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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 NTRS1980

Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) engine study phase A, extension

The current Phase A-Extension of the OTV engine study program seeks to provide additional expander and staged combustion cycle data that will lead to design definition of the OTV engine. The proposed program effort will optimize the expander cycle engine concept (consistent with identified OTV engine requirements), investigate the feasibility of kitting the stage combustion cycle engine to provide extended low thrust operation, and conduct in-depth analysis of development risk, crew safety, and reliability for both cycles. Additional task will address costing of a 10k thrust expander cycle engine and support of OTV systems study contractors.

Sobin, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Two-phase working fluids for the temperature range of 50 to 350 deg, phase 2

Several two phase heat transfer fluids were tested in aluminum and carbon steel reflux capsules for over 25,000 hours at temperatures up to 300 C. Several fluids showed very good stability and would be useful for long duration heat transfer applications over the range 100 to 350 C. Instrumentation for the measurement of surface tension and viscosity were constructed for use with heat transfer fluids over the temperature range 0 to 300 C and with pressures from 0 to 10 atmospheres. The surface tension measuring device constructed requires less than a 1.0 cc sample and displays an accuracy of about 5 percent in preliminary tests, while the viscometer constructed for this program requires a 0.05 cc sample and shows an accuracy of about 5 percent in initial tests.

Saaski, E. W.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) engine study. Phase A: Extension

The current Phase A-Extension of the OTV engine study program aims to provide additional expander and staged combustion cycle data that will lead to design definition of the OTV engine. The proposed program effort seeks to optimize the expander cycle engine concept (consistent with identified OTV engine requirements), investigate the feasibility of kitting the staged combustion cycle engine to provide extended thrust operation, and conduct in-depth analysis of development risk, crew safety, and reliability for both cycles. Additional tasks address the costing of a 10/K thrust expander cycle engine and support of OTV systems study contractors.

Sobin, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Orbit Transfer Vehicle (OTV) engine study, phase "A" extension 2

The operation of the Advanced Expander Cycle OTV engine was evaluated at high mixture ratios, and intermediate and low thrust levels to establish the impact upon the engine design and costs, and/or operating characteristics. The engine operation was analyzed at tank head and pumped idle conditions with the nozzle extension retracted. The engine performance, weight, and envelope parametrics data were expanded to include mixture ratios of 7.5 and 8.0.

Christensen, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

NASA/BLM Applications Pilot Test (APT), phase 2. Volume 3: Technology transfer

Techniques used and materials presented at a planning session and two workshops held to provide hands-on training in the integration of quantitatively based remote sensing data are described as well as methods used to enhance understanding of approaches to inventories that integrate multiple data sources given various resource information objectives. Significant results from each of the technology transfer sessions are examined.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1983

Drop motion in a rotating immiscible liquid body

The interaction of liquids is an important part of many processes and is often used for such purposes as causing a separation of solution components by mass transfer between phases, allowing a chemical reaction between liquids or their components, providing direct contact heating or cooling, or creating emulsions. Containerless space processing may well involve the interaction of liquids in the form of drops. For example it may be desirable to form an alloy in space by merger of two or more drops. Encapsulation of a volatile liquid by a second less volatile and immiscible liquid might be a means for avoiding volatilization. Rotation of such systems would enhance mixing where desirable and/or provide means for drop management. In this study, single drop behavior in rotating liquid bodies is studied experimentally.

Annamalai, P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Charge-coupled device camera for the Galileo Jupiter Orbiter spacecraft

A slow-scan television camera called the solid-state imaging subsystem (SSI), built for the Galileo Jupiter Orbiter, is described. The SSI consists of a 1500-mm focal-length telescope coupled to a camera head housing a 800 x 800-element charge-coupled device (CCD) detector based on 'virtual-phase' charge transfer technology. The CCD detector provides broadband sensitivity over 100 times that of a comparable vidicon-tube camera, while also yielding improved resolution, linearity, geometric fidelity, and spectral range. The system noise floor is 30 electrons, which results in a dynamic range of about 3500. Saturation of the detector with 9000-A light, followed by a high-speed erasure cycle prior to exposing each image, stabilizes the detector quantum efficiency at its maximum level for wavelengths beyond 7000 A. An optical schematic diagram of the SSI is included.

Klaasen, K. P.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Capillary pumped loop GAS and Hitchhiker flight experiments

Flight experiments of a capillary pumped loop (CPL) aboard the Space Shuttle on both the Get Away Special (GAS) and Hitchhiker-G (H/H-G) carriers are described. These tests have shown that a two-phase heat transfer loop utilizing a wicking material as the system pumping mechanism can operate successfully in a zero-g environment. The CPL operating modes demonstrated were start-up, heat load sharing/natural priming, liquid inventory and temperature control via the reservoir, dryout recovery, and isolation of a single pump deprime. Also investigated were high and low power limits, and inlet subcooling requirements. In these CPL flight experiments, successful system operation was demonstrated at input power levels up to 560 watts and inlet subcooling below 2 C.

Ku, J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) transfer orbit attitude control system

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft will be launched by the Shuttle from Vandenberg AFB into a 300 km altitude, 99 deg inclination, 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. ascending node orbit. After release from the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm, an on-board monopropellant hydrazine propulsion system will raise the orbit altitude to 900 km. The spacecraft continuously spins during transfer orbit operations with the spin axis nominally horizontal and in or near the orbit plane. The blowdown propulsion system consists of twelve 5 lb thrusters (3 'spin', 3 'despin', and 6 'axial') with the latter providing initially 30 lb of force parallel to the spin axis for orbit raising. The spin/despin jets provide a constant roll rate during the transfer orbit phase of the mission and the axials control pitch and yaw. The axial thrusters are pulsed on for attitude control during coast periods and are normally on- and off-modulated for control during orbit raising. Attitude sensors employed in the control loops include an array of two-axis digital sun sensors and three planar earth scanners for position measurements, as well as six gyroscopes for rate information. System redundancy is achieved by means of unique three-axes-in-a-plane geometry. This triaxial concept results in a fail-safe operational system with no performance degradation for many different component failure modes.

Placanica, Samuel J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Verification of an analytic modeler for capillary pump loop thermal control systems

A number of computer programs have been written to model two-phase heat transfer systems for space use. These programs support the design of thermal control systems and provide a method of predicting their performance in the wide range of thermal environments of space. Predicting the performance of one such system known as the capillary pump loop (CPL) is the intent of the CPL Modeler. By modeling two developed CPL systems and comparing the results with actual test data, the CPL Modeler has proven useful in simulating CPL operation. Results of the modeling effort are discussed, together with plans for refinements to the modeler.

Schweickart, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Jet mixing in low gravity - Results of the Tank Pressure Control Experiment

The Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TPCE) is discussed with attention given to the results for controlling storage-tank pressures by forced-convective mixing in microgravitational environments. The fluid dynamics of cryogenic fluids in space is simulated with freon-113 during axial-jet-induced mixing. The experimental flow-pattern data are found to confirm previous data as well as existing mixing correlations. Thermal nonuniformities and tank pressure can be reduced by employing low-energy mixing jets which are useful for enhancing heat/mass transfer between phases. It is found that space cryogenic systems based on the principle of active mixing can be more reliable and predictable than other methods, and continuous or periodic mixing can be accomplished with only minor energy addition to the fluid.

Bentz, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Cochannel and Adjacent-Channel Interference in Nonlinear Minimum-Shift-Keyed Satellite System

The interference susceptibility of a serial-minimum-shift-keyed (SMSK) modulation system to an interfering signal transmitted through a satellite link with cascaded nonlinear elements was investigated through computer simulation. The satellite link evaluated in this study represented NASA's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) system. Specifically, nonlinear characteristics were used that had specified amplitude-modulation to amplitude-modulation and amplitude-modulation to phase-modulation transfer characteristics obtained from the actual ACTS hardware. Two measurement scenarios were analyzed: degradation of an MSK satellite link from cochannel interference and from adjacent-channel interference. Interference was evaluated in terms of the probability of bit error rate (BER) versus energy per bit over noise power density Eb/No.

Yu, John↗
NASA NTRS1996

Bubble Dynamics, Two-Phase Flow, and Boiling Heat Transfer in Microgravity

The objective of the research is to study the feasibility of employing an external force to replace the buoyancy force in order to maintain nucleate boiling in microgravity. We have found that a bulk velocity field, an electric field and an acoustic field could each play the role of the gravity field in microgravity. Nucleate boiling could be maintained by any one of the three external force fields in space.

Chung, Jacob N.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Bubble Dynamics, Two-Phase Flow, and Boiling Heat Transfer in Microgravity

This report contains two independent sections. Part one is titled "Terrestrial and Microgravity Pool Boiling Heat Transfer and Critical heat flux phenomenon in an acoustic standing wave." Terrestrial and microgravity pool boiling heat transfer experiments were performed in the presence of a standing acoustic wave from a platinum wire resistance heater using degassed FC-72 Fluorinert liquid. The sound wave was created by driving a half wavelength resonator at a frequency of 10.15 kHz. Microgravity conditions were created using the 2.1 second drop tower on the campus of Washington State University. Burnout of the heater wire, often encountered with heat flux controlled systems, was avoided by using a constant temperature controller to regulate the heater wire temperature. The amplitude of the acoustic standing wave was increased from 28 kPa to over 70 kPa and these pressure measurements were made using a hydrophone fabricated with a small piezoelectric ceramic. Cavitation incurred during experiments at higher acoustic amplitudes contributed to the vapor bubble dynamics and heat transfer. The heater wire was positioned at three different locations within the acoustic field: the acoustic node, antinode, and halfway between these locations. Complete boiling curves are presented to show how the applied acoustic field enhanced boiling heat transfer and increased critical heat flux in microgravity and terrestrial environments. Video images provide information on the interaction between the vapor bubbles and the acoustic field. Part two is titled, "Design and qualification of a microscale heater array for use in boiling heat transfer." This part is summarized herein. Boiling heat transfer is an efficient means of heat transfer because a large amount of heat can be removed from a surface using a relatively small temperature difference between the surface and the bulk liquid. However, the mechanisms that govern boiling heat transfer are not well understood. Measurements of wall temperature and heat flux near the wall would add to the database of knowledge which is necessary to understand the mechanisms of nucleate boiling. A heater array has been developed which contains 96 heater elements within a 2.5 mm square area. The temperature of each heater element is held constant by an electronic control system similar to a hot-wire anemometer. The voltage that is being applied to each heater element can be measured and digitized using a high-speed Analog to Digital (A/D) converter, and this digital information can be compiled into a series of heat-flux maps. Information for up to 10,000 heat flux maps can be obtained each second. The heater control system, the A/D system and the heater array construction are described in detail. Results are presented which show that this is an effective method of measuring the local heat flux during nucleate and transition boiling. Heat flux maps are obtained for pool boiling in FC-72 on a horizontal surface. Local heat flux variations are shown to be three to six times larger than variations in the spatially averaged heat flux.

Chung, Jacob N.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Overview of Loop Heat Pipe Operation

Loop heat pipes (LHP's) are two-phase heat transfer devices that utilize the evaporation and condensation of a working fluid to transfer heat, and the capillary forces developed in the porous wicks to circulate the fluid. The LHP was first developed in the former Soviet Union in the early 1980s, about the same time that the capillary pumped loop (CPL) was developed in the United States. The LHP is known for its high pumping capability and robust operation mainly due to the use of fine-pored metal wicks and an integral evaporator/hydro-accumulator design. The LHP technology is rapidly gaining acceptance in aerospace community. It is the baseline design for thermal control of several spacecraft, including NASA's GLAS and Chemistry, ESA's ATLID, CNES' STENTOR, RKA's OBZOR, and several commercial satellites. Numerous LHP papers have been published since the mid-1980's. Most papers presented test results and discussions on certain specific aspects of the LHP operation. LHP's and CPL's show many similarities in their operating principles and performance characteristics. However, they also display significant differences in many aspects of their operation. Some of the LHP behaviors may seem strange or mysterious, even to experienced CPL practitioners. The main purpose of this paper is to present a systematic description of the operating principles and thermal-hydraulic behaviors of LHP'S. LHP operating principles will be given first, followed by a description of the thermal-hydraulics involved in LHP operation. Operating characteristics and important parameters affecting the LHP operation will then be described in detail. Peculiar behaviors of the LHP, including temperature hysteresis and temperature overshoot during start-up, will be explained. For simplicity, most discussions will focus upon LHP's with a single evaporator and a single condenser, but devices with multiple evaporators and condensers will also be discussed. Similarities and differences between LHP's and CPL's will be addressed throughout the paper whenever appropriate.

Ku, Jentung↗
NASA NTRS2000

Clock Technology Development in the Laser Cooling and Atomic Physics (LCAP) Program

This paper presents the Laser Cooling and Atomic Physics (LCAP) program. It focuses on clock technology development. The topics include: 1) Overview of LCAP Flight Projects; 2) Space Clock 101; 3) Physics with Clocks in microgravity; 4) Space Clock Challenges; 5) LCAP Timeline; 6) International Space Station (ISS) Science Platforms; 7) ISS Express Rack; 8) Space Qualification of Components; 9) Laser Configuration; 10) Clock Rate Comparisons: GPS Carrier Phase Frequency Transfer; and 11) ISS Model Views. This paper is presented in viewgraph form.

Seidel, Dave↗
NASA NTRS2000

Temperature Oscillations in Loop Heat Pipe Operation

Loop heat pipes (LHPs) are versatile two-phase heat transfer devices that have gained increasing acceptance for space and terrestrial applications. The operating temperature of an LHP is a function of its operating conditions. The LHP usually reaches a steady operating temperature for a given heat load and sink temperature. The operating temperature will change when the heat load and/or the sink temperature changes, but eventually reaches another steady state in most cases. Under certain conditions, however, the loop operating temperature never really reaches a true steady state, but instead becomes oscillatory. This paper discusses the temperature oscillation phenomenon using test data from a miniature LHP.

Ku, Jentung↗
NASA NTRS1999

Constrained Vapor Bubble

The nonisothermal Constrained Vapor Bubble, CVB, is being studied to enhance the understanding of passive systems controlled by interfacial phenomena. The study is multifaceted: 1) it is a basic scientific study in interfacial phenomena, fluid physics and thermodynamics; 2) it is a basic study in thermal transport; and 3) it is a study of a heat exchanger. The research is synergistic in that CVB research requires a microgravity environment and the space program needs thermal control systems like the CVB. Ground based studies are being done as a precursor to flight experiment. The results demonstrate that experimental techniques for the direct measurement of the fundamental operating parameters (temperature, pressure, and interfacial curvature fields) have been developed. Fluid flow and change-of-phase heat transfer are a function of the temperature field and the vapor bubble shape, which can be measured using an Image Analyzing Interferometer. The CVB for a microgravity environment, has various thin film regions that are of both basic and applied interest. Generically, a CVB is formed by underfilling an evacuated enclosure with a liquid. Classification depends on shape and Bond number. The specific CVB discussed herein was formed in a fused silica cell with inside dimensions of 3x3x40 mm and, therefore, can be viewed as a large version of a micro heat pipe. Since the dimensions are relatively large for a passive system, most of the liquid flow occurs under a small capillary pressure difference. Therefore, we can classify the discussed system as a low capillary pressure system. The studies discussed herein were done in a 1-g environment (Bond Number = 3.6) to obtain experience to design a microgravity experiment for a future NASA flight where low capillary pressure systems should prove more useful. The flight experiment is tentatively scheduled for the year 2000. The SCR was passed on September 16, 1997. The RDR is tentatively scheduled for October, 1998.

Huang, J.↗