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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 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Simulating the Transport and Rupture of Pollen in the Atmosphere

Pollen, one type of primary biological aerosol particle (PBAP), is emitted from the terrestrial biosphere and can undergo physical changes in the atmosphere via particle rupture. To examine the fate of pollen and its atmospheric processing, a pollen emission and transport scheme is coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). We simulate the emission of pollen and its impacts on the cloud properties and precipitation in the Southern Great Plains from 12 to 19 April 2013, a period with both high pollen emissions and convective activity. We conduct a suite of ensemble runs that simulate primary pollen and three different pollen rupture mechanisms that generate subpollen particles, including (a) high humidity-induced surface rupture, (b) high humidity-induced in-atmosphere plus surface rupture, and (c) lightning-induced rupture, where in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes trigger pollen rupture events. When relative humidity is high (>80%), coarse primary pollen (~1 μg m –3 ) is converted into fine subpollen particles (~1.2e –4 μg m –3 ), which produces 80% more subpollen particles than lightning-induced rupture. The in-atmosphere humidity-driven rupture predominantly produces subpollen particles, which is further enhanced during a frontal thunderstorm. During strong convection, vertical updrafts lift primary pollen and subpollen particles (~0.5e –4 μg m –3 ) to the upper troposphere (~12 km) and laterally transports the ruptured pollen in the anvil top outflow. In regions of high pollen and strong convection, ruptured pollen can influence warm cloud formation by decreasing low cloud (<4 km) cloud water mixing ratios and increasing ice phase hydrometeors aloft (>10 km)

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The solubility of La hydroxide and stability of La 3+ and La hydroxyl complexes at acidic to mildly acidic pH from 25 to 250 °C

The mobility of rare earth elements (REE) in natural hydrothermal systems can be assessed using geochemical modeling, which requires reliable thermodynamic data of relevant aqueous species. In this study, we evaluate the controls of pH and temperature on La speciation and the role of hydroxyl complexes in REE transport at hydrothermal conditions. Batch-type hydrothermal solubility experiments were conducted using synthetic La hydroxide powders equilibrated in perchloric acid-based aqueous solutions at temperatures between 150 and 250 °C and starting pH of 2 to 5. The La hydroxide solubility is retrograde with temperature and displays a strong pH dependence with a decrease in La concentrations from acidic to mildly acidic pH spanning between 3 and 5 orders of magnitude (e.g. log La molality of –2.5 to –7.2 at 250 °C). Thermodynamic optimizations using GEMSFITS allow to retrieve the standard partial molal Gibbs energies for the La 3+ aqua ion and the formation constants for the La hydroxyl species (i.e., LaOH 2+ , La(OH) 2 + , La(OH) 3 0 ) between 25 and 250 °C. A comparison between the experimentally derived thermodynamic properties with the calculated values from the Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers equation of state parameters indicates an increased divergence with temperature. Discrepancies in standard partial molal Gibbs energies range between ~ 1 – 12 kJ/mol and result in a predicted La hydroxide solubility differing by up to 3 orders of magnitude at 250 °C. Speciation calculations indicate a higher stability of La 3+ and LaOH 2+ over the other La hydroxyl species in the studied pH range of 3.4 to 6. Here, the optimized thermodynamic properties for La aqueous species have important implications for modeling the solubility of REE minerals such as monazite and the mobility of REE in hydrothermal systems.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Wildfire Smoke Demonstrates Significant and Predictable Black Carbon Light Absorption Enhancements

Abstract Black carbon (BC) is estimated to have the second largest anthropogenic radiative forcing in earth‐systems models (ESMs), but there is significant uncertainty in its impact due to complex mixing with organics. Laboratory‐generated particles show that co‐mixed non‐absorbing material enhances absorption by BC by a factor of 2–3.5 as predicted by optical models. However, weak or no enhancements are often reported for field studies. The cause of lower‐than‐expected absorption is not well understood and implies a lower radiative impact of BC compared to how many ESMs currently treat aerosols. By analyzing BC aerosol particle‐by‐particle we reconcile observed and expected absorption for ambient smoke plumes varying in geographic origin, fuel types, burn conditions, atmospheric age and transport. Although particle‐by‐particle tracking is computationally prohibitive for sophisticated ESMs we show that realistic BC absorption is reliably estimated by bulk properties of the plume providing a suitable parameterization to constrain black carbon radiative forcing.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Topological quantum switch and controllable one-dimensional conducting paths in antimonene facilitated by breaking the inversion symmetry

Based on the nontrivial topology of buckled antimonene, we propose two conceptual device designs based on breaking the inversion symmetry which can be achieved by gating. The first one is a quantized topological switch obtained by breaking the degeneracy of the fractionalized charge conducting edge states, inducing a metal-insulator transition. In the second one, using local gating with different polarity in different areas, a domain wall is created at their interface, which hosts a soliton type electronic gap state in which transport could be accessed by doping and shown to be robust over a wide range of disorder.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Montepy

Montepy is an object-oriented Python interface for MCNP input files. It excels at reading, editing, creating, and writing MCNP input files. The Monte Carlo N Particle (MCNP) code is a Monte Carlo transport solver for simulating many different types of radiation problems and is developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Montepy creates an object-oriented interface for the MCNP input file to allow for efficient automated modifications to large, complex simulations.

Gale, Micah [Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idah↗
DOE OSTI2024

Large spatiotemporal variability in aerosol properties over central Argentina during the CACTI field campaign

Abstract. Few field campaigns with extensive aerosol measurements have been conducted over continental areas in the Southern Hemisphere. To address this data gap and better understand the interactions of convective clouds and the surrounding environment, extensive in situ and remote sensing measurements were collected during the Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) field campaign conducted between October 2018 and April 2019 over the Sierras de Córdoba range of central Argentina. This study describes measurements of aerosol number, size, composition, mixing state, and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) collected on the ground and from a research aircraft during 7 weeks of the campaign. Large spatial and multiday variations in aerosol number, size, composition, and CCN were observed due to transport from upwind sources controlled by mesoscale to synoptic-scale meteorological conditions. Large vertical wind shears, back trajectories, single-particle measurements, and chemical transport model predictions indicate that different types of emissions and source regions, including biogenic emissions and biomass burning from the Amazon and anthropogenic emissions from Chile and eastern Argentina, contribute to aerosols observed during CACTI. Repeated aircraft measurements near the boundary layer top reveal strong spatial and temporal variations in CCN and demonstrate that understanding the complex co-variability of aerosol properties and clouds is critical to quantify the impact of aerosol–cloud interactions. In addition to quantifying aerosol properties in this data-sparse region, these measurements will be valuable to evaluate predictions over the midlatitudes of South America and improve parameterized aerosol processes in local, regional, and global models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

P{sub N} source expansion nodal method in MPACT for boiling water reactors

This paper describes the one-node P{sub N}-Source Expansion Nodal Method (SENM) axial solver for the 2D/1D method recently implemented in MPACT to support Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) analysis. Since the BWR has a more complicated design and strong burnable absorber, the existing PN-Nodal Expansion Method (NEM) axial solver in MPACT may not be sufficient to accurately represent the intranodal flux and source profiles for BWRs. The one-node P{sub N}-SENM has been implemented in this work to reduce the axial spatial discretization error for BWRs. From numerical results, we verify that the P{sub N}-SENM can improve the accuracy of the pin power prediction, and confirm that P{sub N}-SENM can use more than a 1.5 times larger axial mesh size than P{sub N}-NEM to have similar accuracy for the BWR GE14 3D assembly problem. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Genetically manipulated chloroplast stromal phosphate levels alter photosynthetic efficiency

Abstract The concentration of inorganic phosphate (Pi) in the chloroplast stroma must be maintained within narrow limits to sustain photosynthesis and to direct the partitioning of fixed carbon. However, it is unknown if these limits or the underlying contributions of different chloroplastic Pi transporters vary throughout the photoperiod or between chloroplasts in different leaf tissues. To address these questions, we applied live Pi imaging to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) wild-type plants and 2 loss-of-function transporter mutants: triose phosphate/phosphate translocator (tpt), phosphate transporter 2;1 (pht2;1), and tpt pht2;1. Our analyses revealed that stromal Pi varies spatially and temporally, and that TPT and PHT2;1 contribute to Pi import with overlapping tissue specificities. Further, the series of progressively diminished steady-state stromal Pi levels in these mutants provided the means to examine the effects of Pi on photosynthetic efficiency without imposing nutritional deprivation. ΦPSII and nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) correlated with stromal Pi levels. However, the proton efflux activity of the ATP synthase (gH+) and the thylakoid proton motive force (pmf) were unaltered under growth conditions, but were suppressed transiently after a dark to light transition with return to wild-type levels within 2 min. These results argue against a simple substrate-level limitation of ATP synthase by depletion of stromal Pi, favoring more integrated regulatory models, which include rapid acclimation of thylakoid ATP synthase activity to reduced Pi levels.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cellular fluidics

The natural world provides many examples of multiphase transport and reaction processes that have been optimized by evolution. These phenomena take place at multiple length and time scales and typically include gas–liquid–solid interfaces and capillary phenomena in porous media. Many biological and living systems have evolved to optimize fluidic transport. However, living things are exceptionally complex and very difficult to replicate, and human-made microfluidic devices (which are typically planar and enclosed) are highly limited for multiphase process engineering. In this paper, we introduce the concept of cellular fluidics: a platform of unit-cell-based, three-dimensional structures—enabled by emerging 3D printing methods—for the deterministic control of multiphase flow, transport and reaction processes. We show that flow in these structures can be ‘programmed’ through architected design of cell type, size and relative density. We demonstrate gas–liquid transport processes such as transpiration and absorption, using evaporative cooling and CO 2 capture as examples. We design and demonstrate preferential liquid and gas transport pathways in three-dimensional cellular fluidic devices with capillary-driven and actively pumped liquid flow, and present examples of selective metallization of pre-programmed patterns. Our results show that the design and fabrication of architected cellular materials, coupled with analytical and numerical predictions of steady-state and dynamic behaviour of multiphase interfaces, provide deterministic control of fluidic transport in three dimensions. Cellular fluidics may transform the design space for spatial and temporal control of multiphase transport and reaction processes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Direct Observations of Sub-micropulse Electron-beam Effects from Short-range Wakefields in TESLA-type Superconducting RF Cavities

The preservation of the low emittance of electron beams during transport in the accelerating structures of large facilities is an ongoing challenge. In the cases of the TESLA-type superconducting rf cavities currently used in the European X-ray Free-electron Laser (FEL) and the under construction Linac Coherent Light Source upgrade (LCLS-II), off-axis beam transport may result in emittance dilution due to transverse long-range and short-range wakefields (SRW)*. To investigate such effects, experiments were performed at the Fermilab Accelerator Science and Technology (FAST) facility with its unique two-cavity configuration after the photocathode rf gun. We used optical transition radiation (OTR) imaging with a UV-visible synchroscan streak camera to display sub-micropulse y-t effects in the 41-MeV beam. The head-tail transverse kicks within the 11-ps-long micropulses were observed at the 100-micron level for steering off-axis in one cavity and several 100 microns for two cavities. Since the SRW kick angles go inversely with energy, these results may inform the commissioning plans of the LCLS-II injector where beam will be injected at ~1 MeV into a cryomodule.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

4D electrical resistivity tomography for assessing the influence of vegetation and subsurface moisture on railway cutting condition

Instability of slopes, embankments, and cuttings on the railway network is increasingly prevalent globally. Monitoring vulnerable infrastructure aids in geotechnical asset management, and improvements to transport safety and efficiency. Here, we examine the use of a novel, near-real-time Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) monitoring system for assessing the stability of a railway cutting in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. In 2015, an ERT monitoring system was installed across a relict landslide (grassed) and an area of more stable ground on either side (wooded), to monitor changes in electrical resistivity through time and space, and to assess the influence of different types of vegetation on the stability of transportation infrastructure. Two years of 4-Dimensional ERT monitoring results are presented here, and petrophysical relationships developed in the laboratory are applied to calibrate the resistivity models in order to provide an insight into hydrogeological pathways within a railway cutting. The influence of vegetation type on subsurface moisture pathways and on slope stability is also assessed – here we find that seasonal subsurface changes in moisture content and soil suction are exacerbated by the presence of trees (wooded area). This results in shrink-swell behaviour of the clays comprising the railway cutting, resulting in fissuring and a reduction in shear strength, leading to instability. As such, it is proposed that on slopes comprised of expansive soils, grassed slopes are beneficial for stability. Insights into the use of 4-D ERT for monitoring railway infrastructure gained from this study may be applied to the monitoring of critical geotechnical assets elsewhere.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantifying heat and particle flux to primary and secondary divertors for various types of edge-localized-modes

Between 15% and 30% of edge-localized-mode (ELM) heat flux can be deposited to regions outside the main divertor including the far scrape-off-layer (SOL), private flux region (PFR), and secondary divertor inner target. Analysis shown here demonstrates that type-I and small ELM plasmas are transported to the PFR and to the secondary inner divertor, which is magnetically isolated from the outer divertor, leading to well-defined heat flux profiles and with peak values that can surpass those at the secondary outer target. Such features are consistently observed for pedestal collisionalities from $ν$$^{*}_{e}$ ~1.5 to $ν$$^{*}_{e}$ ~3.9. Heat flux profiles of the examined ELM types feature rippled structures due to bursts in the outer far-SOL region but not on the secondary inner target, causing long decay lengths in the time-averaged ELM profiles. The contribution of each ELM type to the total time-averaged power deposited to the secondary divertor has been evaluated, showing that grassy ELMs contribute ~8%, small ELMs ~67%, and type-I ELMs ~85%. These findings imply that small ELMs may yet pose a concern for future machines if some regions of the main wall are not designed to withstand significant heat and particle fluxes. Due to the low intra-ELM heat flux contribution, however, the grassy ELM regime is an attractive option for an ELMing scenario in future machines.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Export of macroinvertebrate prey from tidal freshwater wetlands provides a significant energy subsidy for outmigrating juvenile salmon

Tidal freshwater wetlands linking terrestrial, riverine, and saline habitats are critical areas for material processing and exchange. Once historically widespread, herbaceous marsh and forested tidal freshwater wetlands especially are now highly degraded worldwide. Additionally, quantitative assessments of hydrology and material exchange from these systems are lacking compared to lotic and estuarine (saltmarsh) habitats. Here we investigate macroinvertebrate and energy export from tidal marsh and forested wetlands and consider potential benefits from this ecological process to endangered Pacific salmon in a large tidal freshwater system, the Columbia River (USA). Macroinvertebrate (salmon prey) concentration, water velocity, and discharge were measured at several wetland habitat types (forested swamp, emergent marsh, and restored marsh). We used these data to compute prey flux and transport metrics. Then, applying literature values to calculate prey energy equivalents and juvenile salmon metabolic requirements, we estimated the potential energy subsidy available to juvenile salmon. Numerically, larval stages of aquatic insects were the predominant type of prey exported from the wetlands, with Diptera chironomid fly abundance exceeding other groups. Energetically, however, non-chironomid dipterans and hemipteran prey comprised most of energy transport due to their higher energetic content (energy density × mean weight). We determined the prey energy transported from the sampled tidal channels was sufficient to meet energetic needs of tens to thousands of juvenile salmon per day, depending on prey production and hydrography. The prey taxonomic composition differed among organisms exiting forested swamp, emergent marsh, and restored marsh habitats with corresponding differences in energy transport, but all habitat types supported similar numbers of juvenile salmon. We conclude that macroinvertebrate prey exported from varied tidal freshwater wetlands likely provide significant benefits to juvenile salmon over a larger ecological footprint than the wetland area would suggest.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Highly Resolved Projections of Passenger Electric Vehicle Charging Loads for the Contiguous United States: Results From and Methods Behind Bottom-Up Simulations of County-Specific Household Electric Vehicle Charging Load (Hourly 8760) Profiles Projected Through 2050 for Differentiated Household and Vehicle Types

This report documents enhancements made to the TEMPO (Transportation Energy & Mobility Pathway Options TM ) model to project spatially, demographically, and temporally resolved national-scale EV charging load profiles and describes three scenarios and corresponding datasets created for the NREL demand-side grid (dsgrid) project in support of bulk power systems modeling. In brief, TEMPO was enhanced to disaggregate national and annual energy demand projections into household and county-level projections of passenger electric vehicle (EV) hourly charging load profiles (8760 profiles), accounting for consumer, travel, and temperature variations that impact EV energy demand. In alignment with NREL's forward-looking grid modeling, three scenarios for EV adoption covering 2020-2050 were created-- Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) Reference Case, Electrification Futures Study (EFS) High Electrification, and All EV Sales by 2035 --and associated datasets have been included in the dsgrid platform for public use.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Design of Neutron Microscopes Equipped with Wolter Mirror Condenser and Objective Optics for High-Fidelity Imaging and Beam Transport

We present and compare the designs of three types of neutron microscopes for high-resolution neutron imaging. Like optical microscopes, and unlike standard neutron imaging instruments, these microscopes have both condenser and image-forming objective optics. The optics are glancing-incidence axisymmetric mirrors and therefore suitable for polychromatic neutron beams. The mirrors are designed to provide a magnification of 10 to achieve a spatial resolution of better than 10 μm. The resolution of the microscopes is determined by the mirrors rather than by the L/Dratio as in conventional pinhole imaging, leading to possible dramatic improvements in the signal rate. We predict the increase in the signal rate by at least two orders of magnitude for very high-resolution imaging, which is always flux limited. Furthermore, in contrast to pinhole imaging, in the microscope, the samples are placed far from the detector to allow for a bulky sample environment without sacrificing spatial resolution.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Combining Distributed Electrochemical Measurements with a Semi-Empirical Model to Identify Local Variations in Overpotentials for PEM Water Electrolyzers

Abstract A segmented cell and PCB approach was used to demonstrate an advanced technique for measuring and understanding the electrochemical behavior of PEM water electrolyzers. By employing a semi-empirical model, discrete modes of overpotential and their spatial distributions were identified in an operating cell. Distributed area-specific resistance (DASR measurements indicate that local dehydration of the polymer electrolyte membrane is the primary driver of increased polarization, behaving similarly to mass transport-limited currents at low flow rates due to ineffective gas-phase bubble removal. To improve quantification, the overall ohmic overpotential is divided into background (η Ohm,b ) and mass transport-coupled (η Ohm,mt ) components. Two types of anode diffusion media, a baseline PTL and a thin foil liquid/gas diffusion layer (LGDL), were examined. The results show significant variations in η Ohm,b and highlight that ineffective bubble removal leads to pronounced local dehydration. The effect of cell temperature on various overpotentials was also examined. Negligible differences in diffusion overpotential were observed when comparing PEWE performance using the PTL and LGDL, despite major differences in two-phase fluid transport within each diffusion media. This underscores the critical role of the catalyst layer's micro-porous structure in diffusion processes. The study highlights the complex nature and intricacies of mass transport limitations within PEWEs.

Roy, Anirban (ORCID:0000000163803386)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Efficient and Robust p-Type Transistor Based on Ultrawide-Bandgap Semiconductor

The p-type transistor is an indispensable component of semiconductor technology, enabling a complementary operation with n-channel transistors for computation, storage, and communication. Achieving both high robustness and high efficiency is highly desirable but challenging for p-type transistors due to the limited semiconductors with reliable hole transport and their high activation energies. Here, in this study, we achieved a robust yet efficient p-type transistor by heterogeneously integrating an ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor and a high-κ dielectric layer through van der Waals integration. The p-type transistor employs a two-dimensional hole channel on hydrogenated diamond (bandgap 5.6 eV) combined with a high-κ (30.5) SrTiO 3 perovskite membrane. At room temperature, the transistor exhibits stable operation with a high on-current (∼200 mA/mm), low subthreshold swing (70 mV/dec), high hole mobility (566 cm 2 /(V·s) to 572 cm 2 /(V·s)), and high on–off ratio (∼10 9 ). Furthermore, tuning the annealing temperature allows operation in either enhancement or depletion mode. The robust p-type transistor with high efficiency holds great potential for future power electronics, ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronics, and harsh-environment electronic applications.

high-κ membrane↗
DOE OSTI2020

Mixed-Valent Copper Chalcogenides: Tuning Structures and Electronic Properties Using Multiple Anions

A series of mixed-anion copper chalcogenides have been prepared using solid-state methods including ACu 4.2 TeS 2 (A = K, Rb, Cs), which adopt the KCu 4 S 3 structure type. The mixedanion motif has an expanded sublattice, relative to KCu 4 S 3 , that can accommodate additional Cu atoms at its interstitial sites that are unoccupied in the parent structure. The variable temperature transport shows that the materials are p-type metals with carrier densities on the order of 10 21 cm -3 and room-temperature electrical conductivity as high as 4000 S cm -1 . Band structures calculated using density functional theory corroborate the experimental data and indicate that the interstitial Cu atoms lower the carrier concentration and increase the Fermi level of the materials. The layered structure has Te and S atoms occupying unique sites within the ACu 4.2 TeS 2 structure, where relatively hard S 2- anions prefer Wyckoff positions where they can form energetically favorable acid-base interactions with hard alkali cations. The phenomenon is observed in the related K 3 Cu 8 Te 2 S 4 system, which also has a fully ordered layered structure. Here, we believe that the report provides new chemical guidelines for targeting ordered multianion structures, as well as a unique method for tuning the electronic properties of metallic chalcogenides.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗