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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 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Characterization of advanced electric propulsion systems

Characteristic parameters of several advanced electric propulsion systems are evaluated and compared. The propulsion systems studied are mass driver, rail gun, argon MPD thruster, hydrogen free radical thruster and mercury electron bombardment ion engine. Overall, ion engines have somewhat better characteristics as compared to the other electric propulsion systems.

Ray, P. K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Segmented ion thruster

Apparatus and methods for large-area, high-power ion engines comprise dividing a single engine into a combination of smaller discharge chambers (or segments) configured to operate as a single large-area engine. This segmented ion thruster (SIT) approach enables the development of 100-kW class argon ion engines for operation at a specific impulse of 10,000 s. A combination of six 30-cm diameter ion chambers operating as a single engine can process over 100 kW. Such a segmented ion engine can be operated from a single power processor unit.

Brophy, John R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A Segmented Ion-Propulsion Engine

New design approach for high-power (100-kW class or greater) ion engines conceptually divides single engine into combination of smaller discharge chambers integrated to operate as single large engine. Analogous to multicylinder automobile engine, benefits include reduction in required accelerator system span-to-gap ratio for large-area engines, reduction in required hollow-cathode emission current, mitigation of plasma-uniformity problem, increased tolerance to accelerator system faults, and reduction in vacuum-system pumping speed.

Brophy, John R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Computer controlled operation of a two-engine xenon ion propulsion system

The development and testing of a computer control system for a two-engine xenon ion propulsion module is described. The computer system controls all aspects of the propulsion module operation including: start-up, steady-state operation, throttling and shutdown of the engines; start-up, operation and shutdown of the central neutralizer subsystem; control of the gimbal system for each engine; and operation of the valves in the propellant storage and distribution system. The most important engine control algorithms are described in detail. These control algorithms provide flexibility in the operation and throttling of ion engines which has never before been possible. This flexibility is made possible in large part through the use of flow controllers which maintain the total flow rate of propellant into the engine at the proper level. Data demonstrating the throttle capabilities of the engine and control system are presented.

Brophy, John R.↗
DOE OSTI2018

ION Advanced Solvent CO 2 Capture Pilot Project

This final report to DOE/NETL presents all the work and tests performed during ION Engineering’s (ION) carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture pilot test campaign: “ION Advanced Solvent CO 2 Capture Project”. This project is comprised of three budget periods (BP): BP1 – Design of a 0.6 MWe system, BP2 – 0.5 MWe National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) Testing Campaign, and BP3 – 12 MWe Technology Center at Mongstad (TCM) Testing Campaign. The program began in October 2013 and continued until December 2017. The campaign at NCCC, which took place from June to August of 2015, resulted in 1,116 operational hours where ~350 tonnes of CO 2 were captured from the 0.5 MWe coal-fired flue gas slipstream. The follow-up campaign at TCM took place from Oct 2016 to April 2017, where 2,775 hours of operation resulted in the capture of 14,820 tonnes of CO 2 , which is a cumulative of capturing CO 2 from the natural gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, and a residue fluid catalytic cracker gas (RFCC) from Statoil at Mongstad. ION has conducted a thoughtful, comprehensive, and successful program in close collaboration with all its partners. CO 2 was successfully removed and captured for extended periods of time using three gas sources (NCCC Coal-fired Power plant, TCM CHP flue gas with and without CO 2 recycle, and TCM RFCC flue gas with air dilution) at various slipstream flows ranging from 0.5 MWe to 12 MWe. The data gathered on its solvent continues to strengthen the development of ION’s advanced solvent and positive track record in executing on-site test campaigns in highly industrialized settings. These existing pilot plants do not include the necessary process modifications that ION requires to obtain the lowest possible regeneration energy; processes such as a cold-rich bypass and intercooling, would allow for lowering the demonstrated specific reboiler duty. The resulting data was also used to validate the process model, and, in the absence of testing on a custom test rig specifically designed for ION’s advanced solvent, the results of the process model have shown specific reboiler duties under 2.5 MJ/kg CO 2 (1075 BTU/lb CO 2 ). When these regeneration energies are factored into the Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA), where ION’s technology is compared to the DOE/NETL BBS Case 12, which integrates a highly optimized and commercially available CO 2 capture technology, ION’s technology shows: 38% incremental reduction in capital cost of CO 2 capture; 28% incremental reduction in annual operating and maintenance costs of CO 2 capture; and $35-44 per tonne of CO 2 capture, which is a 20% to 40% reduction in cost of CO 2 capture. Throughout pilot testing, ION has confirmed its understanding of process improvements and analytics that will enable successful operation of its advanced solvent at significantly lower L/G circulation rates, packing heights and regeneration energies than MEA. ION has identified routes to further develop its technology and is looking forward to testing a fully optimized solvent and capture system in the near future.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
NASA NTRS1973

Power processor for a 20CM ion thruster

A power processor breadboard for the JPL 20CM Ion Engine was designed, fabricated, and tested to determine compliance with the electrical specification. The power processor breadboard used the silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) series resonant inverter as the basic power stage to process all the power to the ion engine. The breadboard power processor was integrated with the JPL 20CM ion engine and complete testing was performed. The integration tests were performed without any silicon-controlled rectifier failure. This demonstrated the ruggedness of the series resonant inverter in protecting the switching elements during arcing in the ion engine. A method of fault clearing the ion engine and returning back to normal operation without elaborate sequencing and timing control logic was evolved. In this method, the main vaporizer was turned off and the discharge current limit was reduced when an overload existed on the screen/accelerator supply. After the high voltage returned to normal, both the main vaporizer and the discharge were returned to normal.

Biess, J. J.↗