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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

Immersion Cooling of Electronics in DoD Installations

A considerable amount of energy is consumed to cool electronic equipment in data centers. A method for substantially reducing the energy needed for this cooling was demonstrated. The method involves immersing electronic equipment in a non-conductive liquid that changes phase from a liquid to a gas. The liquid used was 3M Novec 649. Two-phase immersion cooling using this liquid is not viable at this time. The primary obstacles are IT equipment failures and costs. However, the demonstrated technology met the performance objectives for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction. Before commercialization of this technology can occur, a root cause analysis of the failures should be completed, and the design changes proven.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effects of electron temperature anisotropy on proton mirror instability evolution

Proton mirror modes are large amplitude nonpropagating structures frequently observed in the magnetosheath. It has been suggested that electron temperature anisotropy can enhance the proton mirror instability growth rate while leaving the proton cyclotron instability largely unaffected, therefore causing the proton mirror instability to dominate the proton cyclotron instability in Earth's magnetosheath. In this paper we use particle-in-cell simulations to investigate the electron temperature anisotropy effects on proton mirror instability evolution. Contrary to the hypothesis, electron temperature anisotropy leads to excitement of the electron whistler instability. Finally, our results show that the electron whistler instability grows much faster than the proton mirror instability and quickly consumes the electron-free energy so that there is no electron temperature anisotropy left to significantly impact the evolution of the proton mirror instability.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Microscale modeling of effective mechanical and electrical properties of textiles

Here, a computational framework for assisting in the development of novel textiles is presented. Electronic textiles are key in the rapidly growing field of wearable electronics for both consumer and military uses. There are two main challenges to the modeling of electronic textiles: the discretization of the textile microstructure and the interaction between electromagnetic and mechanical fields. A director-based beam formulation with an assumed electrical current is used to discretize the fabric at the level of individual fibrils. The open-source package FEniCS was used to implement the finite element model. Contact integrals were added into the FEniCS framework so that multiphysics contact laws can be incorporated in the same framework, leveraging the code generation and automated differentiation capabilities of FEniCS to produce the tangents needed by the implicit solution method. The computational model is used to construct and determine the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of a representative volume elements of a plain woven textile. Dynamic relaxation to solve the mechanical fields and the electrical and thermal fields is solved statically for a given mechanical state. The simulated electrical responses are fit to a simplified Kirchhoff network model to determine effective resistances of the textile.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Controlled cooling of an electronic system based on projected conditions

Energy efficient control of a cooling system cooling an electronic system is provided based, in part, on projected conditions. The control includes automatically determining an adjusted control setting(s) for an adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system. The automatically determining is based, at least in part, on projected power consumed by the electronic system at a future time and projected temperature at the future time of a heat sink to which heat extracted is rejected. The automatically determining operates to reduce power consumption of the cooling system and/or the electronic system while ensuring that at least one targeted temperature associated with the cooling system or the electronic system is within a desired range. The automatically determining may be based, at least in part, on an experimentally obtained model(s) relating the targeted temperature and power consumption of the adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Controlled cooling of an electronic system based on projected conditions

Energy efficient control of a cooling system cooling an electronic system is provided based, in part, on projected conditions. The control includes automatically determining an adjusted control setting(s) for an adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system. The automatically determining is based, at least in part, on projected power consumed by the electronic system at a future time and projected temperature at the future time of a heat sink to which heat extracted is rejected. The automatically determining operates to reduce power consumption of the cooling system and/or the electronic system while ensuring that at least one targeted temperature associated with the cooling system or the electronic system is within a desired range. The automatically determining may be based, at least in part, on an experimentally obtained model(s) relating the targeted temperature and power consumption of the adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ubiquitous Power Electronics in Future Power Systems: Recommendations to fully utilize fast control capabilities

Power electronics is becoming ubiquitous in power systems because the rapid growth of variable renewable generation such as wind and solar, responsive load, electric vehicles, energy storage, as well as DC transmission. As a result, a high percentage of electricity will be generated, transmitted or consumed by power electronics in the future power system. Such a high penetration of power electronics is changing power system operation landscapes and dynamic characteristics. Two major kinds of impact are reduced system mechanical inertia by inverter-based resources displacing conventional generation and active participation of many distributed energy resources through inverters. This has caused significant reliability challenges for power system operation. The mitigation approach so far has mostly focused on accommodating power electronics inverters as passive devices or creating synthetic inertias to make inverter-based generation behaving as conventional generators. However, the high-speed control capabilities of power electronics present new opportunities for achieving an optimal performance beyond conventional power systems. A lower-inertia system can be more responsive for improving reliability, and distributed small resources can be more adaptive and scalable for better flexibility and resilience. Power electronic inverters are capable of multiple fast control functions. To fully utilized the ubiquitous power electronics in power systems requires technology advancements in the following areas: data and communications to capture the new dynamic behaviors introduced by power electronics; modeling and simulation to understand the behaviors of power electronics and its interactions with other components in the context of power systems; control and optimization methods for fully utilizing the capabilities of power electronics for a new paradigm of performance beyond the traditional inertia-heavy system; and significant upgrades in power electronics hardware to cater to the new control capabilities. If properly controlled and optimized, power electronics can help transform the power system to be responsive, adaptive, and scalable.

Huang, Zhenyu↗
DOE OSTI2018

Genetic Algorithms for Rapid Molecular Materials Screening

This project developed efficient methods for rapid computational screening of conjugated polymers and oligomers with optimal or near-optimal photovoltaic, dielectric, spintronic, and other unique electronic structure properties using genetic algorithms (GA). A key promise of organic materials is that using the incredible tailorability of synthetic organic chemistry enables experimental optimization of performance across multiple relevant properties (e.g., organic photovoltaics, organic lasers). The fundamental challenge is inverse design: how does one find the molecular or polymer structures with desired properties in the face of a near-infinite (e.g., >10 20 - 10 60 ) number of possible molecular structures, combined with time-consuming experiments or electronic structure calculations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1981

Carbon/graphite composite material study, appendix A and appendix B

A comprehensive assessment of the possible damage to electrical and electronic equipment caused by accidental release of carbon fibers from burning civil aircraft with carbon composite parts was completed. The study concluded that the amount of fiber likely to be released is much lower than initially predicted. Carbon fiber released from an aircraft crash fire was found (from atmospheric dissemination models) to disperse over a much larger area than originally estimated, with correspondingly lower fiber concentrations. Long term redissemination of fiber was shown to be insignificant if reasonable care is exercised in accident cleanup. The vulnerability of electrical equipment to structural fibers in current use was low. Consumer appliances, industrial electronics, and avionics were essentially invulnerable to carbon fibers. Shock hazards (and thus potential injury or death) were found to be extremely unlikely.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2017

Oxidative Uranium Release from Anoxic Sediments under Diffusion-Limited Conditions

Here, uranium (U) contamination occurs as a result of mining and ore processing; often in alluvial aquifers that contain organic-rich, reduced sediments that accumulate tetravalent U, U(IV). Uranium(IV) is sparingly soluble, but may be mobilized upon exposure to nitrate (NO 3 – ) and oxygen (O 2 ), which become elevated in groundwater due to seasonal fluctuations in the water table. The extent to which oxidative U mobilization can occur depends upon the transport properties of the sediments, the rate of U(IV) oxidation, and the availability of inorganic reductants and organic electron donors that consume oxidants. We investigated the processes governing U release upon exposure of reduced sediments to artificial groundwater containing O 2 or NO 3 – under diffusion-limited conditions. Little U was mobilized during the 85-day reaction, despite rapid diffusion of groundwater within the sediments and the presence of nonuraninite U(IV) species. The production of ferrous iron and sulfide in conjunction with rapid oxidant consumption suggested that the sediments harbored large concentrations of bioavailable organic carbon that fueled anaerobic microbial respiration and stabilized U(IV). Our results suggest that seasonal influxes of O 2 and NO 3 – may cause only localized mobilization of U without leading to export of U from the reducing sediments when ample organic carbon is present.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dehalogenation of Chlorinated Ethenes to Ethene by a Novel Isolate, “ Candidatus Dehalogenimonas etheniformans”

Dehalococcoides mccartyi strains harboring vinyl chloride (VC) reductive dehalogenase (RDase) genes are keystone bacteria for VC detoxification in groundwater aquifers, and bioremediation monitoring regimens focus on D. mccartyi biomarkers. We isolated a novel anaerobic bacterium, “Candidatus Dehalogenimonas etheniformans” strain GP, capable of respiratory dechlorination of VC to ethene. This bacterium couples formate and hydrogen (H2) oxidation to the reduction of trichloro-ethene (TCE), all dichloroethene (DCE) isomers, and VC with acetate as the carbon source. Cultures that received formate and H2 consumed the two electron donors concomitantly at similar rates. A 16S rRNA gene-targeted quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay measured growth yields of (1.2 ± 0.2) × 10 8 and (1.9 ± 0.2) × 10 8 cells per μmol of VC dechlorinated in cultures with H 2 or formate as electron donor, respectively. About 1.5-fold higher cell numbers were measured with qPCR targeting cerA, a single-copy gene encoding a putative VC RDase. A VC dechlorination rate of 215 ± 40 μmol L -1 day -1 was measured at 30°C, with about 25% of this activity occurring at 15°C. Increasing NaCl concentrations progressively impacted VC dechlorination rates, and dechlorination ceased at 15 g NaCl L -1 . During growth with TCE, all DCE isomers were intermediates. Tetrachloroethene was not dechlorinated and inhibited dechlorination of other chlorinated ethenes. Carbon monoxide formed and accumulated as a metabolic by-product in dechlorinating cultures and impacted reductive dechlorination activity. Finally, the isolation of a new Dehalogenimonas species able to effectively dechlorinate toxic chlorinated ethenes to benign ethene expands our understanding of the reductive dechlorination process, with implications for bioremediation and environmental monitoring.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Final CRADA Report for Enhanced and Miniaturized Wireless Valve Position Indicator Prototype

Most operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the United States have received approval to extend their operating licenses to 60 years. Now the nuclear industry is preparing to extend operating licenses to 80 years. While NPPs are preparing for extensions (60 years and beyond), the nuclear industry is facing a unique economic sustainability challenge in the current energy market. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), generating costs of U.S. reactors have risen by 28% over the last 12 years, which is impacting the competitiveness of nuclear power in a market being increasingly penetrated by natural gas and renewable energy. This is partly because of the fact that the present nuclear work practice is dependent on a large technical staff which results in high operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, accounting for approximately 66% of the total operating cost. To address these concerns and abide by the NEI’s “Delivering the Nuclear Promise Initiative,” the U.S. utilities are embracing digitalization of their work practice to lower the O&M costs and increase productivity and efficiency while maintaining a safe and reliable operation. To address these above-mentioned concerns, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) researchers (proposal team) have developed a wireless valve position indication (VPI) sensor system that can be retrofitted on three main manual valve types (extendible to other manual valve types) to replace manual valve position verification with digital verification and enable online monitoring of manual valves. The developed technology 1) is evaluated for electromagnetic interference, 2) has a low power consuming and miniaturized electronic board, 3) is mounted on adjustable and reconfigurable sensor mounting unit that can fit on an actual flow-loop (at Idaho State University-ISU) to enable online monitoring of manual valve types without any valve body modification, and 4) ensures robust, secure, and reliable real-time communication of manual valve position.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report focuses on the supply chain for rare earth permanent magnets, specifically sintered neodymiumiron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, used in clean energy technologies. Sintered NdFeB magnets are the strongest magnets commercially available and provide a host of benefits to wide-ranging applications in consumer and industrial electronics, especially in advanced motor and drive systems. Within the Energy Sector Industrial Base, and clean energy in particular, NdFeB magnets are key intermediate components of permanent magnet synchronous (direct drive) generators in wind turbines (especially for offshore turbines) and electric synchronous traction motors for propulsion systems in battery and hybrid electric vehicles.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS1993

The ORBCOMM data communications system

The ORBCOMM system is designed to provide low-cost, two-way data communications for mobile and remote users. The communications system is ideally configured for low data rate applications where communicating devices are geographically dispersed and two-way communications through terrestrial means is cumbersome and not cost effective. The remote terminals use VHF frequencies which allow for the use of very small, low-cost terminals. ORBCOMM has entered into joint development agreements with several large manufacturers of both consumer and industrial electronics to design and build the remote terminals. Based on prototype work, the estimated retail cost of these units will range from $50 to $400 depending on the complexity of the design. Starting in the fall of 1993, ORBCOMM will begin service with a demonstration network consisting of two operating satellites. By the end of 1994, a full operating network of 26 satellites, four Gateway Earth Stations, and a Network Control Center will be in place. The full constellation will provide full coverage of the entire world with greater than 94 percent communications availability for the continental U.S. This paper describes the ORBCOMM system, the technology used in its implementation, and its applications.

Schoen, David C.↗
DOE OSTI2015

An investigation of used electronics return flows: A data-driven approach to capture and predict consumers storage and utilization behavior

Highlights: • We analyzed a data set of HDDs returned back to an e-waste collection site. • We studied factors that affect the storage behavior. • Consumer type, brand and size are among factors which affect the storage behavior. • Commercial consumers have stored computers more than household consumers. • Machine learning models were used to predict the storage behavior. - Abstract: Consumers often have a tendency to store their used, old or un-functional electronics for a period of time before they discard them and return them back to the waste stream. This behavior increases the obsolescence rate of used still-functional products leading to lower profitability that could be resulted out of End-of-Use (EOU) treatments such as reuse, upgrade, and refurbishment. These types of behaviors are influenced by several product and consumer-related factors such as consumers’ traits and lifestyles, technology evolution, product design features, product market value, and pro-environmental stimuli. Better understanding of different groups of consumers, their utilization and storage behavior and the connection of these behaviors with product design features helps Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and recycling and recovery industry to better overcome the challenges resulting from the undesirable storage of used products. This paper aims at providing insightful statistical analysis of Electronic Waste (e-waste) dynamic nature by studying the effects of design characteristics, brand and consumer type on the electronics usage time and end of use time-in-storage. A database consisting of 10,063 Hard Disk Drives (HDD) of used personal computers returned back to a remanufacturing facility located in Chicago, IL, USA during 2011–2013 has been selected as the base for this study. The results show that commercial consumers have stored computers more than household consumers regardless of brand and capacity factors. Moreover, a heterogeneous storage behavior is observed for different brands of HDDs regardless of capacity and consumer type factors. Finally, the storage behavior trends are projected for short-time forecasting and the storage times are precisely predicted by applying machine learning methods.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

The role of photorespiration in preventing feedback regulation via ATP synthase in Nicotiana tabacum

Abstract Photorespiration consumes substantial amounts of energy in the forms of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reductant making the pathway an important component in leaf energetics. Because of this high reductant demand, photorespiration is proposed to act as a photoprotective electron sink. However, photorespiration consumes more ATP relative to reductant than the C3 cycle meaning increased flux disproportionally increases ATP demand relative to reductant. Here we explore how energetic consumption from photorespiration impacts the flexibility of the light reactions in nicotiana tabacum . Specifically, we demonstrate that decreased photosynthetic efficiency (ϕ II ) at low photorespiratory flux was related to feedback regulation at the chloroplast ATP synthase. Additionally, decreased ϕ II at high photorespiratory flux resulted in the accumulation of photoinhibition at photosystem II centers. These results are contrary to the proposed role of photorespiration as a photoprotective electron sink. Instead, our results suggest a novel role of ATP consumption from photorespiration in maintaining ATP synthase activity, with implications for maintaining energy balance and preventing photodamage that will be critical for plant engineering strategies.

Plant Sciences↗
DOE OSTI2014

Luminescence quenching of conductive Si nanocrystals via “Linkage emission”: Hopping-like propagation of infrared-excited Auger electrons

Phosphorus (P) is an n-type dopant for conductive silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc's), the electrical activation of which may be monitored through a non-radiative Auger recombination process that quenches the Si-nc luminescence. We investigated this quenching mechanism through electrical measurements of Si-nc's. Infrared-excited Auger electron emission as the non-radiative process was directly probed and the dynamics of the process are determined from a frequency response analysis. To explain the dynamics, we propose a model in which Auger electrons with a low kinetic energy establish a local inter-nanocrystal conductance and the repetition of this local conductance results in a constant photocurrent (“linkage emission”). This emission becomes significant by electron filling in the Si-nc's owing to the electrical activation of P, which is consistent with observed luminescence quenching behavior. We found that the IR photo-excited emission is distinct from the thermally induced hopping conduction and show that confined, rather than trapped, charges are the source of the Auger electrons. Thus, the process consumes both confined charges and the recombination energy for Auger emission, which explains the luminescence quenching mechanism of Si-nc:P.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2026

Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Recycling: Barriers and Opportunities for State, Local, and Tribal Governments

Electronic waste, or e-waste, encompasses end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment, including computers, monitors, televisions, printers, cell phones, household appliances with electronic components, and small consumer devices containing batteries or circuitry. E-waste is one of the fastest-growing components of the U.S. waste stream, with nearly 8 million tons generated in 2022. E-waste presents two related public-interest considerations. First, e-waste contains economically and strategically important materials: base metals (copper, aluminum, iron, steel), precious metals (gold, silver, platinum group metals), and critical materials such as rare earth elements, gallium, and indium that appear on the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Second, many electronic devices contain hazardous constituents - including lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants - as well as rechargeable batteries that can pose fire risks during handling. Effective management of these constituents helps protect workers, communities, and the environment. In the United States, it is estimated that less than 20% of e-waste is formally collected and recycled, leaving over 6 million tons landfilled or otherwise unrecovered. This fact sheet provides state and local decision-makers an overview of (1) e-waste composition and recoverable materials, (2) technology pathways used to recover those materials, and (3) examples of operational and partnership structures used to provide e-waste recycling capacity in the United States. It is intended to complement existing collection-program guidance available through U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other sources.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗