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Results for “Modular design”

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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Modular Design in Treaty Verification Equipment

It is widely believed that modular design is a good thing. However, there are often few explicit arguments, or even an agreed range of definitions, to back up this belief. In this paper, we examine the potential range of design modularity, the implications of various amounts of modularity, and the advantages and disadvantages of each level of modular construction. We conclude with a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of each type, as well as discuss many caveats that should be observed to take advantage of the positive features of modularity and minimize the effects of the negative. The tradeoffs described in this paper will be evaluated during the conceptual design to determine what amount of modularity should be included.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2019

Modular design: Implementing proven engineering principles in biotechnology

Modular design resides at the foundation of contemporary engineering, enabling rapid, efficient, and reproducible construction and maintenance of complex systems across applications. Remarkably, modularity has recently been discovered as a governing principle in natural biological systems from genes to proteins to complex networks within a cell and organism communities. The convergent knowledge of natural and engineered modular systems provides a key to drive modern biotechnology to address emergent challenges associated with health, food, energy, and the environment. Here, we first present the theory and application of modular design in traditional engineering fields. We further discuss the significance and impact of modular architectures on systems biology and biotechnology. Next, we focus on the very recent theoretical and experimental advances in modular cell engineering that seeks to enable rapid and systematic development of microbial catalysts capable of efficiently synthesizing a large space of useful chemicals. We conclude with an outlook towards theoretical and practical opportunities for a more systematic and effective application of modular engineering in biotechnology.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Parts & Pools: A Framework for Modular Design of Synthetic Gene Circuits

Published in 2008, Parts & Pools represents one of the first attempts to conceptualize the modular design of bacterial synthetic gene circuits with Standard Biological Parts (DNA segments) and Pools of molecules referred to as common signal carriers (e.g., RNA polymerases and ribosomes). The original framework for modeling bacterial components and designing prokaryotic circuits evolved over the last years and brought, first, to the development of an algorithm for the automatic design of Boolean gene circuits. This is a remarkable achievement since gene digital circuits have a broad range of applications that goes from biosensors for health and environment care to computational devices. More recently, Parts & Pools was enabled to give a proper formal description of eukaryotic biological circuit components. This was possible by employing a rule-based modeling approach, a technique that permits a faithful calculation of all the species and reactions involved in complex systems such as eukaryotic cells and compartments. In this way, Parts & Pools is currently suitable for the visual and modular design of synthetic gene circuits in yeast and mammalian cells too.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Modular Design of Processing and Storage Facilities for Small Volumes of Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste including Disused Sealed Sources - 12372

There are a number of IAEA Member States generating relatively small quantities of radioactive waste and/or disused sealed sources in application of nuclear techniques in medicine, industry and research and in nuclear research centres having small research reactors. At present many of these Member States do not have facilities for processing and storing their radioactive wastes; notably in those countries with small quantities of generated radioactive wastes. In other Member States the existing waste processing and storage facilities (WPSF) are in need of varying degrees of upgrading in order to address new waste streams, incorporate new waste processing technologies, or expand interim storage capacities. The IAEA has developed a modular design approach for a WPSF that is based on a variety of modules for different waste stream treatment and conditioning processes. The modular WPSF design is elaborated in a substantial Design Engineering Package that will be published by IAEA as a technical report. The Design Engineering Package enables users to select the optimum waste processing and storage modules to meet their needs, and to specify the requirements for procurement of individual modules and their integration into a waste processing and storage facility. The Design Engineering Package is planned for publication by the IAEA in 2012 and is presented as: - A Design Engineering Package Summary document. - A supporting CD that contains: - Process module general specifications. - Process module interface specifications. - Design Engineering Package for process modules. - Sample technical specifications for design and construction of modular processing facility. - Design Engineering Package for storage modules. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Operability and control in process intensification and modular design: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract In this article, the importance of considering operability and control criteria in the analysis and design of intensified and modular processes is discussed. We first analyze the impact on operability of key factors including: (i) degrees of freedom, (ii) process constraints, (iii) numbering up vs. scaling up, and (iv) dynamic/periodic operation. Comparative examples are presented to showcase the pros and cons in intensified/modular systems vs. their conventional counterparts from operability and control aspects. Then we look into metrics and tools to address these challenges such as: (i) flexibility analysis, (ii) operability‐based design, and (iii) advanced model‐based control. Considering different conceptual design stages as synthesis intensification, steady‐state design, and dynamic operational optimization, we highlight the need to incorporate different levels of operability considerations. Future research opportunities and perspectives are also identified, particularly emphasizing the importance of a holistic strategy for integrated design, operability, and control of intensified and modular process systems.

Pistikopoulos, Efstratios N.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modular Design of Receiver Side Power Electronics for 200 kW High Power Dynamic Wireless Charging System

Dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) can provide energy to EVs in motion and extend the drive range. By upscaling the charging power to 200 kW (High Power DWPT), the percentage of electrified roadway reduces and the solution becomes cost-effective. However, coil coupling-coefficient variation during vehicle movement fluctuates the transferred power which is unfavorable for vehicle battery. Secondary regulation design can smooth the power but the converter design becomes very challenging due to requirement in high power, high efficiency, fast control, as well as high power density since the unit will be onboard. This paper provides the modular design approach of a 200 kW secondary side unit to achieve high performance and scalability. The DC/DC converter using SiC devices demonstrated 98.3% efficiency.

Xue, Lincoln↗
DOE OSTI2015

Screening and modular design for metabolic pathway optimization

Biological conversion of substrate sugars to a variety of products is an increasingly popular option for chemical transformation due to its high specificity and because of significant interest in the use of renewable feedstocks. Yet, pathway optimization through metabolic engineering is often needed to make such molecules economically at a relevant scale. Employing effective methods to search and narrow the immense pathway parameter space is essential to meet performance metrics such as high titer, yield and productivity with efficiency. This review focuses on two practices that increase the likelihood of finding a more advantageous pathway solution: implementing a screen to identify high producers and utilizing modular pathway design to streamline engineering efforts. While screens seek to couple product titer with a high-throughput measurement output, modular design aims to rationally construct pathways to allow parallel optimization of various units. Both of these methodologies have proven widely successful in metabolic engineering, with combinations of them resulting in synergistic enhancements to pathway optimization. This review will specifically illustrate their utility for microbially derived acid and alcohol products, which are of interest as fuels and value added products.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modular Design of High Temperature and Pressure Heat Exchangers Using 3D Printing

Functionally graded material (FGM), leveraged by latest additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, can add significant values to high temperature applications such as the HTR in supercritical sCO2 Brayton cycles. The project was focused on fabricating FGMs with complex geometries such as flow channels using DED and L-PBF technologies to support the modular design concept in achieving high-performance and low-cost high temperature recuperators for the sCO2 Brayton cycle. Samples printed from the base materials including both SS 316 and Inconel 625 have mostly met the material standards. L-PBF samples have achieved the fine feature sizes with good geometrical accuracy. In addition, DED has demonstrated its printability on LPBF part with both direct transition and using 50/50 mixed powders. Despite various challenging, the project helped advance the current state-of-the-art of DED technology in terms of printing fine geometries.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bond-centric modular design of protein assemblies

Directional interactions that generate regular coordination geometries are a powerful means of guiding molecular and colloidal self-assembly, but implementing such high-level interactions with proteins remains challenging due to their complex shapes and intricate interface properties. Here we describe a modular approach to protein nanomaterial design inspired by the rich chemical diversity that can be generated from the small number of atomic valencies. We design protein building blocks using deep learning-based generative tools, incorporating regular coordination geometries and tailorable bonding interactions that enable the assembly of diverse closed and open architectures guided by simple geometric principles. Experimental characterization confirms the successful formation of more than 20 multicomponent polyhedral protein cages, two-dimensional arrays and three-dimensional protein lattices, with a high (10%–50%) success rate and electron microscopy data closely matching the corresponding design models. Due to modularity, individual building blocks can assemble with different partners to generate distinct regular assemblies, resulting in an economy of parts and enabling the construction of reconfigurable networks for designer nanomaterials.

Biomaterials – proteins↗
DOE OSTI2016

Application of Modular Design in Abatement of Fuel Element Debris (FED) Liquid Waste Stream - 16635

This paper provides a description of the processes applied within the Aqueous Discharge Abatement Plant (ADAP) at Bradwell nuclear power plant in the UK. This incorporates the Fuel Element Debris (FED) abatement plant and the Modular Active Effluent Treatment Plant (MAETP). These plants are housed in adjacent, but separate, structures and are inter-linked and share common services and control systems. The FED abatement plant, which has a shorter mission than MAETP, can be removed for decommissioning or redeployment without any impact to MAETP operation. ADAP treats aqueous waste streams generated during the ongoing decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) operations for release from the Bradwell Power Station. The plant is designed to receive and treat two major classes of liquids: 1. Slightly contaminated water from various D and D sources and collected rainwater from the power station, referred to as Aqueous Effluent (AE). 2. Dissolved fuel element debris solution. This comprises of contaminated magnesium alloy (generated during the stripping of external structures from spent Magnox fuel elements prior to shipment for reprocessing) which has been dissolved in nitric acid. All received wastes are treated to remove heavy metals and radioactive constituents prior to isolation, sampling, verification, and ultimately release to the Blackwater Estuary. The treatment consists of multiple processes including precipitation, filtration, adsorption and ion exchange carefully designed to remove targeted radionuclides and heavy metals. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

Modular Design of Advanced Catalytic Materials Using Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Raspberry Particles

Catalysis is one of the most sophisticated areas of materials research that encompasses a diverse set of materials and phenomena occurring on multiple length and time scales. Designing catalysts that can be broadly applied toward global energy and environmental challenges requires the development of universal frameworks for complex catalytic systems through rational and independent (or quasi-independent) optimization of multiple structural and compositional features. Toward addressing this goal, a modular platform is presented in which sacrificial organic colloids bearing catalytic nanoparticles on their surfaces self-assemble with matrix precursors, simultaneously structuring the resulting porous networks and fine-tuning the locations of catalyst particles. This strategy allows combinatorial variations of the material building blocks and their organization, in turn providing numerous degrees of freedom for optimizing the material's functional properties, from the nanoscale to the macroscale. The platform enables systematic studies and rational design of efficient and robust systems for a wide range of catalytic and photocatalytic reactions, as well as their integration into industrial and other real-life environments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Biomimetic Rebuilding of Multifunctional Red Blood Cells: Modular Design Using Functional Components

The design and synthesis of artificial materials that mimic the structures, mechanical properties, and ultimately functionalities of biological cells remains a current holy grail of materials science. Here based on a silica cell bio-replication approach, we report the design and construction of synthetic rebuilt red blood cells (RRBCs) that fully mimic the broad properties of native RBCs: size, biconcave shape, deformability, oxygen carrying capacity, long circulation time. Four successive nano-scale processing steps: RBC bioreplication, layer-by-layer polymer deposition, and precision silica etching, followed by RBC ghost membrane vesicles fusion are employed for RRBC construction. A panel of physicochemical analyses including zeta potential measurement, fluorescence microscopy, and antibody-mediated agglutination assay proved the recapitulation of RBC shape, size, and membrane structure. Flow-based deformation studies carried out in a microfluidic blood capillary model confirrned the ability of RRBCs to deform and pass through small slits and reconstitute themselves in a manner comparable to native RBCs. Circulation studies of RRBCs conducted ex-ovo in a chick embryo and in vivo in a mouse model demonstrated the requirement of both deformability and native cell membrane surface to achieve long-term circulation. To confer additional non-native functionalities to RRBCs, we developed modular procedures in which to load functional cargos such as hemoglobin, drugs, magnetic nanoparticles, and ATP biosensors within the RRBC interior to enable various functions, including oxygen delivery, therapeutic drug delivery, magnetic manipulation, and toxin biosensing and detection. Taken together, RRBCs represent a class of long circulating RBC-inspired artificial hybrid materials with a broad range of potential applications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multi–Modular Design of Stable Pore–Space–Partitioned Metal–Organic Frameworks for Gas Separation Applications

Pore space partition (PSP) is an effective materials design method for developing high-performance small-pore materials for storage and separation of gas molecules. The continued success of PSP depends on broad availability and judicious choice of pore-partition ligands and better understanding of each structural module on stability and sorption properties. Here, by using substructural bioisosteric strategy (sub-BIS), a dramatic expansion of pore-partitioned materials is targeted by using ditopic dipyridyl ligands with non-aromatic cores or extenders, as well as by expanding heterometallic clusters to uncommon nickel–vanadium and nickel–indium clusters rarely known before in porous materials. The dual-module iterative refinement of pore-partition ligands and trimers leads to remarkable enhancement of chemical stability and porosity. Here a family of 23 pore-partitioned materials synthesized from five pore-partition ligands and seven types of trimeric clusters is reported. New materials with such compositionally and structurally diverse framework modules reveal key factors that dictate stability, porosity, and gas separation properties. Among these, materials based on heterometallic vanadium–nickel trimeric clusters give rise to the highest long-term hydrolytic stability and remarkable uptake capacity for CO 2 , C 2 H 2 /C 2 H 4 /C 2 H 6 , and C 3 H 6 /C 3 H 8 hydrocarbon gases. Here, the breakthrough experiment shows the potential application of new materials for separating gas mixtures such as C 2 H 2 /CO 2 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Modular Designed Protein Constructions for Solar Generated H 2 From Water (Final Report)

As the title of the grant clearly states, this project has explored a unique way that makes use of manmade proteins to turn solar energy into chemical fuels. A major impetus to the work is that there is growing support for the view that two related forces will impact on future livability of Earth. The first is the finite supply of fossil fuels to power the Earth making it prudent to save this resource for the creation of useful chemicals. The second is that burning fossil fuels to generate power releases “greenhouse” gases into the atmosphere. There is mounting evidence that this is a major contribution to the warming trend in the Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere.

08 HYDROGEN↗