultimate copper diffusion barrier

We demonstrate the thinnest ever reported Cu diffusion barrier, a 1-nm-thick graphene tri-layer. X-ray diffraction patterns and Raman spectra show that the graphene is thermally stable at up to 750 °C against Cu diffusion. Transmission electron microscopy images show that there was no inter-diffusion in the Cu/graphene/Si structure. Raman analyses indicate that the graphene may have degraded into a nanocrystalline structure at 750 °C. At 800 °C, the perfect carbon structure was damaged, and thus the barrier failed. The results of this study suggest that graphene could be the ultimate Cu interconnect diffusion barrier.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

NEUP Final Report: Analysis of Thermal Transients for a Sodium-CO 2 Heat Exchanger

The design of heat exchangers for use in a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) Brayton cycle power converter must provide for acceptable performance for duty cycle events encompassing anticipated transients and postulated accidents. Argonne National Laboratory participated in the NEUP project, “Thermal Hydraulic and Structural Testing and Modeling of Compact Diffusion-Bonded Heat Exchangers for Supercritical CO 2 Brayton Cycle” with the task of conducting a comprehensive analysis of thermal transients for sCO 2 cycle heat exchangers, with emphasis on the sodium-to-CO 2 heat addition heat exchanger. A range of transients, from normal operation to severe accidents, were simulated with the coupled PDC and SAS4A/SASSYS-1 system level dynamic analysis computer codes. For each transient, the calculated change in the heat exchanger wall temperature is determined as a measure of the thermal loading. In addition, an analysis to find an equivalent helium-CO 2 heat exchanger was carried out to facilitate testing with helium rather than sodium on the hot side.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reverse and forward shock X-ray emission in an evolutionary model of supernova remnants undergoing efficient diffusive shock acceleration

We present new models for the forward and reverse shock thermal X-ray emission from core-collapse and Type Ia supernova remnants (SNRs) that include the efficient production of cosmic rays (CR) via nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). Our CR-hydro-NEI code takes into account non-equilibrium ionization, hydrodynamic effects of efficient CR production on the SNR evolution, and collisional temperature equilibration among heavy ions and electrons in both the shocked supernova (SN) ejecta and the shocked circumstellar material. While X-ray emission is emphasized here, our code self-consistently determines both thermal and non-thermal broadband emission from radio to TeV energies. We include Doppler broadening of the spectral lines by thermal motions of the ions and by the remnant expansion. We study, in general terms, the roles that the ambient environment, progenitor models, temperature equilibration, and processes related to DSA have on the thermal and non-thermal spectra. The study of X-ray line emission from young SNRs is a powerful tool for determining specific SN elemental contributions and for providing critical information that helps to understand the type and energetics of the explosion, the composition of the ambient medium in which the SN exploded, and the ionization and dynamics of the hot plasma in the shocked SN ejecta and interstellar medium. With the approaching launch of the next-generation X-ray satellite Astro-H, observations of spectral lines with unprecedented high resolution will become a reality. Our self-consistent calculations of the X-ray spectra from various progenitors will help interpret future observations of SNRs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

On a carbon nanostructure-based thermoelectric converter with record parameters

There is a new idea to enhance the Seebeck coefficient using electron drag by a heat flux and decrease the thermal conductivity by heat dissipation at the interfaces between graphite- and diamond-like areas in a composite formed from carbon nanostructures. The proposed thermoelectric converter is based on a thin (20–50 nm) graphite-like layer located at an ultra-short distance from the diamond-like area. According to estimation, a thermoelectric power higher than in the case of diffusion by a factor of 10{sup 3} can be attained. Under ideal conditions, this allows a room-temperature thermoelectric efficiency of 150 to be obtained. The results of investigations within project no. 16-19-00075 of the Russian Science Foundation are substantiated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Enabling fast charging – A battery technology gap assessment

The battery technology literature is reviewed, with an emphasis on key elements that limit extreme fast charging. Key gaps in existing elements of the technology are presented as well as developmental needs. Among these needs are advanced models and methods to detect and prevent lithium plating; new positive-electrode materials which are less prone to stress-induced failure; better electrode designs to accommodate very rapid diffusion in and out of the electrode; measure temperature distributions during fast charge to enable/validate models; and develop thermal management and pack designs to accommodate the higher operating voltage.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRS2000

Modeling Specular Exchange Between Concentric Cylinders in a Radiative Shielded Furnace

The objective of this research is to develop and validate mathematical models to characterize the thermal performance of a radiative shielded furnace, the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) Isothermal Diffusion Oven. The mathematical models are validated against experimental data obtained from testing the breadboard oven in a terrestrial laboratory environment. It is anticipated that the validation will produce math models capable of predicting the thermal performance of the furnace over a wide range of operating conditions, including those for which no experimental data is available. Of particular interest is the furnace core temperature versus heater power parametric and the transient thermal response of the furnace. Application to a microgravity environment is not considered, although it is conjectured that the removal of any gravity dependent terms from the math models developed for the terrestrial application should yield adequate results in a microgravity environment. The UAH Isothermal Diffusion Oven is designed to provide a thermal environment that is conducive to measuring the diffusion of high temperature liquid metals. In addition to achieving the temperatures required to melt a sample placed within the furnace, reducing or eliminating convective motions within the melt is an important design consideration [1]. Both of these influences are reflected in the design of the furnace. Reducing unwanted heat losses from the furnace is achieved through the use of low conductivity materials and reflective shielding. As evidenced by the highly conductive copper core used to house the sample within the furnace, convective motions can be greatly suppressed by providing an essentially uniform thermal environment. An oven of this design could ultimately be utilized in a microgravity environment, presumably as a experiment payload. Such an application precipitates other design requirements that limit the resources available to the furnace such as power, mass, volume, and possibly even time. Through the experimental and numerical results obtained, the power requirements and thermal response time of the breadboard furnace are quantified.

Schunk, Richard Gregory↗
DOE OSTI2013

Morphological origin for the stratification of P3HT:PCBM blend film studied by neutron reflectometry

Understanding the origin for the film stratification of electron donor/acceptor blend is crucial for high efficiency organic photovoltaic cell. In this study, P3HT:PCBM blend is deposited onto hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrate to examine the film stratifications. The neutron reflectivity results show that, on the different surfaces, PCBM diffuses toward the two interfacial regions in an identical fashion during thermal annealing. This evidences that the film stratification is not affected by the substrates. Instead, since P3HT remains more amorphous in the interfacial regions and PCBM is miscible with amorphous P3HT, PCBM preferentially diffuses to the interfacial regions, resulting in the stratification.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Microscopic Dynamics of Inverse Wormlike Micelles Probed Using X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy

Wormlike micelles (WLMs) are ubiquitous viscoelastic modifiers that share properties with polymer solutions. While 5 their macroscopic rheology is well-understood, their microscopic dynamics are less studied because they span a large range of time 6 and length scales. In this work, we demonstrate the use of X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy to interrogate the segmental 7 dynamics of inverse WLM solutions swollen with a rubidium chloride solution. We observe a diffusive scaling of the dynamics and 8 extract a temperature-dependent diffusion coefficient, which we associate with the thermal interactions of the slow segmental 9 dynamics near entanglement points. Further, we probe this relaxation process across the unbranched to branched topological transition and 10 find no microstructural evidence of branch formation in the slow mode. Instead, we observe that the dynamics become more 11 homogeneous and prominent as the temperature is reduced and water content increases.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF BOW SHOCKS AROUND RUNAWAY O STARS. THE CASE OF ζ OPH AND BD+43°3654

Non-thermal radiation has been predicted within bow shocks around runaway stars by recent theoretical works. We present X-ray observations toward the runaway stars ζ Oph by Chandra and Suzaku and of BD+43°3654 by XMM-Newton to search for the presence of non-thermal X-ray emission. We found no evidence of non-thermal emission spatially coincident with the bow shocks; nonetheless, diffuse emission was detected in the vicinity of ζ Oph. After a careful analysis of its spectral characteristics, we conclude that this emission has a thermal nature with a plasma temperature of T ≈ 2 × 10{sup 6} K. The cometary shape of this emission seems to be in line with recent predictions of radiation-hydrodynamic models of runaway stars. The case of BD+43°3654 is puzzling, as non-thermal emission has been reported in a previous work for this source.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Use of finite volume radiation for predicting the Knudsen minimum in 2D channel flow

In an earlier paper we employed an analogy between surface-to-surface radiation and free-molecular flow to model Knudsen flow through tubes and onto planes. In the current paper we extend the analogy between thermal radiation and molecular flow to model the flow of a gas in a 2D channel across all regimes of rarefaction. To accomplish this, we break down the problem of gaseous flow into three sub-problems (self-diffusion, mass-motion and generation of pressure gradient) and use the finite volume method for modeling radiation through participating media to model the transport in each sub-problem as a radiation problem. We first model molecular self-diffusion in the stationary gas by modeling the transport of the molecular number density through the gas starting from the analytical asymptote for free-molecular flow to the kinetic theory limit of gaseous self-diffusion. We then model the transport of momentum through the gas at unit pressure gradient to predict Poiseuille flow and slip flow in the 2D gas. Lastly, we predict the generation of pressure gradient within the gas due to molecular collisions by modeling the transport of the forces generated due to collisions per unit volume of gas. We then proceed to combine the three radiation problems to predict flow of the gas over the entire Knudsen number regime from free-molecular to transition to continuum flow and successfully capture the Knudsen minimum at Kn ∼ 1.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Transformed Fourier and Fick equations for the control of heat and mass diffusion

We review recent advances in the control of diffusion processes in thermodynamics and life sciences through geometric transforms in the Fourier and Fick equations, which govern heat and mass diffusion, respectively. We propose to further encompass transport properties in the transformed equations, whereby the temperature is governed by a three-dimensional, time-dependent, anisotropic heterogeneous convection-diffusion equation, which is a parabolic partial differential equation combining the diffusion equation and the advection equation. We perform two dimensional finite element computations for cloaks, concentrators and rotators of a complex shape in the transient regime. We precise that in contrast to invisibility cloaks for waves, the temperature (or mass concentration) inside a diffusion cloak crucially depends upon time, its distance from the source, and the diffusivity of the invisibility region. However, heat (or mass) diffusion outside cloaks, concentrators and rotators is unaffected by their presence, whatever their shape or position. Finally, we propose simplified designs of layered cylindrical and spherical diffusion cloaks that might foster experimental efforts in thermal and biochemical metamaterials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗