SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “CO2 Transport”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2014

Airborne 2-Micron Double-Pulsed Integrated Path Differential Absorption Lidar for Column CO2 Measurement

Double-pulse 2-micron lasers have been demonstrated with energy as high as 600 millijouls and up to 10 Hz repetition rate. The two laser pulses are separated by 200 microseconds and can be tuned and locked separately. Applying double-pulse laser in DIAL system enhances the CO2 measurement capability by increasing the overlap of the sampled volume between the on-line and off-line. To avoid detection complicity, integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar provides higher signal-to-noise ratio measurement compared to conventional range-resolved DIAL. Rather than weak atmospheric scattering returns, IPDA rely on the much stronger hard target returns that is best suited for airborne platforms. In addition, the IPDA technique measures the total integrated column content from the instrument to the hard target but with weighting that can be tuned by the transmitter. Therefore, the transmitter could be tuned to weight the column measurement to the surface for optimum CO2 interaction studies or up to the free troposphere for optimum transport studies. Currently, NASA LaRC is developing and integrating a double-Pulsed 2-micron direct detection IPDA lidar for CO2 column measurement from an airborne platform. The presentation will describe the development of the 2-micron IPDA lidar system and present the airborne measurement of column CO2 and will compare to in-situ measurement for various ground target of different reflectivity.

Singh, Upendra N.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Global Analysis, Interpretation, and Modelling: First Science Conference

Topics considered include: Biomass of termites and their emissions of methane and carbon dioxide - A global database; Carbon isotope discrimination during photosynthesis and the isotope ratio of respired CO2 in boreal forest ecosystems; Estimation of methane emission from rice paddies in mainland China; Climate and nitrogen controls on the geography and timescales of terrestrial biogeochemical cycling; Potential role of vegetation feedback in the climate sensitivity of high-latitude regions - A case study at 6000 years B.P.; Interannual variation of carbon exchange fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems; and Variations in modeled atmospheric transport of carbon dioxide and the consequences for CO2 inversions.

Sahagian, Dork↗

NASA NTRS2020

Atmospheric Carbon Cycle Dynamics Over the Above Domain: an Integrated Analysis Using Aircraft Observations (Arctic-CA) and Model Simulations (GEOS)

The Arctic Carbon Atmospheric Profiles (Arctic-CAP) project conducted six airborne surveys of Alaska and northwestern Canada between April and November 2017 to capture the spatial and temporal gradients of northern high-latitude carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) as part of NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). The Arctic-CAP sampling strategy involved acquiring vertical profiles of CO2, CH4 and CO from the surface to 5 km altitude at 25 sites around the ABoVE domain on a 4- to 6-week time interval. We observed vertical gradients of CO2, CH4 and CO that vary by eco-region and duration of the sampling period, which spanned the majority of the seasonal cycle. All Arctic-CAP measurements were compared to a global simulation using the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) modeling system. Comparisons with GEOS simulations of atmospheric CO2, CH4 and CO highlight the potential of these multi-species observations to inform improvements in surface flux estimates and the representation of atmospheric transport. GEOS simulations provide estimates of the near surface average CO2 and CH4 enhancements that are well correlated with aircraft observations (R=0.74 and R=0.60 respectively), suggesting that GEOS has reasonable fidelity over this complex and heterogeneous region. This model-data comparison over the ABoVE domain reveals that while current state-of-the-art models and flux estimates are able to capture broadscale spatial and temporal patterns in near-surface CO2 and CH4 concentrations, more work is needed to resolve fine-scale flux features that are observed. The study also provides a framework for benchmarking a global model at regional scales, which is needed to use climate models as tools to investigate high-latitude carbon-climate feedbacks.

C Sweeney↗

DOE OSTI2023

Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide Using Nickel Hydroxide Batteries in a Membrane Electrode Assembly

Direct air capture (DAC) is a growing field responding to the need to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Several technologies are being developed today attempting to meet this need. The technology furthest in development are temperature swing adsorption technologies which have recently moved out of the pilot plant scale.1 This presentation looks to present an electrochemical device as alternative to these technologies. The electrochemical device proposed is a pair of nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) battery electrodes which produce hydroxide (OH-). The hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide (CO2) to create carbonate (CO32-) and bicarbonate (HCO3-). These carbonates can be transported from the cathode across an anion exchange membrane to the anode where they are evolved back into CO2 due to a pH reduction at the anode. This builds on work that optimized a Hydroxide Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (HEMFC) for CO2 capture, showing the efficacy of an electrochemically mediated pH swing carbon capture device.2,3 The benefit of the nickel hydroxide battery approach is the low energy cost associated with separation. Because a pair of nickel hydroxide batteries undergo the same electrochemical reaction, low potentials, and thus low energy cost is required. Experiments have shown device level energy requirements of less than 1 MWh ton-1CO2. Most of the energy required by the device produces the pH gradient used to capture and release CO2. The biggest hurdle for this electrochemical approach is increasing the flux of CO2 to allow for more compact devices. Strategies for managing the transient charge and discharge behavior of the battery system will be discussed. Focus will be on improving flux to reduce the overall cost of the device.

Buchen, James↗

NASA NTRS2020

Impact of a Regional US Drought on Land and Atmospheric Carbon

The impacts of drought on regional land and atmospheric carbon are still poorly understood. Here we quantify the impact of a regional US drought on land carbon fluxes (Gross Primary Production, or GPP, and Net Biosphere Production, or NBP) and atmospheric carbon (CO2) by imposing an idealized 3-month meteorological drought in an ensemble of coupled land-atmosphere climate simulations. The imposed drought, applied to the lower Mississippi River Valley (~500,000 km (exp 2)), leads to a 23% GPP reduction in the drought area in the month immediately following the drought’s termination. The drought also caused GPP reductions in some remote areas through drought-induced impacts on remote meteorology, particularly the areas adjacent to the imposed drought. In the remote areas, the induced precipitation changes are responsible for most of the anomalous land productivity. The impact of the drought-induced meteorological anomalies on GPP is greater than that of the CO2 anomalies by at least an order of magnitude. While their impact on GPP is secondary, the drought-induced atmospheric CO2 anomalies near the land surface can be as large as 3.57ppm. The significant CO2 anomalies cover an area up to three times of that of the imposed drought, suggesting that atmospheric transport needs to be considered in the interpretation of drought-induced CO2 anomalies in the atmosphere. The imposed drought also leads to column-averaged CO2 increases of up to 0.78ppm, which is at the edge of the uncertainty from single soundings of current greenhouse gas (GHG) observing satellites.

Eunjee Lee↗

NASA NTRS1996

Interacting effects of photoperiod and photosynthetic photon flux on net carbon assimilation and starch accumulation in potato leaves

The effect of photoperiod (PP) on net carbon assimilation rate (Anet) and starch accumulation in newly mature canopy leaves of 'Norland' potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) was determined under high (412 varies as mol m-2s-1) and low (263 varies as mol m-2s-1) photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) conditions. The Anet decreased from 13.9 to 11.6 and 9.3 micromoles m-2s-1, and leaf starch increased from 70 to 129 and 118 mg g-1 drymass (DM) as photoperiod (PP) was increased from 12/12 to 18/6, and 24/0, respectively. Longer PP had a greater effect with high PPF conditions than with low PPF treatments, with high PPF showing greater decline in Anet. Photoperiod did not affect either the CO2 compensation point (50 micromoles mol-1) or CO2 saturation point (1100-1200 micromoles mol-1) for Anet. These results show an apparent limit to the amount of starch that can be stored (approximately 15% DM) in potato leaves. An apparent feedback mechanism exists for regulating Anet under high PPF, high CO2, and long PP, but there was no correlation between Anet and starch concentration in individual leaves. This suggests that maximum Anet cannot be sustained with elevated CO2 conditions under long PP (> or = 12 hours) and high PPF conditions. If a physiological limit exists for the fixation and transport of carbon,then increasing photoperiod and light intensity under high CO2 conditions is not the most appropriate means to maximize the yield of potatoes.

NASA Discipline Number 61-20↗

DOE OSTI2024

Blade and Rim Seal Design of a First Stage High Pressure Turbine for a 300 MWe Supercritical CO2 Power Cycle

A first stage high-pressure turbine (HPT) blade is optimized for a 300 MWe supercritical CO2 (sCO2) power cycle using the surrogate-assisted genetic algorithm optimizer in Numeca FINE/Design 3D with objectives of increasing efficiency and decreasing heat load to the blade. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database (NIST REFPROP) [1] data for supercritical CO2 is formatted into tables of bicubic polynomial coefficients for use in condensable gas simulations in FINE/Turbo. Nearly 3000 unique shapes are evaluated via three-dimensional Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes simulations, yielding increases in efficiency of up to 0.85 percentage points and decreases in heat load of 14%. A final blade, deemed the advanced blade, is chosen for future experimental analysis. Following this, a squealer tip optimization is performed on both the baseline and advanced blade designs. This optimization resulted in a performance gain of 1.25 points in efficiency and 15% reduction in tip heat load compared to the baseline flat tip design at the same clearance. In tandem, an optimization of the rotor-stator platform rim seal is performed using a parametrized geometry allowing for straight, meandering, and knife seal cavities. This multi-objective optimization focuses on decreasing the cooling mass flow and increasing the heat flux from the rotor and stator disk. The optimization resulted in cooling mass flow decreases of up to 26% while maintaining the average heat flux on the rim seal.

Tuite, Logan↗

DOE OSTI2021

Spatial distributions of X CO 2 seasonal cycle amplitude and phase over northern high-latitude regions

Satellite-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) provide measurements in remote regions, such as the biologically sensitive but undersampled northern high latitudes, and are progressing toward true global data coverage. Recent improvements in satellite retrievals of total column-averaged dry air mole fractions of CO 2 (X CO 2 ) from the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) have allowed for unprecedented data coverage of northern high-latitude regions, while maintaining acceptable accuracy and consistency relative to ground-based observations, and finally providing sufficient data in spring and autumn for analysis of satellite-observed X CO 2 seasonal cycles across a majority of terrestrial northern high-latitude regions. Here, we present an analysis of X CO 2 seasonal cycles calculated from OCO-2 data for temperate, boreal, and tundra regions, subdivided into 5° latitude by 20° longitude zones. We quantify the seasonal cycle amplitudes (SCAs) and the annual half drawdown day (HDD). OCO-2 SCAs are in good agreement with ground-based observations at five high-latitude sites, and OCO-2 SCAs show very close agreement with SCAs calculated for model estimates of X CO 2 from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Services (CAMS) global inversion-optimized greenhouse gas flux model v19r1 and the CarbonTracker2019 model (CT2019B). Model estimates of X CO 2 from the GEOS-Chem CO 2 simulation version 12.7.2 with underlying biospheric fluxes from CarbonTracker2019 (GC-CT2019) yield SCAs of larger magnitude and spread over a larger range than those from CAMS, CT2019B, or OCO-2; however, GC-CT2019 SCAs still exhibit a very similar spatial distribution across northern high-latitude regions to that from CAMS, CT2019B, and OCO-2. Zones in the Asian boreal forest were found to have exceptionally large SCA and early HDD, and both OCO-2 data and model estimates yield a distinct longitudinal gradient of increasing SCA from west to east across the Eurasian continent. In northern high-latitude regions, spanning latitudes from 47 to 72° N, longitudinal gradients in both SCA and HDD are at least as pronounced as latitudinal gradients, suggesting a role for global atmospheric transport patterns in defining spatial distributions of X CO2 seasonality across these regions. GEOS-Chem surface contact tracers show that the largest X CO 2 SCAs occur in areas with the greatest contact with land surfaces, integrated over 15–30d. The correlation of X CO 2 SCA with these land surface contact tracers is stronger than the correlation of X CO 2 SCA with the SCA of CO 2 fluxes or the total annual CO 2 flux within each 5° latitude by 20° longitude zone. This indicates that accumulation of terrestrial CO 2 flux during atmospheric transport is a major driver of regional variations in X CO 2 SCA.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Anion exchange membranes: The effect of reinforcement in water and electrolyte

Alkaline anion-conducting polymer-based CO 2 electrolysis and water electrolysis are among two emerging renewable energy conversion technologies. Their system design and integration offer promise of lower capital cost due to utilization of low-cost catalysts, in contrast to platinum group metal catalysts required for cation-conducting polymer-based devices. However, a critical component, the polymer electrolyte membrane, remains an obstacle hampering system performance and durability. In this study, commercially-available Sustainion® membranes with and without PTFE-reinforcement were investigated to understand previously unreported origins of improved device performance when compared to alternative membrane chemistries. We report critical membrane properties, such as morphology, thermal stability, as well as temperature-, hydration-, and counter-ion dependent ion conductivity. Moveover, the changes in uptake and conductivity of membranes in supporting electrolytes of K 2 CO 3 and KOH investigated as a function of their concentration. Presence of reinforcement and supporting electrolyte type alter the membrane's transport functionality, which could help guide device design for improved performance. In conclusion, the obtained results not only show how Sustainion® properties change with operating environment for CO 2 and water electrolysis applications, but also provide understanding for internal and external factors controlling anion-exhcnage membrane functionality in electrochemical devices.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2022

A Rapid Method for Detecting Normal or Modified Plant and Algal Carbonic Anhydrase Activity Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In recent years, researchers have attempted to improve photosynthesis by introducing components from cyanobacterial and algal CO2-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) into terrestrial C3 plants. For these attempts to succeed, we need to understand the CCM components in more detail, especially carbonic anhydrase (CA) and bicarbonate (HCO3−) transporters. Heterologous complementation systems capable of detecting carbonic anhydrase activity (i.e., catalysis of the pH-dependent interconversion between CO2 and HCO3−) or active HCO3− transport can be of great value in the process of introducing CCM components into terrestrial C3 plants. In this study, we generated a Saccharomyces cerevisiae CA knock-out (ΔNCE103 or ΔCA) that has a high-CO2-dependent phenotype (5% (v/v) CO2 in air). CAs produce HCO3− for anaplerotic pathways in S. cerevisiae; therefore, the unavailability of HCO3− for neutral lipid biosynthesis is a limitation for the growth of ΔCA in ambient levels of CO2 (0.04% (v/v) CO2 in air). ΔCA can be complemented for growth at ambient levels of CO2 by expressing a CA from human red blood cells. ΔCA was also successfully complemented for growth at ambient levels of CO2 through the expression of CAs from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Arabidopsis thaliana. The ΔCA strain is also useful for investigating the activity of modified CAs, allowing for quick screening of modified CAs before putting them into the plants. CA activity in the complemented ΔCA strains can be probed using the Wilbur–Anderson assay and by isotope exchange membrane-inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS). Other potential uses for this new ΔCA-based screening system are also discussed.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

Southeast Regional CO 2 Utilization and Storage Acceleration Partnership (SECARB-USA): Risk Inventory for Commercial Storage Projects

The “Southeast Regional CO2 Utilization and Storage Acceleration Partnership” (SECARB USA) project supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Odice of Fossil Energy's (FE) mission to help the United States meet its need for secure, adordable, and environmentally sound fossil energy supplies by utilizing the advancements made since 2003 by the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (RCSP) Initiative to continue to identify and address knowledge gaps. The SECARB-USA regional initiative encompasses the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and portions of Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia as noted in Figure 1. The primary objective of the project is to identify and address regional onshore storage and transport challenges facing commercial deployment of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS1986

Volatile solubities in magmas - Transport of volatiles from mantles to planet surfaces

The solubility of CO2, CO, CH4, H2, and H2O in melts of NaAlSi3O8 composition was measured at the mantle conditions of pressure (10-20 Kb) and temperature (1200 C). The melt volatiles were found to have dramatically lower H2/H2O and higher CO/CO2 ratios than the fluid, due to large variations in relative solubilities of volatile species in the melt. Partial melting of source regions of either high or low oxygen fugacity (fO2) will result in magmas with intermediate fO2. This means that volcanic gases can be either more, or less reducing than their source regions and that a volcanic gas composition cannot be used to directly estimate either the fO2 or the volatile composition of the source region. The results suggest that volcanic gases will usually lie in the 'neutral' range, with the fO2 values near those of the quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer. These gases are predominately H2O with minor CO2, CO, CH4, and H2. These conclusions should apply to earth, Mars, and Venus mantles, in which the magmas produced by partial melting have moderate silica contents, but will probably not apply to very low silica magmas, such as kimberlites, because of the very high solubility of CO2 in those magmas.

Holloway, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Overview of Carbon Dioxide Control Issues During International Space Station/Space Shuttle Joint Docked Operations

Crewed space vehicles have a common requirement to remove the carbon dioxide (CO2) created by the metabolic processes of the crew. The space shuttle [Space Transportation System (STS)] and International Space Station (ISS) each have systems in place that allow control and removal of CO2 from the habitable cabin environment. During periods in which the space shuttle is docked to the ISS, known as "joint docked operations," the space shuttle and ISS share a common atmosphere environment. During this period, an elevated amount of CO2 is produced through the combined metabolic activity of the STS and ISS crews. This elevated CO2 production, together with the large effective atmosphere created by collective volumes of the docked vehicles, creates a unique set of requirements for CO2 removal. This paper will describe individual CO2 control plans implemented by STS and ISS engineering teams, as well as the integrated plans used when both vehicles are docked. The paper will also discuss some of the issues and anomalies experienced by both engineering teams.

Matty, Christopher M.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Analyzing Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions in California Using Airborne Measurements and Model Simulations

Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations have increased over the past decades and are linked to global temperature increases and climate change. These changes in climate have been suggested to have varying effects, and uncertain consequences, on agriculture, water supply, weather, sea-level rise, the economy, and energy. To counteract the trend of increasing atmospheric concentrations of GHGs, the state of California has passed the California Global Warming Act of 2006 (AB-32). This requires that by the year 2020, GHG (e.g., carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)) emissions will be reduced to 1990 levels. To quantify GHG fluxes, emission inventories are routinely compiled for the State of California (e.g., CH4 emissions from the California Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement (CALGEM) Project). The major sources of CO2 and CH4 in the state of California are: transportation, electricity production, oil and gas extraction, cement plants, agriculture, landfills/waste, livestock, and wetlands. However, uncertainties remain in these emission inventories because many factors contributing to these processes are poorly quantified. To alleviate these uncertainties, a synergistic approach of applying air-borne measurements and chemical transport modeling (CTM) efforts to provide a method of quantifying local and regional GHG emissions will be performed during this study. Additionally, in order to further understand the temporal and spatial distributions of GHG fluxes in California and the impact these species have on regional climate, CTM simulations of daily variations and seasonality of total column CO2 and CH4 will be analyzed. To assess the magnitude and spatial variation of GHG emissions and to identify local “hot spots”, airborne measurements of CH4 and CO2 were made by the Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) over the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) and San Joaquin Valley (SJV) in January and February 2013 during the Discover-AQ-CA study. High mixing ratios of GHGs were observed in-flight with a high degree of spatial variability. To provide an additional method to quantify GHG emissions, and analyze AJAX measurement data, the GEOS-Chem CTM is used to simulate SFBA/SJV GHG measurements. A nested-grid version of GEOS-Chem will be applied and utilizes varying emission inventories and model parameterizations to simulate GHG fluxes/emissions. The model considers CO2 fluxes from fossil fuel use, biomass/biofuel burning, terrestrial and oceanic biosphere exchanges, shipping and aviation, and production from the oxidation of carbon monoxide, CH4, and non-methane volatile organic carbons. The major sources of CH4 simulated in GEOS-Chem are domesticated animals, rice fields, natural gas leakage, natural gas venting/flaring (oil production), coal mining, wetlands, and biomass burning. Preliminary results from the comparison between available observations (e.g., AJAX and CALGEM CH4 emission maps) and GEOS-Chem results will be presented, along with a discussion of CO2 and CH4 source apportionment and the use of the GEOS-Chem-adjoint to perform inverse GHG modeling.

Johnson, Matthew S.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Amine-Containing Membranes with Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for CO2/H2 Separation

Amine-containing mixed-matrix membranes incorporated with amino-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (AF-MWNTs) were synthesized for CO2/H2 separation based on the facilitated transport mechanism. AF-MWNTs were chosen primarily as the mechanical reinforcing filler to enhance the membrane stability. At 107 °C and 0.2-MPa feed pressure, the membrane incorporated with 10 wt.% AF-MWNTs showed a CO2 permeability of 3196 Barrers and a CO2/H2 selectivity of 205. At the higher feed pressure of 1.5 MPa, owing to the carrier saturation phenomenon, the same membrane exhibited reduced transport performance with a CO2 permeability of 776 Barrers and a CO2/H2 selectivity of 31. These separation performances at both the low and high feed pressures were well above the theoretical upper bound. Furthermore, the incorporation of 10 wt.% AF-MWNTs led to a significant improvement on membrane stability. The transport performance and selective layer thickness of this membrane maintained for 100 h, which suggested that the incorporation of AF-MWNTs improved the resistance to membrane compaction upon a high feed pressure. Therefore, this work is considered as one of the crucial steps to enable the application of facilitated transport membranes to high-pressure gas processing such as syngas purification.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2006

Using CO2:CO Correlations to Improve Inverse Analyses of Carbon Fluxes

Observed correlations between atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CO represent potentially powerful information for improving CO2 surface flux estimates through coupled CO2-CO inverse analyses. We explore the value of these correlations in improving estimates of regional CO2 fluxes in east Asia by using aircraft observations of CO2 and CO from the TRACE-P campaign over the NW Pacific in March 2001. Our inverse model uses regional CO2 and CO surface fluxes as the state vector, separating biospheric and combustion contributions to CO2. CO2-CO error correlation coefficients are included in the inversion as off-diagonal entries in the a priori and observation error covariance matrices. We derive error correlations in a priori combustion source estimates of CO2 and CO by propagating error estimates of fuel consumption rates and emission factors. However, we find that these correlations are weak because CO source uncertainties are mostly determined by emission factors. Observed correlations between atmospheric CO2 and CO concentrations imply corresponding error correlations in the chemical transport model used as the forward model for the inversion. These error correlations in excess of 0.7, as derived from the TRACE-P data, enable a coupled CO2-CO inversion to achieve significant improvement over a CO2-only inversion for quantifying regional fluxes of CO2.

Palmer, Paul I.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Advances and challenges in CO2 foam technologies for enhanced oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs

Utilization of surfactants for generating foam has the potential for fluid-mobility control during CO2 flooding processes, leading to improved oil recovery. This manuscript is a review of the most important aspects for the design of CO2-foams with mobility control in carbonate reservoirs, including recent advances in novel surfactants and analytical techniques for analysis of surfactant adsorption on carbonate minerals and their thermal stability. Several key parameters and properties regarding foam transport in porous media are reviewed such as, the minimum pressure gradient required for foam generation, the effects of the partition coefficient of a CO2-soluble surfactant on foam transport in rock cores, visualization of foam flow by either microfluidic or PET/CT imaging processes in heterogeneous or fractured systems and the effect of oil on foam transport under reservoir conditions. Also are discussed the most recent advances of two major foam modeling methods, including the semi-empirical STARS foam model and the population balance model, as well as CO2 foam pilot tests and the factors governing their successes.

Jian, Guoqing↗

NASA NTRS1992

Variable oxygen airglow on Venus as a probe of atmospheric dynamics

High-resolution images are presented of an oxygen airglow that arises during downwelling at an altitude of about 95 km on the nightside of Venus. Oxygen atoms are formed by photolysis of CO2 on the sunlit hemisphere and are then transported to the nightside, where they recombine during descent. The newly formed molecular oxygen emits radiation to produce the airglow. Localized, short-lived regions of emission and neighboring dark areas are observed, demonstrating the potential of such observations to constrain atmospheric dynamics at this little-studied and important altitude in the Venusian mesosphere.

Allen, David↗