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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 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Constraining the Dust Opacity Law in Three Small and Isolated Molecular Clouds

Density profiles of isolated cores derived from thermal dust continuum emission rely on models of dust properties, such as mass opacity, that are poorly constrained. With complementary measures from near-infrared extinction maps, we can assess the reliability of commonly used dust models. In this work, we compare Herschel -derived maps of the optical depth with equivalent maps derived from CFHT WIRCAM near-infrared observations for three isolated cores: CB 68, L 429, and L 1552. We assess the dust opacities provided from four models: OH1a, OH5a, Orm1, and Orm4. Although the consistency of the models differs between the three sources, the results suggest that the optical properties of dust in the envelopes of the cores are best described by either silicate and bare graphite grains (e.g., Orm1) or carbonaceous grains with some coagulation and either thin or no ice mantles (e.g., OH5a). None of the models, however, individually produced the most consistent optical depth maps for every source. The results suggest that either the dust in the cores is not well-described by any one dust property model, the application of the dust models cannot be extended beyond the very center of the cores, or more complex SED fitting functions are necessary.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

An automated design process for short pulse laser driven opacity experiments

Stellar-relevant conditions can be reached by heating a buried layer target with a short pulse laser. Previous design studies of iron buried layer targets found that plasma conditions are dominantly controlled by the laser energy while the accuracy of the inferred opacity is limited by tamper emission and optical depth effects. In this paper, we developed a process to simultaneously optimize laser and target parameters to meet a variety of design goals. We explored two sets of design cases: a set focused on conditions relevant to the upper radiative zone of the sun (electron temperatures of 200 to 400 eV and densities greater than 1/10 of solid density) and a set focused on reaching temperatures consistent with deep within the radiative zone of the sun (500 to 1000 eV) at a fixed density. We found optimized designs for iron targets and determined that the appropriate dopant, for inferring plasma conditions, depends on the goal temperature: magnesium for up to 300 eV, aluminum for 300 to 500 eV, and sulfur for 500 to 1000 eV. The optimal laser energy and buried layer thickness increase with goal temperature. The accuracy of the inferred opacity is limited to between 11% and 31%, depending on the design. Finally, overall, short pulse laser heated iron experiments reaching stellar-relevant conditions have been designed with consideration of minimizing tamper emission and optical depth effects while meeting plasma condition and x-ray emission goals.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Opacity of shock-heated boron plasmas

Standard measures of opacity, the imaginary part of the atomic scattering factor f 2 and the x-ray mass attenuation coefficient μ/ρ, are assessed in shock-heated boron, boron carbide and boron nitride plasmas. The Hugoniot equation, relating the temperature T behind a shock wave to the compression ratio ρ/ρ 0 across the shock front, is used in connection with the plasma equation of state to determine the pressure p, effective plasma charge Z* and the K-shell occupation in terms of ρ/ρ 0 . Solutions of the Hugoniot equation (determined within the framework of the generalized Thomas–Fermi theory) show that the K-shell occupation in low-Z ions decreases rapidly from 2 to 0.1 as the temperature increases from 20 eV to 500 eV; a temperature range in which the shock compression ratio is near 4. The average-atom model (a quantum mechanical version of the generalized Thomas–Fermi theory) is used to determine K-shell and continuum wave functions and the photoionization cross section for x-rays in the energy range ω = 1 eV to 10 keV, where the opacity is dominated by the atomic photoionization process. For an uncompressed boron plasma at T = 10 eV, where the K-shell is filled, the average-atom cross section, the atomic scattering factor and the mass attenuation coefficient are all shown to agree closely with previous (cold matter) tabulations [1, 2, 3]. For shock-compressed plasmas, the dependence of μ/ρ on temperature can be approximated by scaling previously tabulated cold-matter values by the relative K-shell occupation; yet, there is a relatively small residual dependence arising from the photoionization cross section. Attenuation coefficients μ for a 9 keV x-ray are given as functions of T along the Hugoniot for B, C, B 4 C and BN plasmas.

52.25.Os: Emission↗
DOE OSTI2015

Gray and multigroup radiation transport models for two-dimensional binary stochastic media using effective opacities

One-dimensional models for the transport of radiation through binary stochastic media do not work in multi-dimensions. In addition, authors have attempted to modify or extend the 1D models to work in multidimensions without success. Analytic one-dimensional models are successful in 1D only when assuming greatly simplified physics. State of the art theories for stochastic media radiation transport do not address multi-dimensions and temperature-dependent physics coefficients. Here, the concept of effective opacities and effective heat capacities is found to well represent the ensemble averaged transport solutions in cases with gray or multigroup temperature-dependent opacities and constant or temperature-dependent heat capacities. In every case analyzed here, effective physics coefficients fit the transport solutions over a useful range of parameter space. The transport equation is solved with the spherical harmonics method with angle orders of n=1 and 5. Although the details depend on what order of solution is used, the general results are similar, independent of angular order.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Increasing wintertime cloud opacity increases surface longwave radiation at a long-term Arctic observatory

As the Arctic warms, winter clouds are known and expected to change. Yet the extent to which these cloud changes amplify or dampen warming (cloud feedback) remains uncertain. This uncertainty results from systemic difficulties in modeling and observing Arctic low clouds. Surface-based observations avoid many of these difficulties. Here, we use two decades of surface-based observations (1998–2023) to constrain and explain longwave flux change during winter. We find that longwave flux into the surface is increasing and that this increase cannot be explained by direct impacts of temperature and greenhouse gases alone. Only when increasing cloud radiative effect (0.96 ± 0.64 W/m 2 /K) is considered can increasing longwave flux be explained. Cloud radiative effect increases due to increasing cloud opacity, which is driven equally by ice-only and mixed-phase clouds. The direct observational constraint from this work suggests that increasing cloud opacity drives increasing net surface radiation on Alaska’s North Slope during winter.

Bertrand, Leah [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (Un↗
DOE OSTI2018

Outbursts of luminous blue variable stars from variations in the helium opacity

Luminous blue variables are massive, evolved stars that exhibit large variations in luminosity and size on timescales from months to years, with high associated rates of mass loss1,2,3,4,5. In addition to this on-going variability, these stars exhibit outburst phases, during which their size increases and as a result their effective temperature decreases, typically to about 9,000 kelvin3,6. Outbursts are believed to be caused by the radiation force on the cooler, more opaque, outer layers of the star balancing or even exceeding the force of gravity, although the exact mechanisms are unknown and cannot be determined using one-dimensional, spherically symmetric models of stars because such models cannot determine the physical processes that occur in this regime7. Here we report three-dimensional simulations of massive, radiation-dominated stars, which show that helium opacity has an important role in triggering outbursts and setting the observed effective temperature during outbursts of about 9,000 kelvin. It probably also triggers the episodic mass loss at rates of 10 -7 to 10 -5 solar masses per year. The peak in helium opacity is evident in our three-dimensional simulations only because the density and temperature of the stellar envelope (the outer part of the star near the photosphere) need to be determined self-consistently with convection, which cannot be done in one-dimensional models that assume spherical symmetry. The simulations reproduce observations of long-timescale variability, and predict that convection causes irregular oscillations in the radii of the stars and variations in brightness of 10–30 per cent on a typical timescale of a few days. The amplitudes of these short-timescale variations are predicted to be even larger for cooler stars (in the outburst phase). This short-timescale variability should be observable with high-cadence observations.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Two-dimensional parametric design of short pulse laser driven iron opacity experiments

High intensity short pulse lasers are commonly used to create high temperature and high density plasmas. These plasmas are used to study fundamental properties such as the equation of state and opacity. The targets often use small-diameter, thin buried layers of the materials of interest, surrounded by a tamper of low atomic number material such as plastic. Computational modeling is used to design and interpret experiments with short pulse lasers. Most of the modeling to date has assumed one-dimensional plane-parallel geometry. In this paper, the effects of radial gradients in the irradiation of thin planar targets are studied with one- and two-dimensional radiation/hydrodynamic simulations. It is found that the main effect of radial gradients is the averaging of plasma conditions and x-ray emission over the pattern of irradiation. Additionally, differences between one- and two-dimensional simulations arise because the plasma conditions and x-ray emission are, in general, nonlinear functions of the temperature of the plasma and thereby also nonlinear functions of the irradiation intensity. The differences increase with the ratio of the buried layer radius to the laser spot radius. The root mean square difference in the inferred iron L-shell opacity is less than 30% when the ratio is less than 1.0 and about 70% when the ratio is 1.5.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Testing model atmospheres for young very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the infrared: Evidence for significantly underestimated dust opacities

We test state-of-the-art model atmospheres for young very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the infrared, by comparing the predicted synthetic photometry over 1.2–24 μm to the observed photometry of M-type spectral templates in star-forming regions. We find that (1) in both early and late young M types, the model atmospheres imply effective temperatures (T{sub eff}) several hundred Kelvin lower than predicted by the standard pre-main sequence (PMS) spectral type–T{sub eff} conversion scale (based on theoretical evolutionary models). It is only in the mid-M types that the two temperature estimates agree. (2) The T{sub eff} discrepancy in the early M types (corresponding to stellar masses ≳0.4 M{sub ⊙} at ages of a few Myr) probably arises from remaining uncertainties in the treatment of atmospheric convection within the atmospheric models, whereas in the late M types it is likely due to an underestimation of dust opacity. (3) The empirical and model-atmosphere J-band bolometric corrections are both roughly flat, and similar to each other, over the M-type T{sub eff} range. Thus the model atmospheres yield reasonably accurate bolometric luminosities (L{sub bol}), but lead to underestimations of mass and age relative to evolutionary expectations (especially in the late M types) due to lower T{sub eff}. We demonstrate this for a large sample of young Cha I and Taurus sources. (4) The trends in the atmospheric model J−K{sub s} colors, and their deviations from the data, are similar at PMS and main sequence ages, suggesting that the model dust opacity errors we postulate here for young ages also apply at field ages.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

The impact of varying inhomogeneous reionization histories on metrics of Ly α opacity

The epoch of hydrogen reionization is complete by z = 5⁠, but its progression at higher redshifts is uncertain. Measurements of Ly α forest opacity show large scatter at z < 6⁠, suggestive of spatial fluctuations in neutral fraction, temperature, or ionizing background, either individually or in combination. However, there are degeneracies in the impact of such fluctuations, necessitating careful modelling. We develop a framework for modelling the reionization history and associated temperature fluctuations, with the intention of incorporating ionizing background fluctuations at a later time. We generate several reionization histories using seminumerical code AMBER, and implement them in the Nyx cosmological hydrodynamics code to examine the impact on the evolution of gas within the simulation and the associated metrics of the Ly α forest opacity. We find that the pressure smoothing scale within the intergalactic medium is strongly correlated with the adiabatic index of the temperature–density relation. We find that while models with 20 000 K photoheating at reionization are better able to reproduce the shape of the observed z = 5 1D flux power spectrum than colder ones, they fail to match the highest wavenumbers. The simulated autocorrelation function and optical depth distributions are systematically low and narrow, respectively, compared to the observed values, but are in better agreement when the reionization history is longer in duration, more symmetric in its distribution of reionization redshifts, or if there are remaining neutral regions at z < 6.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dense plasma opacity via the multiple-scattering method

The calculation of the optical properties of hot dense plasmas with a model that has self-consistent plasma physics is a grand challenge for high energy density science. Here we exploit a recently developed electronic structure model that uses multiple scattering theory to solve the Kohn-Sham density functional theory equations for dense plasmas. Here we calculate opacities in this regime, validate the method, and apply it to recent experimental measurements of opacity for Cr, Ni, and Fe. Good agreement is found in the quasicontinuum region for Cr and Ni, while the self-consistent plasma physics of the approach cannot explain the observed difference between models and the experiment for Fe.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

First-principles study of L -shell iron and chromium opacity at stellar interior temperatures

Recently developed free-energy density functional theory (DFT)-based methodology for optical property calculations of warm dense matter has been applied for studying L-shell opacity of iron and chromium at T = 182 eV. We use Mermin–Kohn–Sham density functional theory with a ground-state and a fully temperature-dependent generalized gradient approximation exchange-correlation (XC) functionals. It is demonstrated that the role of XC at such a high-T is negligible due to the total free-energy of interacting system being dominated by the noninteracting free-energy term in agreement with estimations for the homogeneous electron gas. Furthermore, our DFT predictions are compared to the radiative emissivity and opacity of dense plasmas model, to the real-space Greens function method, and to experimental measurements. Good agreement is found between all three theoretical methods, and in the bound–continuum region for Cr when compared to the experiment, while the discrepancy between direct DFT calculations and the experiment for Fe remains essentially the same as for plasma-physics models.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Measurements of the K -Shell Opacity of a Solid-Density Magnesium Plasma Heated by an X-Ray Free-Electron Laser

We present measurements of the spectrally resolved x rays emitted from solid-density magnesium targets of varying sub-μm thicknesses isochorically heated by an x-ray laser. The data exhibit a largely thickness independent source function, allowing the extraction of a measure of the opacity to K-shell x rays within well-defined regimes of electron density and temperature, extremely close to local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions. The deduced opacities at the peak of the Kα transitions of the ions are consistent with those predicted by detailed atomic-kinetics calculations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

TU-E-201-01: Methods for Eye Lens Dosimetry and Studies On Lens Opacities with Interventionists

Madan M. Rehani, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston Methods for Eye Lens Dosimetry and Studies On Lens Opacities with Interventionalists Radiation induced cataract is a major threat among staff working in interventional suites. Nearly 16 million interventional procedures are performed annually in USA. Recent studies by the principal investigator’s group, primarily among interventional cardiologists, on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency, show posterior subcapsular (PSC) changes in the eye lens in 38–53% of main operators and 21–45% of support staff. These changes have potential to lead to cataract in future years, as per information from A-Bomb survivors. The International Commission on Radiological Protection has reduced dose limit for staff by a factor of 7.5 (from 150 mSv/y to 20 mSv/y). With increasing emphasis on radiation induced cataracts and reduction in threshold dose for eye lens, there is a need to implement strategies for estimating eye lens dose. Unfortunately eye lens dosimetry is at infancy when it comes to routine application. Various approaches are being tried namely direct measurement using active or passive dosimeters kept close to eyes, retrospective estimations and lastly correlating patient dose in interventional procedures with staff eye dose. The talk will review all approaches available and ongoing active research in this area, as well as data from surveys done in Europe on status of eye dose monitoring in interventional radiology and nuclear medicine. The talk will provide update on how good is Hp(10) against Hp(3), estimations from CTDI values, Monte Carlo based simulations and current status of eye lens dosimetry in USA and Europe. The cataract risk among patients is in CT examinations of the head. Since radiation induced cataract predominantly occurs in posterior sub-capsular (PSC) region and is thus distinguishable from age or drug related cataracts and is also preventable, actions on awareness can lead to avoidance or even prevention. Learning Objectives: To understand recent changes in eye lens dose limits and thresholds for tissue reactions To understand different approaches to dose estimation for eye lens To learn about challenges in eye lens opacities among staff in interventional fluoroscopy Di Zhang, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Tustin, CA, USA Eye lens radiation dose from brain perfusion CT exams CT perfusion imaging requires repeatedly exposing one location of the head to monitor the uptake and washout of iodinated contrast. The accumulated radiation dose to the eye lens can be high, leading to concerns about potential radiation injury from these scans. CTDIvol assumes continuous z coverage and can overestimate eye lens dose in CT perfusion scans where the table do not increment. The radiation dose to the eye lens from clinical CT brain perfusion studies can be estimated using Monte Carlo simulation methods on voxelized patient models. MDCT scanners from four major manufacturers were simulated and the eye lens doses were estimated using the AAPM posted clinical protocols. They were also compared to CTDIvol values to evaluate the overestimation from CTDIvol. The efficacy of eye lens dose reduction techniques such as tilting the gantry and moving the scan location away from the eyelens were also investigated. Eye lens dose ranged from 81 mGy to 279 mGy, depending on the scanner and protocol used. It is between 59% and 63% of the CTDIvol values reported by the scanners. The eye lens dose is significantly reduced when the eye lenses were not directly irradiated. CTDIvol should not be interpreted as patient dose; this study has shown it to overestimate dose to the eye lens. These results may be used to provide more accurate estimates of actual dose to ensure that protocols are operated safely below thresholds. Tilting the gantry or moving the scanning region further away from the eyes are effective for reducing lens dose in clinical practice. These actions should be considered when they are consistent with the clinical task and patient anatomy. Learning Objectives: To become familiar with method of eye dose estimation for patient in specific situation of brain perfusion CT To become familiar with level of eye lens radiation doses in patients undergoing brain perfusion MDCT To understand methods for reducing eye lens dose to patient Jong Min Park, Department of Radiation Oncology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea Eye lens dosimetry in radiotherapy using contact lens-shaped applicator Dose calculation accuracy of commercial treatment planning systems is relatively low at shallow depths. Therefore, in-vivo measurements are often performed in the clinic to verify delivered doses to eye lens which are located at shallow depth. Current in-vivo dosimetry for eye lens during radiotherapy is generally performed with small in-vivo dosimeters on the surface of patient eyelid. Since this procedure potentially contains considerable uncertainty, a contact lens-shaped applicator made of acrylic (lens applicator) was developed for in-vivo measurements of eye lens dose during radiotherapy to reduce uncertainty. The lens applicator allows the insertion of commercially available metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimeters. Computed tomography (CT) images of an anthropomorphic phantom with and without the lens applicator were acquired. A total of 20 VMAT plans were delivered to an anthropomorphic phantom and the doses with the lens applicator and the doses at the surface of the eyelid were measured using both micro and standard MOSFET dosimeters. The differences in measured dose at the surface of the eyelid from the calculated lens dose were acquired. The differences between the measured and the calculated doses at the lens applicator, as well as the differences between the measured and the calculated doses at the surface of the eyelid were acquired. The statistical significance of the differences was analyzed. The average difference between the measured and the calculated dose with the lens applicator was 16.8 % ± 10.4 % with a micro MOSFET dosimeter and 16.6 % ± 10.9% with a standard MOSFET dosimeter. The average difference without the lens applicator was 35.9% ± 41.5% with micro MOSFET dosimeter and 42.9% ± 52.2% with standard MOSFET dosimeter. The maximum difference with micro MOSFET dosimeter was 46% with the applicator and 188.4% without the applicator. For the standard MOSFET dosimeter, the maximum difference was 44.4% with the applicator and 246.4% without the applicator. The lens applicator allowed reduction of the differences between the calculated and the measured dose during in-vivo measurement for the eye lens as compared to in-vivo measurement at the surface of the eyelid. Learning Objectives: To understand limitations of dose calculation with commercial treatment planning system for eye lens during radiotherapy To learn about current in-vivo dosimetry methods for eye lens in the clinic To understand limitations of in-vivo dosimetry for eye lens during radiotherapy Di Zhang is an employee of Toshiba America Medical Systems.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

singularity-opac

singularity-opac is a library for providing a unified interface for opacities, emissivities, and scattering cross-sections for materials and use in simulation codes. It is designed to be performance portable and run on CPU and GPU.

Dolence, Joshua↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluation of a Smoke Opacity Sensor for Improving Residential Wood Heater Combustion

Residential wood heating lacks real-time particulate matter (PM) monitoring technologies capable of measuring emissions directly from flue gases. This study evaluates the performance of the Octoring, an opacity-based smoke sensor developed to monitor wood heater emissions and provide feedback for improved combustion. The device was tested on catalytic and non-catalytic cordwood heaters and a pellet heater during startup, high-burn, and low-burn phases. Performance was assessed against reference particle instruments and gravimetric measurements using concordance, correlation, and agreement analyses. Results show that temperature-dependent drift is the primary limitation affecting sensor accuracy, with systematic drift observed across ambient and combustion conditions. Agreement with reference instruments ranged from poor to good depending on operating conditions, with the strongest performance observed during pellet heater high-burn operation. These findings establish a performance baseline for opacity-based sensing technologies and identify key areas for further development before practical deployment in residential wood combustion monitoring systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Computational Design of Short Pulse Laser Driven Iron Opacity Measurements at Stellar-Relevant Conditions

Opacity is a critical parameter in the simulation of radiation transport in systems such as inertial con nement fusion capsules and stars. The resolution of current disagreements between solar models and helioseismological observations would bene t from experimental validation of theoretical opacity models. Overall, short pulse laser heated iron experiments reaching stellar-relevant conditions have been designed with consideration of minimizing tamper emission and optical depth effects while meeting plasma condition and x-ray emission goals.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Multi-Center Calculations of the Opacity at Very High Pressure [Slides]

Plasma effect are often treated perturbatively in opacity calculations. Could a self-consistent treatment of plasma effects significantly change the opacity? The conclusion is that "Self consistent plasma effects, at the DFT level, do not seem to improve agreement with data."

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effective Opacity of the Intergalactic Medium from Galaxy Spectra Analysis

We measure the effective opacity (τ{sub eff}) of the intergalactic medium from the composite spectra of 281 Lyman-break galaxies in the redshift range 2 ≲ z ≲ 3. Our spectra are taken from the COSMOS Lyα Mapping And Tomographic Observations survey derived from the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer on the W.M. Keck I telescope. We generate composite spectra in two redshift intervals and fit them with spectral energy distribution (SED) models composed of simple stellar populations. Extrapolating these SED models into the Lyα forest, we measure the effective Lyα opacity (τ{sub eff}) in the 2.02 ≤ z ≤ 2.44 range. At z = 2.22, we estimate τ{sub eff} =0.159±0.001 from a power-law fit to the data. These measurements are consistent with estimates from quasar analyses at z < 2.5 indicating that the systematic errors associated with normalizing quasar continua are not substantial. We provide a Gaussian processes model of our results and previous τ{sub eff} measurements that describes the steep redshift evolution in τ{sub eff} from z = 1.5–4.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗