Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “meter, test”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Tatsuno Coriolis Flow Meter Development Testing in High Pressure Hydrogen: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report

This project will provide test data on the new Tatsuno coriolis flow meter. This flow meter has been developed by Tatsuno for the purpose of achieving improved flow meter performance for 70 mega pascal (MPA) hydrogen dispensing. Testing will be conducted at the National Renewable Laboratory (NREL) Hydrogen Infrastructure Testing and Research Facility (HITRF) facility utilizing the hydrogen flow meter benchmark testing apparatus. The benchmarking apparatus utilizes a gravimetric method for measuring flow for direct comparison with flow meter output. Using the NREL meter benchmarking apparatus will allow direct comparison with data taken on previous versions of the Tatsuno coriolis flow meter product. Flow meter accuracy at 70 MPA hydrogen dispensers is an issue that has generated a lot of effort by both standards organizations and the station providers.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Scale-Up and Modeling Efforts Using an Omniphobic Surface Treatment for Mitigating Solids Deposition

Abstract Gas hydrates, waxes and asphaltenes represent some of the most significant flow assurance challenges, especially in subsea lines, where treatment options can be limited. Currently, complete avoidance is the primary strategy for hydrate management, while chemical or mechanical flushing/pigging may be utilized for other solids. Each system must also be treated with individualized solutions, as there have been no proved one-size-fits-all technologies demonstrated to date. As an alternative to constant chemical injection or thermodynamic controls such as insulation or heating, a robust omniphobic surface treatment material has been developed which has been shown in previous studies to significantly reduce the adhesion of flow assurance solids, resulting in lower risk for deposition and plugging of gas hydrates, waxes, and asphaltenes. As part of a Department of Energy study, laboratory scale tests were performed on a variety of apparatuses ranging from micromechanical force (micron scale) to laboratory flow loop testing (meter scale). While the results from these tests have been promising, there can be some disconnects between lab-scale observations and field-scale testing. Several factors can result in discrepancies between small-scale bench-top studies and deployment-scale efforts. These include flow conditions (Reynolds number, flow regime), chemistry (synthetic vs. crude oils, gas composition, and additives), physical differences (pipeline material, size, and geometry), etc. This work will describe the actions taken to better understand the deployment and performance of a material such as this omniphobic surface treatment in field scenarios, and to build confidence for deployment in a production scenario. These efforts include modeling field production scenarios using models developed from lab observations, application of the material to field-scale equipment to better understand application challenges, and expanded survivability and longevity testing. Understanding the bridge between laboratory testing and full-scale deployment allows for better technique and risk mitigation for field scale testing.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Preliminary Design Study for an Eddy Current Flow Meter for Versatile Test Reactor

The eddy current flow meter (ECFM) serves the purpose of monitoring velocities and temperatures of conductive liquid coolant surrounding nuclear reactor cells. The ECFM can also detect voids in two-phase liquid metal flows. Measurement of this flow in reactor cells can greatly improve the accuracy of the empirical formulas used for fluid dynamics near the reactor core, as well as, aid in mapping any non-uniformities in fluid flow, its temperature estimation and phase. With modeling and experimental verification, an extensible ECFM for multiple facilities and environments can lead to an understanding of the liquid coolant flow; while saving cost of calibration and development. This can be done by characterizing the ECFM performance based on its parameters and then optimizing a sensor for a given use case. Simulation results using an ECFM and an aluminum rod medium are presented and discussed herein. Additionally, liquid metal simulations for Mercury and Galinstan will compare the ECFM behavior for different liquid velocities and excitation frequencies. After sensor calibration curves are generated and experimentally verified, ECFMs can be developed and deployed using the model introduced.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Thermal property characterization of phase change materials in building applications: A systematic review of fundamentals, recent progress, and future directions

Phase change materials (PCMs) can reduce building peak loads and enable demand-responsive thermal energy storage (TES), but their deployment depends on reliable measurement and interpretation of thermal properties across laboratory, intermediate, and application scales. Here, this review systematically examines characterization methods, testing protocols, and recent advances for neat PCMs and PCM composites, emphasizing thermal conductivity, enthalpy-related properties (phase change temperature, latent heat, specific heat), and cycling stability. For thermal conductivity, we compare steady-state and transient techniques and note limitations when phase transition and contact resistance affect measurements. For enthalpy–temperature characterization, we discuss differential scanning calorimetry together with intermediate- and bulk-scale methods, including T-history, heat flow meter testing, and three-layer calorimetry (3LC), to generate application-relevant enthalpy–temperature profiles. Cycling stability is organized into four experimental families: thermoelectric–air, fully thermoelectric, water-bath, and in situ chamber approaches, with attention to separating reversible supercooling from true degradation such as phase segregation. We highlight emerging noncontact diagnostics, including infrared thermography and embedded sensing, for spatially resolved validation and multiscale interpretation. Finally, we review the growing use of AI and machine learning for property prediction, inverse characterization from experimental signals, and real-time state estimation in building-integrated TES. Key needs include harmonized protocols, interlaboratory benchmarking, uncertainty reporting, and metadata-rich datasets to accelerate reproducible PCM qualification for grid-flexible buildings.

AI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Field-Aging Test Bed for Behind-the-Meter PV + Energy Storage

Small DC-coupled battery test systems are deployed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to evaluate capacity fade models and report on performance parameters such as round-trip efficiency under indoor and outdoor deployment scenarios. Initial commercial battery products include LG Chem RESU lithium-ion (Li-ion) and Avalon vanadium redox flow batteries. Adapting indoor lab-scale test methods to outdoor systems has challenges, including maintaining constant temperature and fully controlling batteries through standard discharge curves. Initial measurements show the Li-ion battery systems performing within expectations, near 85% round-trip efficiency. Initial lifetime modeling and measurements indicate that battery capacity could degrade by 20%-35% over 10 years at current rates.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fatigue Test Design: Scenarios for Biaxial Fatigue Testing of a 60-Meter Wind Turbine Blade

Current practice in commercial certification of wind turbine blades is to perform separate flap and lead-lag fatigue tests. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been researching and evaluating biaxial fatigue testing techniques and demonstrating various options, typically on smaller-scale test articles at the National Wind Technology Center. This report evaluates some of these biaxial fatigue options in the context of application to a multimegawatt blade certification test program at the Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Conceptual design for a blanket tritium extraction test stand

Tritium breeding is fundamentally required for a sustainable fusion fuel cycle, yet the technological readiness of blanket technology lags far behind other fusion systems. Breeder concepts are divided into solid and liquid media, where solid breeders typically rely on a sweep gas, such as helium, to carry away tritium from lithium containing ceramic materials, and liquid breeders produce tritium from lithium containing eutectics (e.g., PbLi) or molten salts (FLiBe). In each case, tritium must be harvested from the breeding medium. A promising method for tritium extraction is through a vacuum permeator, in which a concentration gradient from the tritium- containing fluid promotes diffusion through a membrane with high hydrogen permeability to the vacuum. This technology has been demonstrated for hydrogen gas systems using Pd and PdAg permeators, but relatively little work has been done to test tritium extraction from PbLi. A Tritium Extraction eXperimental (TEX) loop is being designed to test tritium extraction in a vacuum permeator configuration. The system design is such that it will allow the testing of tritium extraction from both helium and PbLi. A phased approach is being taken that will allow testing of small specimens for fundamental permeation measurements, to multi-meter component testing at near-prototypic conditions. A molten PbLi loop is challenging due to the toxic and explosive nature of Pb and Li, respectively, radiological concerns by introducing tritium, and high temperatures involved in such a system. In addition, PbLi corrosion is a significant issue at high temperatures (>400C). The TEX system will not employ a neutron source for volumetric production of tritium. Herein we present the design and methods used for 1) pumping PbLi, 2) introducing deuterium or tritium into the PbLi, 3) quantifying the amount of deuterium in the loop, 4) extracting deuterium and tritium, and 5) quantifying the total amount of extracted deuterium or tritium from the permeator. In addition, the safety design for operating such a system will be discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

EGS Collab Project: Status, Tests, and Data

The EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems) Collab project is performing stimulation and flow experiments in highly-monitored and well-characterized intermediate-scale (approximately10 to 20 meter) field test beds at a depth of approximately 1,500 meters in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Our fracture stimulation and interwell flow tests are performed to better understand processes that control formation of effective subsurface heat exchangers that are critical to the development and success of EGS. Different EGS Collab stimulations will be performed under dissimilar stress conditions produce data for model comparisons that better differentiate stimulation mechanisms and the evolution of permeability enhancement in crystalline rock. EGS Collab experiments provide a means of testing tools, concepts and strategies that could later be employed under geothermal reservoir conditions at DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) and other enhanced geothermal systems. Key to the project is using numerical simulations in the experiment design and interpretation of results, and the collection of high-quality stimulation/flow, thermal, and geologic/geophysical data. A wide range of geologic and geophysical data have been acquired and interpreted for pre-stimulation testbed characterization. Multiple stimulation and flow tests have been performed at SURF, and multiple data sets have been collected and analyzed during these tests including electrical resistance tomography, microseismic, continuous active source seismic monitoring, distributed temperature, and the SIMFIP tool has been used to identify fracture formation and characteristics. An overview of some of the numerical simulations and experiments performed at SURF are presented.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Generation and representation of synthetic smart meter data

Advanced energy algorithms running at big-data scale will be necessary to identify, realize, and verify energy savings to meet government and utility goals of building energy efficiency. Any algorithm must be well characterized and validated before it is trusted to run at these scales. Smart meter data from real buildings will ultimately be required for the development, testing, and validation of these energy algorithms and processes. However, for initial development and testing, smart meter data are difficult to work with due to privacy restrictions, noise from unknown sources, data accessibility, and other concerns which can complicate algorithm development and validation. This paper describes a new methodology to generate synthetic smart meter data of electricity use in buildings using detailed building energy modeling, which aims to capture the variability and stochastics of real energy use in buildings. The methodology can create datasets tailored to represent specific scenarios with known truth and controllable amounts of synthetic noise. Knowledge of ground truth also allows the development and validation of enhanced processes which leverage building metadata, such as building type or size (floor area), in addition to smart meter data. The methodology described in this paper includes the key influencing factors of real-world building energy use including weather data, occupant-driven loads, building operation and maintenance practices, and special events. Data formats to support workflows leveraging both synthetic meter data and associated metadata are proposed and discussed. Finally, example use cases of the synthetic meter data are described to illustrate potential applications.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Design and calibration of a novel transient radiative heat flux meter for a spacecraft thermal test

Radiative heat flux measurement is significantly important for a spacecraft thermal test. To satisfy the requirements of both high accuracy and fast response, a novel transient radiative heat flux meter was developed. Its thermal receiver consists of a central thermal receiver and two thermal guarded annular plates, which ensure the temperature distribution of the central thermal receiver to be uniform enough for reasonably applying lumped heat capacity method in a transient radiative heat flux measurement. This novel transient radiative heat flux meter design can also take accurate measurements regardless of spacecraft surface temperature and incident radiation spectrum. The measurement principle was elaborated and the coefficients were calibrated. Experimental results from testing a blackbody furnace and an Xenon lamp show that this novel transient radiative heat flux meter can be used to measure transient radiative heat flux up to 1400 W/m{sup 2} with high accuracy and the response time of less than 10 s.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimization and Performance Characterization of the Second Generation Fermilab Constant Fraction Discriminator Readout ASIC

We present the optimization and performance characterization of the second-generation Fermilab Constant Fraction Discriminator ASIC (FCFD), designed for the readout of AC-coupled low-gain avalanche detector (LGAD) strip-sensors. The FCFD is explicitly engineered to be insensitive to signal-amplitude variations, thereby removing the need for time-walk correction that is required in other LGAD time-stamping readout ASICs. This updated version, referred to as FCFD1.1, incorporates several enhancements over the first iteration to address key challenges in AC-coupled LGAD front-end design. We outline the primary readout-ASIC design considerations for these applications, describe the methodology used to evaluate critical sensor and system parameters, and summarize the additionally implemented features. Performance measurements using injected charge signals and minimum-ionizing particles in test-beams demonstrate a time resolution of approximately 40 ps and a position resolution of roughly \SI{15}{\micro\meter} when tested with beam particles uniformly over the active area of the sensor.

Apresyan, Artur [Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000261860130↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Novel Dew Point Meter: Application to the Measurement of the Sulfuric Acid Dew Point for Combustion Flue Gas

Accurate knowledge of acid dew point is essential for industrial and applied combustion. Sulfur in the fuel or raw materials is converted to sulfur dioxide (SO2) during combustion, and a portion of the SO2 is oxidized to sulfur trioxide (SO3). The SO3 will react to form H2SO4 vapor when in the presence of water vapor. Even with just trace levels of H2SO4 vapor in the gas phase (1-10 ppm), the dew point can reach 100°C and higher. To avoid acid condensation and the resulting corrosion on heat recovery equipment, plant engineers must ensure that surface temperatures are above the acid dew point, but this decreases the efficiency of the thermal energy recovery. Thus, there is a trade-off between minimizing equipment corrosion and maximizing thermal energy recovery efficiency, and the acid dew point is a key parameter for this optimization. In this work, we analyze and discuss the theory of the sulfuric acid condensation process and develop a novel dew point meter based on this analysis. The meter consists of a novel optical instrument that is designed to monitor the slightest appearance of condensation on a hydrophobic window surface, and the surface temperature of the window is slowly decreased until condensation is first observed, yielding an accurate measurement of the dew point. The basis of the instrument is that a collimated beam from a diode laser generates scattered light when encountering surface condensate, and a sophisticated array detector is used to sensitively monitor the light scattering. The measurement procedures are established to rapidly find the acid dew point, while minimizing error. Further, we propose a calibration system based on a liquid bubbler, which can generate a stable gas flow with known sulfuric acid dew point, to test the dew point meter. Test results show that the dew point meter can accurately measure the acid dew point over a wide range.

Cheng, Mao↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Modified Sequence-to-point HVAC Load Disaggregation Algorithm

This paper presents a modified sequence-to-point (S2P) algorithm for disaggregating the heat, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) load from the total building electricity consumption. The original S2P model is convolutional neural network (CNN) based, which uses load profiles as inputs. We propose three modifications. First, the input convolution layer is changed from 1D to 2D so that normalized temperature profiles are also used inputs to the S2P model. Second, a drop-out layer is added to improve adaptability and generalizability so that the model trained in one area can be transferred to other geographical areas without labelled HVAC data. Third, a fine-tuning process is proposed for areas with a small amount of labelled HVAC data so that the pre-trained S2P model can be fine-tuned to achieve higher disaggregation accuracy (i.e., better transferability) in other areas. The model is first trained and tested using smart meter and sub-metered HVAC data collected in Austin, Texas. Then, the trained model is tested on two other areas: Boulder, Colorado and San Diego, California. Simulation results show that the proposed modified S2P algorithm outperforms the original S2P model and the support-vector machine based approach in accuracy, adaptability, and transferability.

Ye, Kai↗
DOE OSTI2016

Underwater Laser Cutting Technology - 16491

Underwater dismantling is advantageous for the highly radioactive apparatuses such as nuclear reactor internals. The most advantageous point of underwater dismantling is a radiation exposure reduction for workers. Underwater dismantling can take advantage of the water shielding. Then it can make the exposure reduction for workers and contamination reduction for work area be realized. And, underwater laser cutting technology has major three advantages. First advantage is lower action force. Therefore it can be possible that we can use a simple remote device for underwater dismantling operation. Second advantage is to reduce secondary waste. The cutting kerf size of underwater laser cutting is very narrow, so the amount of cutting dross is very small. Third advantage is very simple methods for dismantling. This advantage can reduce process time for cutting. On the other hand, the contaminated off-gas which generates during cutting should be taken care. IHl Corporation (IHI) developed the underwater laser cutting devices. The characteristic of IHI's laser cutting torch is that there is no air habitat. Therefore, the positions of the torch and the access to the narrow space have little limitation. Using the device the series of performance tests were performed in order to verify the ability of it. In the first Laboratory test at 0.2 meter depth of water, we evaluated the optimum cutting parameters. The next underwater demonstration test at 6 meters depth of water was performed. In the test the cutting performance, which the mild steel plate of the thickness of 12 mm can be cut at the speed of 300 mm/min with the horizontal and downward position of torch was verified. Then the hot bubble test using real radioactive test coupons was performed to evaluate the radioactivity carried as air borne and the decontamination factor (DF) of off-gas passing through water. This document provides an overview of the underwater laser cutting device that has been developed by IHI, and the advantage of these devices for the dismantling work of underwater apparatus. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Characterizing Photometric Flicker

The focus of this study is simply to report on the commercial availability and performance of emerging flicker meters. Commercial-meter measurements and calculations were compared against those generated by a photoelectric characterization system developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The results and analysis show that the three commercially available flicker meters evaluated for this study measured light-intensity waveforms and calculated essential flicker-performance characteristics and metrics similarly, both to each other and to the reference meter chosen as an accuracy benchmark. Some differences in performance were found, however, when measurements were taken of light-intensity waveforms with significant high-frequency content – greater than the dominant 120 Hz found in many products at full output. Such conditions may be found in light sources that employ pulse-width modulation to achieve their target light output (e.g., intensity or color). If the meter was not appropriately configured (e.g., sampling frequency was too low), or if proper configuration was not possible given meter constraints (e.g., maximum number of available data points), then the waveform characteristics were not accurately captured, often resulting in the calculation of flicker metrics that deviated significantly from the reference.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Geophysical Imaging of Flow and Transport (GIFT): FY24 Status Report

The GIFT (Geophysical Imaging of Flow and Transport) system will improve predictive capabilities as a platform for collecting multi-physical (MP) time-lapse datasets from well-controlled laboratory experiments. This will enable more accurate prediction of multi-phase fluid flow during delivery and transport of insitu remedial amendments as important components of the overall Hanford Site cleanup mission. Design and construction of the GIFT system, which consists of a meter-scale test cell and a network of custom gas circulation and analysis systems, was accomplished in fiscal year (FY) 2024, with plans to add liquid circulation to the system and use this new capability for multi-phase deep vadose experiments starting in FY25.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗