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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 19 records

Demonstration and Evaluation of a Non-Invasive, Low-Cost, Strap-On Sensor for Natural Gas Meters

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is interested in installing internet-connected, gas submeters to better understand gas consumption in its portfolio of buildings. The GSA in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted a demonstration to assess a specific submeter technology. This technology was implemented at two GSA separate facilities located in Dallas, Texas. This demonstration evaluated hardware and software installations and integrations, data integrity and accuracy, and included an economic analysis. This demonstration evaluated a gas submeter technology provided by the vendor Vata Verks, who produces a non-invasive strap-on submeter. The company was founded with a mission to conserve water (and eventually gas) cheaply and simply, as explained on its website. The product intends to streamline submeter deployments for gas and water by eliminating most hardware costs while allowing for easy integration of submetered data into other systems such as the Building Automation System and removing tenant and building disruption This demonstration evaluated the product features when used on a gas utility meter.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Metering Gas Strut for Separating Rocket Stages

A proposed gas strut system would separate a liquid-fueled second rocket stage from a solid-fueled first stage using an array of pre-charged struts. The strut would be a piston-and-cylinder mechanism containing a compressed gas. Adiabatic expansion of the gas would drive the extension of the strut. The strut is designed to produce a force-versus-time profile, chosen to prevent agitation of the liquid fuel, in which the force would increase from an initial low value to a peak value, then decay toward the end of the stroke. The strut would include a piston chamber and a storage chamber. The piston chamber would initially contain gas at a low pressure to provide the initial low separation force. The storage chamber would contain gas at a higher pressure. The piston would include a longitudinal metering rod containing an array of small holes, sized to restrict the flow gas between the chambers, that would initially not be exposed to the interior of the piston chamber. During subsequent expansion, the piston motion would open more of the metering holes between the storage and piston chambers, thereby increasing the flow of gas into the piston chamber to produce the desired buildup of force.

Floyd, Brian↗

Low-rate gas flow meter.

Low rate gas flow meter noting sealing and controlling of piston, differential pressure meter and DC servoamplifier

GAS FLOW↗

A continuous physiological data collector

COP-DAC system utilizes oxygen and carbon dioxide analyzers, gas-flow meter, gas breathe-through system, analog computer, and data storage system to provide actual rather than average measurements of physiological and metabolic functions.

Bush, J. C.↗

Pressure sensitive gas flow meter

Regulator, which increases flow area in discrete steps as upstream pressure falls, maintains steady flow rate of gas as the supply pressure from storage system decreases.

Hallum, C. E.↗

Tracking the PACE of household energy usage: Energy usage impacts of projects financed through Property Assessed Clean Energy programs in California

This report examines the household-level energy impacts of residential property assessed clean energy (R-PACE) projects using normalized metered energy consumption methods. Our analysis covers projects that occurred through an R-PACE program between 2009 and 2017 and includes more than 25,000 electricity meters and 15,000 gas meters. We employ a comparison group, drawn from other R-PACE households with similar locational and usage characteristics whose projects were implemented at different times, to control for some non-project and non-weather factors that may impact energy use. We find that projects consisting of energy efficiency technologies save, on average, about 3% of household electricity usage and 3.5% of household gas usage. R-PACE financing, however, can be used to install central heating or air conditioning equipment for the first time. These projects would be expected to increase energy consumption. Since our data do not directly indicate which projects are new installations, we develop a simple algorithm for identifying them. Removing these inferred installation projects yields average savings of about 5% for electricity and 6% for gas for those households that remain in the sample. Given the mild California climate and the results of another study of similar California projects using similar methods, these results are in line with expectations. Solar PV projects yield large reductions in grid electricity use, averaging 69% of household consumption. We estimate that, collectively, all R-PACE projects installed in California through 2019 would generate annual reductions in grid-tied electricity consumption of 506 GWh (mostly due to solar PV) and gas consumption reductions of 2 million therms in a normal weather year. These impacts are equivalent to the electricity consumption of about 74,000 California households (including both efficiency and PV generation) and the gas consumption of about 4700 California households.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Empirical Estimation of the Energy Impacts of Projects Installed through Residential Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing Programs in California

We examine the energy use impacts of energy efficiency and solar PV projects financed by residential property assessed clean energy (R-PACE) programs in California. We leverage household-level interval meter data to apply normalized metered energy consumption (NMEC) methods at significant scale—more than 25,000 electric meters and more than 15,000 gas meters. We develop a comparison group to account for non-project-related changes in usage. The projects include homes that replaced existing HVAC equipment with higher-efficiency units and homes that installed central heating or air conditioning equipment for the first time. We have limited information on pre-project household equipment stock so we develop a method to infer new installations. We find that projects that installed energy efficiency technologies reduce electricity consumption by approximately 3% and gas consumption by approximately 3.5% on average. When we remove homes that installed new cooling and heating equipment for the first time, savings rise to approximately 5% for electricity and approximately 6% for gas. Given the California climate and the results of an existing study of similar California projects, these results are in line with expectations. Solar PV projects produce electricity that offsets approximately 69% of household electricity consumption on average. We estimate that California R-PACE projects installed through the end of 2019 produce annual reductions in grid-tied electricity consumption of 506 GWh (equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 74,000 California households) and gas consumption reductions of 2 million therms (equivalent to the gas consumption of approximately 4700 California households) in a typical weather year.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

System and method for characterization of retrofit opportunities in building using data from communicating thermostats

Systems and methods for characterization of retrofit opportunities are described. The methods may comprise computing, using at least one computing device disposed remote from a building and based at least in part on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) runtime data associated with the building, one or more thermal characteristics of the building. In some embodiments, a model-predicted indoor temperature may be fitted against thermal data measured by a thermostat at the building. The thermal characteristic of the building may comprise a thermal insulation, an air leakage rate and/or an HVAC efficiency. The method may be used to determine, using the at least one computing device, suitability of the building for a retrofit opportunity to improve energy efficiency of the building. Determining the suitability may comprise evaluating the one or more thermal characteristics. The HVAC runtime data may be computed based on data received from a thermostat or a meter, such as an electric or a gas meter.

Zeifman, Michael↗

System and method for characterization of retrofit opportunities in building using data from interval meters

Systems and methods for characterization of retrofit opportunities are described. The methods may comprise computing, using at least one computing device disposed remote from a building and based at least in part on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) runtime data associated with the building, one or more thermal characteristics of the building. In some embodiments, a model-predicted indoor temperature may be fitted against thermal data measured by a thermostat at the building. The thermal characteristic of the building may comprise a thermal insulation, an air leakage rate and/or an HVAC efficiency. The method may be used to determine, using the at least one computing device, suitability of the building for a retrofit opportunity to improve energy efficiency of the building. Determining the suitability may comprise evaluating the one or more thermal characteristics. The HVAC runtime data may be computed based on data received from a thermostat or a meter, such as an electric or a gas meter.

Zeifman, Michael↗

System and method for characterization of air leakage in building using data from communicating thermostats and/or interval meters

Systems and methods for characterization of retrofit opportunities are described. Some embodiments are directed to methods for determining the air leakage rate of a building, and accordingly, for determining suitability of sealing of air leaks to improve the energy efficiency of a building. The methods may comprise computing, using at least one computing device disposed remote from a building and based at least in part on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) runtime data associated with the building, one or more thermal characteristics of the building. The HVAC runtime data may be computed based on data received from a thermostat or a meter, such as an electric or a gas meter. To isolate the impact of air leakage, subsets of the HVAC runtime data at time intervals selected to have substantially the same conditions, but different wind speeds, may be computed.

Zeifman, Michael↗

Low loss injector for liquid propellant rocket engines

A low pressure loss injector element is disclosed for the main combustion chamber of a rocket engine which includes a lox post terminating in a cylindrical barrel. Received within the barrel is a lox plug which is threaded in the lox post and includes an interchangeable lox metering sieve which meters the lox into an annular lox passage. A second annular gas passage is coaxial with the annular lox passage. A cylindrical sleeve surrounds the annular gas passage and includes an interchangeable gas metering seive having metering orifices through which a hot gas passes into the annular passage. The jets which emerge from the annular lox passage and annular gas passage intersect in a recessed area away from the combustion area. Thus, mixing and combustion stability are enhanced.

Vonpragenau, G. L.↗

Accurate measurement of gas volumes by liquid displacement

Mariotte bottle as liquid displacement device was used to measure gas volumes at flow rates that are far below threshold of wet test gas meters. Study of factors affecting amount of liquid displaced by gas flow was completed, and equations were derived which relate different variables.

Christian, J. D.↗

Triple bubbler system, fast-bubbling approach, and related methods

A triple bubbler system includes a first fluid probe, a second fluid probe, a third fluid probe, a gas source operably coupled to the first fluid probe, the second fluid probe, and the third fluid probe and configured to meter gas through the first fluid probe, the second fluid probe, and the third fluid probe to form bubbles at tips of each of the first fluid probe, the second fluid probe, and the third fluid probe, and a cover member disposed over the tips of the first, second, and third fluid probes and configured to at least partially prevent bubbles formed and escaping the tips of the first, second, and third fluid probes from interfering with other bubbles formed at each other tips. The bubbler system includes a thermocouple having a plurality of junctions disposed along an axis parallel to longitudinal axes of the first, second, and third fluid probes.

Galbreth, Gregory G.↗

Advancing xEMU Lunar Dust Mitigation Devices

Fine, electrically charged, glass like dust particles caused significant damage to the Apollo EMU9 during lunar EVAs, identified as one of the greatest challenges to future exploration. Passive Lunar Dust Mitigation Devices (LDMD) were developed, within a SBIR Phase II, to prohibit this dust from interrupting venting space suit component operation. A Computational Fluid-Dynamics and Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) Simulation Tool was developed at the University of Colorado, Boulder to predict venting gas flow ability to self-clean adhered dust particles from LDMD surfaces. Lunar dust properties (i.e., adhesion and cohesion strengths) required to complete Simulation Tool analysis are relatively unknown due to considerable differences between the Earth and the Moon (i.e., gravity, humidity) and due to an absence of dust particles in their native state. Analytically determining gas flow velocity, density and direction within the fluid Boundary Layer, microns from LDMD surfaces presented a second challenge. Dusty Plasma Chamber testing is being performed at Auburn University, Auburn to observe electrostatically charged dust behavior as it adheres to LDMD prototypes and specific geometry and is then blown away by metered gas flow. Test articles were developed to offer insight into the impact of different flow geometries, surface roughness and dust removal within the gas Boundary-Layer. Observed dust behavior is currently being developed to support the CFD-DEM analysis. Many Simulation Tool analytical cases have been processed to support the intention of completing sensitivity studies to assess how different dust adherence values and Boundary Layer fluid properties impact LDMD self-cleaning effectivity.

Thomas J Stapleton↗