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Results for “regional cooling”

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
NASA NTRS1999

Response to CO2 Transient Increase in the GISS Coupled Model: Regional Coolings in a Warming Climate

The (GISS) Goddard Institute for Space Studies coupled atmosphere-ocean model is used to investigate the effect of increased atmospheric CO2 by comparing a compounded 1 percent CO2 increase experiment with a control simulation. After 70 years of integration, the global surface air temperature in the 1 percent CO2 experiment is 1.43 C warmer. In spite of this global warming, there are two distinct regions, the northern Atlantic Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean, where the surface air temperature is up to 4 C cooler. This situation is maintained by two positive feedbacks: a local effect on convection in the South Pacific and a non-local impact on the meridional circulation in the North Atlantic. The poleward transport of latent energy and dry static energy by the atmosphere is greater in the 1 percent CO2 experiment, caused by warming and therefore increased water vapor and greater greenhouse capacity at lower latitudes. The larger atmospheric transports tend to reduce upward vertical fluxes of heat and moisture from the ocean surface at high latitudes, which has the effect of stabilizing the ocean, reducing both convection and the thermohaline circulation. With less convection, less warm water is brought up from below, and with a reduced North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (by 30 percent at time of CO2 doubling), the poleward energy transport by the oceans decreases. The colder water then leads to further reductions in evaporation, decreases of salinity at high latitudes, continued stabilization of the ocean, and maintenance of reduced convection and meridional overturning. Although sea ice decreases globally, it increases in the cooling regions which reduces the overall climate sensitivity; its effect is most pronounced in the Southern Hemisphere. Tropical warming has been observed over the past several decades; if modeling studies such as this and others which have produced similar effects are valid, these processes may already be beginning.

Russell, Gary L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Cool regions in relativistic plasmas - Thermal instabilities

The thermal stability of a plasma consisting of dynamically dominant relativistic electrons and a warm inertial gas is studied. Bremsstrahlung, Coulomb, synchrotron, and inverse Compton losses are considered; it is found that plasmas in which the cooling is dominated by either of the first two processes are generally unstable, while synchrotron losses may or may not cause instability and inverse Compton losses are stabilizing. Characteristic growth times and unstable scales are determined from linear analysis. Applications of this instability to quasar atmospheres and to extended radio galaxies are discussed briefly.

Eilek, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Lunar base heat pump

A heat pump is a device which elevates the temperature of a heat flow by a means of an energy input. By doing this, the heat pump can cause heat to transfer faster from a warm region to a cool region, or it can cause heat to flow from a cool region to a warmer region. The second case is the one which finds vast commercial applications such as air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration. Aerospace applications of heat pumps include both cases. The NASA Johnson Space Center is currently developing a Life Support Systems Integration Facility (LSSIF, previously SIRF) to provide system-level integration, operational test experience, and performance data that will enable NASA to develop flight-certified hardware for future planetary missions. A high lift heat pump is a significant part of the TCS hardware development associated with the LSSIF. The high lift heat pump program discussed here is being performed in three phases. In Phase 1, the objective is to develop heat pump concepts for a lunar base, a lunar lander, and for a ground development unit for the SIRF. In Phase 2, the design of the SIRF ground test unit is being performed, including identification and evaluation of safety and reliability issues. In Phase 3, the SIRF unit will be manufactured, tested, and delivered to the NASA Johnson Space Center.

Goldman, Jeffrey H.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cool transition region loops observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

We report on the first Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) study of cool transition region loops, a class of loops that has received little attention in the literature. A cluster of such loops was observed on the solar disk in active region NOAA11934, in the Si iv 1402.8 Å spectral raster and 1400 Å slit-jaw images. We divide the loops into three groups and study their dynamics. The first group comprises relatively stable loops, with 382–626 km cross-sections. Observed Doppler velocities are suggestive of siphon flows, gradually changing from −10 km s{sup −1} at one end to 20 km s{sup −1} at the other end of the loops. Nonthermal velocities of 15 ∼ 25 km s{sup −1} were determined. Magnetic cancellation with a rate of 10{sup 15} Mx s{sup −1} is found at the blueshifted footpoints. These physical properties suggest that these loops are impulsively heated by magnetic reconnection, and the siphon flows play an important role in the energy redistribution. The second group corresponds to two footpoints rooted in mixed-magnetic-polarity regions, where magnetic cancellation with a rate of 10{sup 15} Mx s{sup −1} and explosive-event line profiles with enhanced wings of up to 200 km s{sup −1} were observed. In the third group, interaction between two cool loop systems is observed. Evidence for magnetic reconnection between the two loop systems is reflected in the explosive-event line profiles and magnetic cancellation with a rate of 3×10{sup 15} Mx s{sup −1} observed in the corresponding area. The IRIS has provided opportunity for in-depth investigations of cool transition region loops. Further numerical experiments are crucial for understanding their physics and their roles in the coronal heating processes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1982

Determination of boundary shape of cooled porous region

The shape of a cooled porous wall section is found that will provide a uniform surface temperature, as dictated by material limitations, when the surface is subjected to spatially nonuniform heating. In the analysis, local temperatures and pressures in the porous material are expressed in terms of a potential function. From the imposed thermal conditions, this potential function is governed by the dual constraints of both its value and its normal derivative being specified along the heated surface. The unknown shape of this surface is obtained by meeting these dual conditions. The analytical method uses a generalized conformal mapping procedure that includes a curved boundary. The coolant flow can be compressible or incompressible, and its viscosity can depend on temperature.

Snyder, A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Far-infrared thermal emission from the inner cooling flow region of NGC 1275

Measurements of the spatial distribution of 100 micrometers emission are presented for NGC 1275, the central galaxy in the Perseus cluster. The emission is clearly resolved on a kiloparsec level, and has the same flux density as seen by IRAS at an epoch when the nonthermal emission was a factor of 10 higher. This emission which traces the greater part of the luminosity of this galaxy, is thus identified as thermal emission from dust. The emission appears to be distributed more nearly like the low-velocity H-alpha filaments in the core of this galaxy than the starlight, extended nonthermal radio, X-ray emission, or high velocity gas. While the dust might be heated by a star-formation region that is fed by the cooling flow in this cluster, the intracluster gas also appears to be energetically capable of this as well, in which case the dust would be, at least at the present time, the dominant cooling mechanism for the hot gas. The large quantity of dust in NGC 1275 is unlikely to have been created within the galaxy, or in the cooling flow, but was probably accreted from a recent galactic interloper.

Lester, D. F.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Heat transfer in cooled porous region with curved boundary

Heat transfer characteristics are analyzed for a cooled two-dimensional porous medium having a curved boundary. A general analytical procedure is given in combination with a numerical conformal mapping method used to transform the porous region into an upper half plane. To illustrate the method, results are evaluated for a cosine shaped boundary subjected to uniform external heating. The results show the effects of coolant starvation in the thick regions of the medium, and the extent that internal heat conduction causes the heated surface to have a more uniform temperature.

Siegel, R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Thermal stress analysis of space shuttle orbiter wing skin panel and thermal protection system

Preflight thermal stress analysis of the space shuttle orbiter wing skin panel and the thermal protection system (TPS) was performed. The heated skin panel analyzed was rectangular in shape and contained a small square cool region at its center. The wing skin immediately outside the cool region was found to be close to the state of elastic instability in the chordwise direction based on the conservative temperature distribution. The wing skin was found to be quite stable in the spanwise direction. The potential wing skin thermal instability was not severe enough to tear apart the strain isolation pad (SIP) layer. Also, the preflight thermal stress analysis was performed on the TPS tile under the most severe temperature gradient during the simulated reentry heating. The tensile thermal stress induced in the TPS tile was found to be much lower than the tensile strength of the TPS material. The thermal bending of the TPS tile was not severe enough to cause tearing of the SIP layer.

Ko, William L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The temperature of C II emission-line formation regions in cool stars

An investigation has been conducted of the temperature of C II emission-line formation regions in the outer atmospheres of late-type giant and supergiant stars. A distinct dichotomy is seen in the C II lambda 2325/lambda 1335 ratio between coronal and noncoronal stars. It is found that C II emission from noncoronal giant and supergiant stars comes from regions with temperatures of 7000-9000 K, with the mean temperature being approximately 8500 K, whereas the C II emission from coronal stars likely comes from hotter regions. The C II ratio provides a powerful empirical tool for estimating the chromospheric temperatures of cool giants and supergiants.

Brown, A.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Heat transfer distribution on a discontinuously convective cooled surface

An active cooling scheme in which discrete cooling passages are used was investigated. In this scheme, the coolant passages are placed perpendicular to the main stream direction. Streamwise temperature oscillations result from the highly cooled regions, near the coolant channels, being next to regions not directly cooled between the channels. The accuracy of the heat transfer rate predictions by these approximations was evaluated by means of both experimental and numerical investigations. Experiments were conducted at free stream Mach number of 6 with several cooling passages. Heat transfer measurements were made and corresponding theoretical analysis were performed for comparison in evaluating both local and overall deviations in the heat transfer rate.

Piva, R.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Analysis of coolant entrance boundary shape of porous region to control cooling along exit boundary

A cooled porous region has a plane surface exposed to a specified spatially varying heat flux. The coolant leaves the region through this surface, and it is desired to control the flow distribution to maintain a specified uniform surface temperature. This is accomplished by having the coolant entrance surface shaped to provide in the region the necessary variation of path length and, hence, flow resistance. The surface shape at the coolant entrance is found by solving a Cauchy boundary value problem. An exact solution is obtained that will deal with a wide variety of heating distributions for both two- and three-dimensional shapes.

Siegel, R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Balmer-dominated northeast limb of the Cygnus loop supernova remnant

We present a comprehensive investigation of the Balmar-dominated northeast limb of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant. Data presented include H alpha (O III), and X-ray images, UV and visible spectrophotometry, and high-resolution spectroscophy. The two relatively bright Balmer-dominated filaments visible on the POSS prints are seen to be part of a very smooth and regular complex of filaments. These filaments mark the current location of the blast wave and are seen to bound the sharply limb-brightened X-ray emission, including the previously reported X-ray, 'halo.' The (O III)/h beta ratio throughout the region is approximately 0.1, except for regions in which the shock is undergoing a transition from nonradiative to incomplete radiative to incomplete radiative conditions. At these locations (O III) emission from the cooling region is quite strong, while collisionally excited Balmer-line emission can be weak because of photoionization of the preshock medium by UV from the nascent cooling region. As a result (O III)/H beta is greater than 100 in some locations. The nonradiative/radiative transition is best studied along the length of the northwestern of the two brightest filaments, where the shock velocity and swept-up column go from approximately 180 km/s and 10(exp 17)/sq cm at one end to approximately 140 km/s and 8 x 10(exp 17)/cm at the other. There are also a number of locations of such incomplete radiative emission where the shock has recently encountered denser regions with characteristic sizes of approximately 10(exp 18) cm. There is a considerable amount of evidence that the shock has decelerated from approximately 400 km/s to less than 200 km/s in the last 1000 yr. We interpret this as the result of the blast wave hitting the wall of a cavity which surround the supernova precursor and succeed in matching a wide range of data with a reflected shock model in which the density ofthe cavity wall is approximately 1.2/cu cm and the density in the interior of the cavity is about 0.09/cu cm. This analysis supports previous suggestions that the Cygnus Loop was a cavity explosion. We opredict that the X-ray shell will continue to brighten for the next 1000 years or so, during which time the shock front will become radiative throughout the northeast region. The similarity of the time scales for post-shock cooling, shock deceleration, and the 1ressure evolution of the region violates assumptions of steady flow, and greatly complicated interpretation of shock specptra in the region. This may be a common and important effect in many supernova remnants. High-resolutoin spectroscopy of the H alpha line profile shows that the broad component is surprisingly narrow (approximately 130 km/s). Consistency between this line width and the shock velocity inferred from spectrophotometry requires either rapid postshock equilibration of T(sub i) and T(sub e), or that the shock front has declerated from 180 km/s to 150 km/s in the last approximately 200 yr. While we cannot unambiguously distinquish between these models, the required deceleration is consistent with extrapolation of the shock decleration rate inferred over the last 1000 years. The width of the narrow component of the h alpha line profile is approximately 3 km/s, which indicates that the preshock medium has been heated to approximately 25,000 K by a shock precursor. The most promising types of precursor are heating either by fast neutrals which overtake the shock or by cosmic rays. In the latter case the observed properties of the precursor constrain the cosmic-ray diffusion coefficient to be between about 10(exp 23) sq cm/s. The characteristics of the precursor seem to be about right to explain the presence of weak (S II) and (N II) emission previously reported by Fesen & Itoh (1985).

Hester, J. Jeff↗
NASA NTRS1986

Free boundary shape of a convectively cooled solidified region

The two-dimensional steady-state shape of a solidified region, such as a frost layer, was determined analytically for formation on a plate that is convectively cooled. The nonuniform shape of the layer is produced by exposure to a spatially nonuniform distribution of radiant energy. For high convective cooling the cooled wall approaches a uniform temperature, and an exact solution is obtained for the free boundary shape. For a lesser amount of convective cooling, the variation in temperature along the cooled boundary is treated by a boundary perturbation method. Some illustrative examples are given that show the effects of nonuniform heating and the magnitude of convective heat transfer at the cooled wall. Only one boundary condition is approximated by the perturbation solution; all of the other boundary conditions are satisfied exactly. The calculated results given here were found to satisfy the approximate boundary condition within a very small error.

Siegel, R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Emittance bounds for transient radiative cooling of a scattering rectangular region

Transient cooling was analyzed for a two-dimensional gray rectangular region that emits, absorbs, and isotropically scatters radiation. The region, initially at uniform temperature, is placed in surroundings at a much lower temperature. The cooling analysis yields two simultaneous equations for the transient temperature and scattering source function distributions. The region starts to cool with the medium at uniform temperature. For this condition, the local emittance around the perimeter was obtained by a numerical solution of the radiative equations, and the rate of heat loss from the entire medium was evaluated. As cooling continues, the emissive ability decreases because of the lower temperatures in the outer regions of the rectangle. Based on some previous work, a lower limit for the transient overall emittance was found by obtaining a similarity solution. For some ranges of optical thickness and scattering albedo, the lower limit is only a small amount below the initial emittance. For these conditions, the initial emittance can be used to compute the entire transient resulting in a considerable simplification.

Siegel, Robert↗
DOE OSTI2015

A NEW DIAGNOSTIC OF MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTHS IN RADIATIVELY COOLED SHOCKS

We show that it is possible to measure Alfvénic Mach numbers, defined as the shock velocity in the flow divided by the Alfvén velocity, for low-velocity (V{sub shock} ≲ 100 km s{sup −1}) radiative shocks. The method combines observations of bright forbidden lines with a measure of the size of the cooling zone, the latter typically obtained from spatial separation between the Balmer emission lines and the forbidden lines. Because magnetic fields become compressed as gas in the postshock region cools, even relatively weak preshock magnetic fields can be detected with this method. We derive analytical formulae that explain how the spatial separations relate to emission-line ratios, and compute a large grid of radiatively cooled shock models to develop diagnostic diagrams that can be used to derive Alfvénic Mach numbers in flows. Applying the method to existing data for a bright knot in the HH 111 jet, we obtain a relatively low Alfvénic Mach number of ∼2, indicative of a magnetized jet that has super-magnetosonic velocity perturbations within it.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Photon-dominated regions around cool stars: The effects of the color temperature of the radiation field

We have investigated the influence of the color temperature of the illuminating radiation field on the chemical and thermal structure of photon-dominated regions (PDRs). We present the results of a study of the photoelectric efficiency of heating by large molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and very small grains for radiation fields characterized by different effective temperatures. We show that the efficiency for cooler (T(sub eff) approximately = 6000-10,000 K) stars is at most an order of magnitude smaller than that for hotter (T(sub eff) approximately = 20,000-30,000 K) stars. While cooler radiation fields result in less ultraviolet photons capable of heating, the efficiency per absorbed photon is higher, because the grains become less positively charged. We also present detailed calculations of the chemistry and thermal balance for generic PDRs (n(sub 0) approximately = 10(exp 3), G(sub 0) approximately = 10(exp 3)). For cooler radiation fields, the H/H2 and C(+)/C/CO transition layers shift toward the surface of the PDR, because fewer photons are available to photodissociate H2 and CO and to ionize C. The dominant cooling lines are the (C II) 158 micron and the (O I) 63 micron lines for the hotter radiation fields, but cooling by CO becomes dominant for a color temperature of 6000 K or lower. The (C II)/CO and (O I)/CO ratios are found to be very good diagnostics for the color temperature of the radiation field.

Spaans, Marco↗