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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating Acoustic vs. AI-Based Satellite Leak Detection in Aging US Water Infrastructure: A Cost and Energy Savings Analysis

The aging water distribution system in the United States, constructed mainly during the 1970s with some pipes dating back 125 years, is experiencing significant deterioration leading to substantial water losses. Along with the potential for water loss savings, improvements in the distribution system by using leak detection technologies can create net energy and cost savings. In this work, a new framework has been presented to calculate the economic level of leakage within water supply and distribution systems for two primary leak detection technologies (acoustic vs. satellite). In this work, a new framework is presented to calculate the economic level of leakage (ELL) within water supply and distribution systems to support smart infrastructure in smart cities. A case study focused using water audit data from Atlanta, Georgia, compared the costs of two leak mitigation technologies: conventional acoustic leak detection and artificial intelligence–assisted satellite leak detection technology, which employs machine learning algorithms to identify potential leak signatures from satellite imagery. The ELL results revealed that conducting one survey would be optimum for an acoustic survey, whereas the method suggested that it would be expensive to utilize satellite-based leak detection technology. However, results for cumulative financial analysis over a 3-year period for both technologies revealed both to be economically favorable with conventional acoustic leak detection technology generating higher net economic benefits of USD 2.4 million, surpassing satellite detection by 50%. A broader national analysis was conducted to explore the potential benefits of US water infrastructure mirroring the exemplary conditions of Germany and The Netherlands. Achieving similar infrastructure leakage index (ILI) values could result in annual cost savings of $\$4$–$\$4.8$ billion and primary energy savings of 1.6–1.9 TWh. These results demonstrate the value of combining economic modeling with advanced leak detection technologies to support sustainable, cost-efficient water infrastructure strategies in urban environments, contributing to more sustainable smart living outcomes.

acoustic leak detection↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Aviation System Analysis Capability Noise Impact Model

To meet its objective of assisting the US aviation industry with the technological challenges of the future, NASA must identify research areas that have the greatest potential for improving the operation of the air transportation system. To accomplish this, NASA is building an Aviation System Analysis Capability (ASAC). The Noise Impact Model (NIM) has been developed as part of the ASAC. Its primary purpose is to enable users to examine the impact that quieter aircraft technologies and/or operation might have on community noise impact and air carrier operating efficiency at any of 16 large and medium size US airports. The analyst chooses an airport and case year for study, selects a runway use configuration and set of flight tracks for the scenario, and has the option of reducing the noise of the aircraft that operate at the airport by 3, 6, and 10 decibels, NIM computes the resultant noise impact and estimates any airline operational improvements. Community noise impact is characterized in three ways: the size of the noise contour footprint, the number of people living within the contours, and the number of homes located in the same contours. Distance and time savings are calculated by comparing the noise abatement flight path length to a less circuitous alternated routing. For a more efficient runway use configuration, the increase in capacity and reduction in delay are shown.

Ege, Russell A.↗
NASA NTRS1998

The Aviation System Analysis Capability Noise Impact Model

To meet its objective of assisting the U.S. aviation industry with the technological challenges of the future, NASA must identify research areas that have the greatest potential for improving the operation of the air transportation system. To accomplish this, NASA is building an Aviation System Analysis Capability (ASAC). The Noise Impact Model (NIM) has been developed as part of the ASAC. Its primary purpose is to enable users to examine the impact that quieter aircraft technologies and/or operations might have on community noise impact and air carrier operating efficiency at any of 16 large- and medium-sized U.S. airports. The analyst chooses an airport and case year for study, selects a runway use configuration and set of flight tracks for the scenario, and has the option of reducing the noise of the aircraft that operate at the airport by 3, 6, or 10 decibels. NIM computes the resultant noise impact and estimates any airline operations improvements. Community noise impact is characterized in three ways: the size of the noise contour footprint, the number of people living within the.contours, and the number of homes located in the same contours. Distance and time savings are calculated by comparing the noise abatement flight path length to a less circuitous alternate routing. For a more efficient runway use configuration, the increase in capacity and reduction in delay are shown.

Wingrove, Earl R., III↗
DOE OSTI2024

Environmentally Assisted Fatigue in Light Water Reactor Environment

This report summarizes the Environmentally Assisted Fatigue (EAF) research conducted at ANL under the US DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program. Starting from a rich background in theoretical and experimental EAF, ANL previously developed an approach to evaluate fatigue performance of reactor materials in light water reactor environments with the correction factor F en . The approach was based on a large body of experimental work performed at ANL and elsewhere, and was consistent with American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)’s methodology governing the design and construction of reactor components. In recent years, the program was focused on component fatigue prediction and made several major and fundamental contributions in this area. These accomplishments help meet the needs identified by the industry concerning component level fatigue predictions in complex, transient conditions. The main contribution of the ANL program involved the development of a system-level model for estimating residual strain and life of nuclear reactor coolant system components under connected-system-thermal-mechanical boundary conditions. The goal was to predict the stress hotspots, strain residuals, strain amplitudes and the resulting fatigue lives. Thermal-mechanical stress analysis was performed considering thermal stratification and a design-basis reactor loading cycle. Based on the finite element (FE) model results, the strain residuals, strain amplitudes and resulting fatigue lives of reactor coolant system (RCS) components were predicted. The results show that some of the RCS components can have significantly different strain amplitudes, residual strain, and fatigue lives, despite having similar geometry and material. In addition, the simulated component-level strain profile can guide the selection of appropriate test inputs for conducting laboratory-scale EAF tests. Building upon the system-level model, ANL developed a digital twin (DT) framework to predict the structural states and associated fatigue life of components in real-time. This framework is a comprehensive system designed to predict the structural states and fatigue lives of reactor components. It includes multiple models and integrates artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and FE based modeling tools to evaluate the structural states and fatigue lives.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Engineering and characterization of carbohydrate‐binding modules for imaging cellulose fibrils biosynthesis in plant protoplasts

Abstract Carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) are noncatalytic domains that assist tethered catalytic domains in substrate targeting. CBMs have therefore been used to visualize distinct polysaccharides present in the cell wall of plant cells and tissues. However, most previous studies provide a qualitative analysis of CBM‐polysaccharide interactions, with limited characterization of engineered tandem CBM designs for recognizing polysaccharides like cellulose and limited application of CBM‐based probes to visualize cellulose fibrils synthesis in model plant protoplasts with regenerating cell walls. Here, we examine the dynamic interactions of engineered type‐A CBMs from families 3a and 64 with crystalline cellulose‐I and phosphoric acid swollen cellulose. We generated tandem CBM designs to determine various characteristic properties including binding reversibility toward cellulose‐I using equilibrium binding assays. To compute the adsorption ( nk on ) and desorption ( k off ) rate constants of single versus tandem CBM designs toward nanocrystalline cellulose, we employed dynamic kinetic binding assays using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation. Our results indicate that tandem CBM3a exhibited the highest adsorption rate to cellulose and displayed reversible binding to both crystalline/amorphous cellulose, unlike other CBM designs, making tandem CBM3a better suited for live plant cell wall biosynthesis imaging applications. We used several engineered CBMs to visualize Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts with regenerated cell walls using confocal laser scanning microscopy and wide‐field fluorescence microscopy. Lastly, we also demonstrated how CBMs as probe reagents can enable in situ visualization of cellulose fibrils during cell wall regeneration in Arabidopsis protoplasts.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

MACCS User Guide - Version 5.2

MACCS is used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and various national and international organizations for probabilistic consequence analysis of nuclear power accidents. This user guide is intended to assist analysts in understanding the MACCS/MACCS-UI User Interface (UI) model and to provide information regarding the code. This user guide version describes MACCS Version 5.2, model history, explains how to set up and execute a problem, and informs the user of the definition of various input parameters and any constraints placed on those parameters. This report is part of a series of reports documenting MACCS. Other reports include the MACCS Theory Manual, MACCS Verification Report, Technical Bases for Consequence Analyses Using MACCS, as well as documentation for preprocessor codes including SecPop, MelMACCS, and COMIDA2.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2013

An Overview of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Facility and the Research Performed in the MSG on the International Space Station (ISS)

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) is a rack facility aboard the International Space Station (ISS) designed for investigation handling. The MSG was built by the European Space Agency (ESA) which also provides sustaining engineering support for the facility. The MSG has been operating on the ISS since July 2002 and is currently located in the US Laboratory Module. The unique design of the facility allows it to accommodate science and technology investigations in a "workbench" type environment. The facility has an enclosed working volume that is held at a negative pressure with respect to the crew living area. This allows the facility to provide two levels of containment for small parts, particulates, fluids, and gases. This containment approach protects the crew from possible hazardous operations that take place inside the MSG work volume. Research investigations operating inside the MSG are provided a large 255 liter enclosed work space, 1000 watts of dc power via a versatile supply interface (120, 28, +/- 12, and 5 Vdc), 1000 watts of cooling capability, video and data recording and real time downlink, ground commanding capabilities, access to ISS Vacuum Exhaust and Vacuum Resource Systems, and gaseous nitrogen supply. These capabilities make the MSG one of the most utilized facilities on ISS. The MSG has been used for over 14500 hours of scientific payload operations. MSG investigations involve research in cryogenic fluid management, fluid physics, spacecraft fire safety, materials science, combustion, plant growth, and life support technology. The MSG facility is operated by the Payloads Operations Integration Center at Marshall Space flight Center. Payloads may also operate remotely from different telescience centers located in the United States and Europe. The investigative Payload Integration Manager (iPIM) is the focal to assist organizations that have payloads operating in the MSG facility. NASA provides an MSG engineering unit for payload developers to verify that their hardware is operating properly before actual operation on the ISS. This paper will provide an overview of the MSG facility, a synopsis of the research that has already been accomplished in the MSG, and an overview of video and biological upgrades.

Jordan, Lee P.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Chondrites and the Protoplanetary Disk, Part 2

Contents include the following: On the Dynamical Evolution of a Nebula and Its Effect on Dust Coagulation and the Formation of Centimeter-sized Particles. The Mineralogy and Grain Properties of the Disk Surfaces in Three Herbig Ae/Be Stars. Astrophysical Observations of Disk Evolution Around Solar Mass Stars. The Systematic Petrology of Chondrites: A Consistent Approach to Assist Classification and Interpretation. Understanding Our Origins: Formation of Sun-like Stars in H II Region Environments. Chondrule Crystallization Experiments. Formation of SiO2-rich Chondrules by Fractional Condensation. Refractory Forsterites from Murchison (CM2) and Yamato 81020 (CO3.0) Chondrites: Cathodoluminescence, Chemical Compositions and Oxygen Isotopes. Apparent I-Xe Cooling Rates of Chondrules Compared with Silicates from the Colomera Iron Meteorite. Chondrule Formation in Planetesimal Bow Shocks: Physical Processes in the Near Vicinity of the Planetesimal. Genetic Relationships Between Chondrules, Rims and Matrix. Chondrite Fractionation was Cosmochemical; Chondrule Fractionation was Geochemical. Chondrule Formation and Accretion of Chondrite Parent Bodies: Environmental Constraints. Amoeboid Olivine Aggregates from the Semarkona LL3.0 Chondrite. The Evolution of Solids in Proto-Planetary Disks. New Nickel Vapor Pressure Measurements: Possible Implications for Nebular Condensates. Chemical, Mineralogical and Isotopic Properties of Chondrules: Clues to Their Origin. Maximal Size of Chondrules in Shock-Wave Heating Model: Stripping of Liquid Surface in Hypersonic Rarefied Gas Flow. The Nature and Origin of Interplanetary Dust: High Temperature Components. Refractory Relic Components in Chondrules from Ordinary Chondrites. Constraints on the Origin of Chondrules and CAIs from Short-lived and Long-lived Radionuclides. The Genetic Relationship Between Refractory Inclusions and Chondrules. Contemporaneous Chondrule Formation Between Ordinary and Carbonaceous Chondrites. Chondrules and Isolated Grains in the Fountain Hills Bencubbinite. Implications of Chondrule Formation in a Gas of Solar Composition. Implications of Meteoritic Cl-36 Abundance for the Origin of Short-lived Radionuclides in the Early Solar System. Size Sorting and the Chondrule Size Spectrum. Comparative Study of Refractory Inclusions from Different Groups of Chondrites. In Situ Investigation of Mg Isotope Distributions in an Allende CAI by Combined LA-ICPMS and SIMS Analyses Photochemical Speciation of Oxygen Isotopes in the Solar Nebula.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Customer outcomes in Pay-As-You-Save programs

We review the energy and financial outcomes of households participating in several programs based on successive versions of the Pay As You Save¯ (PAYS¯) system. PAYS¯ programs offer non-debt financing for energy efficiency (and sometimes other technologies) in residential buildings through a tariff attached to the home’s utility meter, designed to be offset by project savings. We find that the five programs we study generally serve customers living in zip codes with levels of income and education below the national average and unemployment rates above the national average, demonstrating their potential to improve equity in energy efficiency adoption. Using weather-normalized analysis of energy consumption data, we show that most customers of Midwest Energy’s program reduce annual electricity and gas consumption, averaging 15% and 26% reductions respectively. Changes in energy consumption calculated using this method represent a combination of project effects and changes in occupant behavior. These results are similar to existing analyses of PAYS¯ programs in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee. About half of participating Midwest households generate sufficient energy cost savings to cover their monthly tariff. Various factors, including changes in occupant behavior, program error, causes independent of the customer or program, or some combination thereof may explain lower-than-expected cost reductions in some projects. Given the inherent variability in annual household electricity consumption, we feel these programs are enabling energy efficiency improvements and their attendant co-benefits, including occupant health and comfort and reduced carbon emissions, while reasonably balancing energy savings and tariff costs. Pairing PAYS¯ with additional financial assistance, as well as promoting cost-effective measures such as air and duct sealing, could further broaden program participation by enabling additional projects to meet PAYS¯ program eligibility rules.

Deason, Jeff↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska: Advancing Clean, Resilient, and Sovereign Energy (Summary Report of Communities LEAP Activities)

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska (ITKN) is a federally recognized Native American Tribe located along the Missouri River on the border of northeast Kansas and southeastern Nebraska. There are over 800 residents (Tribal citizens and non-Tribal) who live on the reservation, as well as more than 500 people who visit or work on the reservation on a daily basis. The ITKN faces many energy challenges, including rising service costs and dozens of power outages annually that impact resident well-being and business activities on Tribal lands. Power service issues are made more challenging by the remoteness of the reservation, which is 20 miles from the nearest town. Despite this, the ITKN has a long history of cultural and economic resilience: Local self-reliance, environmental stewardship, respecting the carrying capacity of the land, and strengthening the community are Tribal communities' traditional strengths. Long-term energy goals for the ITKN are centered around achieving energy sovereignty. Priority actions include: (1) Establishing a Tribal Utility Authority (TUA) to promote social welfare and community development.; (2) Deploying renewable community microgrids with ground-mount solar arrays and sustainable energy storage systems to advance energy sovereignty, resilience, and reliability. To advance these goals, the ITKN partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program) pilot. From August 2022 to March 2024, the ITKN community coalition collaborated with technical assistance providers at DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories to evaluate TUA planning needs and microgrid deployment scenarios. This final report details the Communities LEAP technical assistance process, models and analysis performed, and results.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2016

Overview of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Facility and the Research Performed in the MSG

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) is a rack facility aboard the International Space Station (ISS) designed for investigation handling. The MSG was built by the European Space Agency (ESA) which also provides sustaining engineering support for the facility. The MSG has been operating on the ISS since July 2002 and is currently located in the US Laboratory Module. The unique design of the facility allows it to accommodate science and technology investigations in a "workbench" type environment. The facility has an enclosed working volume that is held at a negative pressure with respect to the crew living area. This allows the facility to provide two levels of containment for small parts, particulates, fluids, and gases. This containment approach protects the crew from possible hazardous operations that take place inside the MSG work volume. Research investigations operating inside the MSG are provided a large 255 liter enclosed work space, 1000 watts of direct current power via a versatile supply interface (120, 28, plus or minus 12, and 5 volts direct current), 1000 watts of cooling capability, video and data recording and real time downlink, ground commanding capabilities, access to ISS Vacuum Exhaust and Vacuum Resource Systems, and gaseous nitrogen supply. These capabilities make the MSG one of the most utilized facilities on ISS. The MSG has been used for over 27,000 hours of scientific payload operations. MSG investigations involve research in cryogenic fluid management, fluid physics, spacecraft fire safety, materials science, combustion, plant growth, biological studies and life support technology. The MSG facility is operated by the Payloads Operations Integration Center at Marshall Space Flight Center. Payloads may also operate remotely from different telescience centers located in the United States and Europe. The Investigative Payload Integration Manager (IPIM) is the focal to assist organizations that have payloads operating in the MSG facility. NASA provides an MSG engineering unit for payload developers to verify that their hardware is operating properly before actual operation on the ISS. This poster will provide an overview of the MSG facility, a synopsis of the research that has already been accomplished in the MSG, and an overview of video and biological upgrades. The author would like to acknowledge Teledyne Brown Engineering and the entire MSG Team for their inputs into this poster.

Jordan, Lee↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska: Advancing Clean, Resilient, and Sovereign Energy

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska (ITKN) is a federally recognized Native American Tribe located along the Missouri River on the border of northeast Kansas and southeastern Nebraska. There are over 800 residents (Tribal citizens and non-Tribal) who live on the reservation, as well as more than 500 people who visit or work on the reservation on a daily basis. The ITKN faces many energy challenges, including rising service costs and dozens of power outages annually that impact resident well-being and business activities on Tribal lands. Power service issues are made more challenging by the remoteness of the reservation, which is 20 miles from the nearest town. Despite this, the ITKN has a long history of cultural and economic resilience: Local self-reliance, environmental stewardship, respecting the carrying capacity of the land, and strengthening the community are Tribal communities' traditional strengths. Long-term energy goals for the ITKN are centered around achieving energy sovereignty. Priority actions include: (1) Establishing a Tribal Utility Authority (TUA) to promote social welfare and community development.; (2) Deploying renewable community microgrids with ground-mount solar arrays and sustainable energy storage systems to advance energy sovereignty, resilience, and reliability. To advance these goals, the ITKN partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program) pilot. From August 2022 to March 2024, the ITKN community coalition collaborated with technical assistance providers at DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories to evaluate TUA planning needs and microgrid deployment scenarios. This fact sheet provides an overview of the results and outcomes from the Communities LEAP technical assistance process.

Communities Leap↗
NASA NTRS2014

Addressing Challenges to the Design & Test of Operational Lighting Environments for the International Space Station

In our day to day lives, the availability of light, with which to see our environment, is often taken for granted. The designers of land based lighting systems use sunlight and artificial light as their toolset. The availability of power, quantity of light sources, and variety of design options are often unlimited. The accessibility of most land based lighting systems makes it easy for the architect and engineer to verify and validate their design ideas. Failures with an implementation, while sometimes costly, can easily be addressed by renovation. Consider now, an architectural facility orbiting in space, 260 miles above the surface of the earth. This human rated architectural facility, the International Space Station (ISS) must maintain operations every day, including life support and appropriate human comforts without fail. The facility must also handle logistics of regular shipments of cargo, including new passengers. The ISS requires accommodations necessary for human control of machine systems. Additionally, the ISS is a research facility and supports investigations performed inside and outside its livable volume. Finally, the facility must support remote operations and observations by ground controllers. All of these architectural needs require a functional, safe, and even an aesthetic lighting environment. At Johnson Space Center, our Habitability and Human Factors team assists our diverse customers with their lighting environment challenges, via physical test and computer based analysis. Because of the complexity of ISS operational environment, our team has learned and developed processes that help ISS operate safely. Because of the dynamic exterior lighting environment, uses computational modeling to predict the lighting environment. The ISS' orbit exposes it to a sunrise every 90 minutes, causing work surfaces to quickly change from direct sunlight to earthshine to total darkness. Proper planning of vehicle approaches, robotics operations, and crewed Extra Vehicular Activities are mandatory to ensure safety to the crew and all others involved. Innovation in testing techniques is important as well. The advent of Solid State Lighting technology and the lack of stable national and international standards for its implementation pose new challenges on how to design, test and verify individual light fixtures and the environment that uses them. The ISS will soon be replacing its internal fluorescent lighting system to a solid state LED system. The Solid State Lighting Assembly will be used not only for general lighting, but also as a medical countermeasure to control the circadian rhythm of the crew. The new light source has performance criteria very specific to its spectral fingerprint, creating new challenges that were originally not as significant during the original design of the ISS. This presentation will showcase findings and toolsets our team is using to assist in the planning of tasks, and design of operational lighting environments on the International Space Station.

Clark, Toni A.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The Flight Track Noise Impact Model

To meet its objective of assisting the U.S. aviation industry with the technological challenges of the future, NASA must identify research areas that have the greatest potential for improving the operation of the air transportation system. To accomplish this, NASA is building an Aviation System Analysis Capability (ASAC). The Flight Track Noise Impact Model (FTNIM) has been developed as part of the ASAC. Its primary purpose is to enable users to examine the impact that quieter aircraft technologies and/or operations might have on air carrier operating efficiency at any one of 8 selected U.S. airports. The analyst selects an airport and case year for study, chooses a set of flight tracks for use in the case, and has the option of reducing the noise of the aircraft by 3, 6, or 10 decibels. Two sets of flight tracks are available for each airport: one that represents actual current conditions, including noise abatement tracks, which avoid flying over noise-sensitive areas; and a second set that offers more efficient routing. FTNIM computes the resultant noise impact and the time and distance saved for each operation on the more efficient, alternate tracks. Noise impact is characterized in three ways: the size of the noise contour footprint, the number of people living within the contours, and the number of homes located in the same contours. Distance and time savings are calculated by comparing the noise abatement flight path length to the more efficient alternate routing.

Burn, Melissa↗
DOE OSTI2020

CPAP Ventilators Needed for Rapid Response to COVID-19 by Modification of CPAP Equipment

Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, potential ventilator shortages were a critical issue identified by national health care providers. Capacity modeling at the time suggested patient demand may exceed ventilator supply. Thus, the challenge became finding an urgent interim solution to meet health care needs. Our initial hypothesis was that CPAP technology could be modified to provide similar functionality to a ventilator, relieving demand and allowing physicians to decide which patients need high end machines, ultimately saving lives. In conjunction with medical experts and pulmonologists, we were able to identify three key thrusts associated with this research problem: (1) modification of CPAP technology to allow for 02 input that would be capable of providing ventilation; (2) development of an alarming function that would provide real-time audible alarms to alert medical personnel to critical conditions, which would be used inline with CPAP technology; and (3) a method of sterilizing expiratory air from such a system in order to protect medical personnel from biohazard, since CPAPs vent to the atmosphere. We were unable to realize results for thrust 1 (CPAP modification for 02); we identified potential safety issues associated with utilizing medical grade oxygen with a common CPAP device. In order to characterize and mitigate these issues, we would need to partner closely with a device manufacturer; such a partnership could not be achieved in the timeframe needed for this rapid response work. However, we determined that some medical grade BiPAP devices do not need this modification and that the significant progress on thrusts 2 and 3 would be sufficient to buy down risk of a massive ventilator shortage. Our team built a prototype alarm system that can be utilized with any assistive respiratory device to alert on all key conditions identified by medical personnel (high pressure, low pressure, apnea, loss of power, low battery). Finally, our team made significant progress in the rapid prototyping and demonstration of an inline UV air purifier device. The device is cost efficient and can be manufactured at scale with both commercially available and additively manufactured parts. Initial tests with SARS-CoV-2 analog bacteriophage MS2 show 99% efficacy at reducing bioburden. Following a successful demonstration of the prototype device with medical personnel, we were able to obtain follow-on (non-LDRD) funding to provide additional device characterization, validation, and production in order to respond to an immediate regional need.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2004

Digital communication constraints in prior space missions

Digital communication is crucial for space endeavors. Jt transmits scientific and command data between earth stations and the spacecraft crew. It facilitates communications between astronauts, and provides live coverage during all phases of the mission. Digital communications provide ground stations and spacecraft crew precise data on the spacecraft position throughout the entire mission. Lessons learned from prior space missions are valuable for our new lunar and Mars missions set by our president s speech. These data will save our agency time and money, and set course our current developing technologies. Limitations on digital communications equipment pertaining mass, volume, data rate, frequency, antenna type and size, modulation, format, and power in the passed space missions are of particular interest. This activity is in support of ongoing communication architectural studies pertaining to robotic and human lunar exploration. The design capabilities and functionalities will depend on the space and power allocated for digital communication equipment. My contribution will be gathering these data, write a report, and present it to Communications Technology Division Staff. Antenna design is very carefully studied for each mission scenario. Currently, Phased array antennas are being developed for the lunar mission. Phased array antennas use little power, and electronically steer a beam instead of DC motors. There are 615 patches in the phased array antenna. These patches have to be modified to have high yield. 50 patches were created for testing. My part is to assist in the characterization of these patch antennas, and determine whether or not certain modifications to quartz micro-strip patch radiators result in a significant yield to warrant proceeding with repairs to the prototype 19 GHz ferroelectric reflect-array antenna. This work requires learning how to calibrate an automatic network, and mounting and testing antennas in coaxial fixtures. The purpose of this activity is to assist in the set-up of phase noise instrumentation, assist in the process of automated wire bonding, assist in the design and optimization of tunable microwave components, especially phase shifters, based on thin ferroelectric films, and learn how to use commercial electromagnetic simulation software.

Yassine, Nathan K.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multifamily Building Stock Modeling: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-17-00701

U.S. multifamily buildings house 35 million households, consuming 4 quads of source energy and spending $48 billion on utility bills every year. Almost all of these households live in urban areas, where cities are taking the lead on setting aggressive energy goals. Cities currently do not have the data and tools necessary to identify and target opportunities to save energy in their building stock. Building on the open-source, OpenStudio-based ResStock platform, this project will extend the publicly-available ResStock modeling capabilities to the multifamily sector, enabling Radiant Labs, and others, to partner with cities to market and strategically deploy cost-effective, energy efficiency (EE) upgrades directly to high-priority households. Radiant Labs has been successful in using ResStock's single-family capabilities to provide value to the City of Boulder, Colorado. However, lack of multifamily capabilities in ResStock is a roadblock for Radiant Labs working with New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and other cities that have expressed significant interest in working with them. In addition, other cities, companies, and utilities can use these open-source capabilities to grow their EE portfolios, thereby multiplying the impact of this project. This work also enables national-scale analysis of EE potential in multifamily buildings, which is of strong interest to a variety of stakeholders, including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis (EPSA), DOE Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Microgrid Conceptual Design Guidebook | 2022

This guide is meant to assist communities – from residents to energy experts to decision makers – in developing a conceptual microgrid design that meets site-specific energy resilience goals. Using the framework described in this guidebook, stakeholders can come together and start to quantify site-specific vulnerabilities, identify the most significant risks to delivery of electricity, and establish electric outage tolerances across the community. In addition to establishing minimum service needs, this framework encourages communities to consider broader sustainability goals and policy constraints and begin to estimate up-front costs associated with the installation of alternative microgrid solutions. The framework guides a community through data collection and a high-level assessment of its needs, constraints, and priorities, prior to engaging engineers, vendors, and contractors. The first sections of this guidebook provide a high-level primer on electric systems. The latter sections include guidance for step-by-step data gathering and analysis of site conditions. The ultimate product resulting from the stepwise approach is a conceptual microgrid design. A conceptual design is defined as an initial design (10%-20% complete) that considers the specific threats, needs, limitations, and investment options for a given location. Going through this exercise and developing the conceptual microgrid design as a community ensures the same community members who will ultimately live with the solution are the developers of its foundational design. Often, these are also the very same people who understand system tolerances and needs the best and are therefore the ideal candidates for establishing these criteria. Especially when it comes to evaluating critical infrastructure, it is the community that best understands the most critical services. The framework is intended to facilitate a systematic approach to planning for resilience and provide a deeper understanding of how to use a framework to make decisions around microgrid solutions. Like many processes where tradeoffs need to be considered, this is often an iterative process. If this guide serves to help educate and empower communities who are beginning the process of deploying a microgrid, it has met the goal of its authors.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗