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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 NTRS2019

An Overview of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) Mission

A critical goal to both science and exploration is to understand the form and location of lunar polar volatiles. The lateral and vertical distributions of these volatiles inform us of the processes that control the emplacement and retention of these volatiles, as well as helping to formulate in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) architectures. While significant progress has been made from orbital observations, measurements at a range of scales from centimeters to kilometers across the lunar surface are needed to generate adequate "volatile mineral models" for use in evaluating the resource potential of volatiles at the Moon. VIPER is a solar and battery powered rover mission designed to operate over multiple lunar days, traversing several kilometers as it continuously monitors for subsurface hydrogen and other surface volatiles. In specific thermal terrain types, including permanently shadowed terrain and locales that permit near-surface ice stability, subsurface samples will be examined for volatile content using a one-meter drill. This talk will provide an overview of the VIPER mission which is scheduled for flight to the Lunar South Pole in December 2022.

Colaprete, Anthony↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

VIPER – Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover: Mission Overview

VIPER is a low cost, lunar volatiles detection and measurement mission that will be delivered to the lunar south pole by one of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services partners and will characterize the nature of the volatiles in the area and extrapolate this data to create global lunar water resource maps. It will be the first mining expedition on another world while simultaneously addressing fundamental planetary science questions. Prospecting for lunar water at the poles is the next step in understanding the resource potential and addressing key theories about water emplacement and retention. It now appears that potentially economically significant amounts of water ice exists at the poles of the Moon, however, the distribution of this water is still not understood at a level sufficient to fully evaluate economic models. The water ice (and other potential volatiles), the “ore body”, needs to be understood at the scales of 10s to 100s of meters to evaluate localization, extraction and processing techniques. To accomplish this, VIPER will survey permanently-shadowed regions, semi-permanent shadowed regions, and even semi and full sunlit areas in order to have a comprehensive survey of polar region volatiles, to best inform future mission architectures. In order to characterize the volatiles, a payload suite consisting of a neutron spectrometer, mass spectrometer, near infrared spectrometer and a 1-meter drill will be hosted on the VIPER mobile lunar rover platform. Since VIPER is a relatively low cost, schedule-constrained, risk-tolerant mission, there are architectural limitations that require unique mission planning constraints to enable exploration of the lunar south pole region. These regions offer unique challenges such as uncertain terrain conditions, rock and crater hazards, lunar dust, multipath communications effects, extreme thermal environments and multiple overlapping planning constraints. Mission design/traverse planning, system design capabilities and mission operations are all highly linked through initial development phases. We will describe the current mission overview and the unique approaches taken by the VIPER project based on our programmatic framework and unique mission environment.

VIPER↗
NASA NTRS1992

Lunar Base Siting

There are widely dispersed lunar sites of interest for known and potential resources, selenology and observatories. Discriminating characteristics include certain geologic and topographic features, local mineralogy and petrology, solar illumination, view of Earth and the celestrial sphere, and soil engineering properties.

Lunar↗
NASA NTRS2018

Optical and Mechanical Designs of the Multi-band SWIR Receiver for the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat Mission

Mapping and quantifying lunar water ice addresses one of NASA’s Strategic Knowledge Gaps to understand the lunar resource potential for future human exploration of the Moon. Lunar Flashlight is an innovative NASA CubeSat mission dedicated to mapping water ice in the permanently-shadowed and occasionally-sunlit regions in the vicinity of the lunar South Pole. Lunar Flashlight will acquire these measurements from lunar orbit using a multi-band laser reflectometer composed of an optical receiver aligned with four lasers emitting different wavelengths in the shortwave infrared spectral region between 1 µm and 2 µm. The receiver measures the laser radiance reflected from the lunar surface in each spectral band and continuum/absorption reflectance band ratios are then analyzed to quantify water ice concentration in the illuminated spot. The receiver utilizes a 70×70-mm, aluminum, off-axis paraboloidal mirror with a focal length of 70 mm, which collects the incoming light onto a single, 2 mm diameter InGaAs detector with a cutoff wavelength of 2.4 µm. We present the optical and mechanical designs of the receiver, including its optimization for rejection of solar stray-light from outside its intended field of view. This highly mass- and volume-constrained instrument payload will demonstrate several firsts, including being one of the first instruments onboard a CubeSat performing science measurements beyond low Earth orbit and the first planetary mission to use multi-band active reflectometry from orbit.

Sellar, R. Glenn↗
DOE OSTI2021

Combined Structural Analysis of Core and Image Log of TGH 76-31 South East of Mt Baker, Washington State

Despite active volcanism, few geothermal energy resources have been developed in the Cascades Range. Temperature Gradient Hole 76-31 was drilled to ~440 m measured depth to probe for zones where fractures provide fluid conduits that transport deep volcanic heat to shallow depths that could support baseload, carbon neutral electrical generation. These zones were predicted by a Play Fairway assessment (PFA) of resource potential along a zone 11 km west-southwest of the summit of Mount Baker Volcano. Rock core, temperature logs, and an acoustic image log were obtained. By comparison to outcrops, the core has been initially interpreted as the Chilliwack group comprised of partially metamorphosed basaltic to andesitic volcanics. Core mapping reveals complex, steeply dipping networks of fractures and brecciation along slickensided strike slip faults; clay alteration is common in many of these structures. The majority of fractures are thoroughly healed by layers of chlorite and calcite; preservation of pyrite indicates anoxic conditions. The majority of fracture porosity resides in very dense fractures a few centimeters or less in length. The image log provides good insights into attitude of fractures that fully transect the core, but generally underestimates fracture density. The combination of complex, non-planar fracture zones containing many short fractures and healing promote misinterpretation of natural fracture attitude and density in the image log. The healing and anoxic minerals are consistent with the conductive temperature gradient measured in the well below a shallow isothermal zone, although, several fractures are open or only partially healed and resulted in fluid entries into the well. Here, the equilibrated measured temperature gradient of 64ºC/km and calculated heat flow of 145 mW/m2 is more than twice the regional average, indicating local influence of the Mt Baker magmatic system at the Little Park Creek TGH site.

Cascades↗
DOE OSTI2020

Concentration and Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Eastern US Coal Refuse

Recent studies funded by the US Department of energy have shown that coal and coal byproducts contain elevated contents of Rare Earth Elements (REEs), making them a potential resource for these critical materials. The approach employed in this research focused on the concentration and extraction of REEs from fine coal refuse derived from various preparation plants in the Appalachian coal basin of the United States. Initial efforts in this research focused on the identification and characterization of REEs in various fine coal refuse streams from nine distinct industrial preparation plants in Appalachia. The average REE content in these materials was determined to be approximately 200 ppm, but the REE content showed a strong correlation to the aluminum content, suggesting that the REEs are closely associated with the clay minerals present in the refuse. Given the relatively low REE concentrations, initial efforts sought to concentrate the REEs through decarbonization and dispersive liberation steps. In these tests, high-shear agitation in the presence of a polyelectrolyte, followed by sedimentation was able to isolate the REE-enriched fine clay particles from siliceous gangue minerals. Following the dispersive liberation step, all samples were found to have an REE content greater than 300 ppm, a benchmark used for many initial exploratory studies. In one case, the REE content was increased by more than 125%. Subsequent extraction tests initially utilized a direct ion-exchange leaching approach with ammonium sulfate as lixiviant. In all cases, the simple ion-exchange leaching process failed to recover significant quantities of rare earth elements, ultimately suggesting that the REEs in fine coal waste may be passivated or bound in a colloidal phase. To access this colloidal phase, several alternative approaches were evaluated, including leaching with alternative ion-exchange lixiviants, reductive leaching, gas-purged leaching, and others. The approach that showed the most promise was strong alkaline pretreatment, followed by ion-exchange leaching with ammonium sulfate at pH 4. A combination of strong alkali and high-temperatures treatment successfully liberated the REEs, converting them to a form amenable to ion-exchange leaching. The highest REE recovery achieved with this method was determined to be 39%. Lastly, bench-scale solvent extraction tests were used to further concentrate REEs in the leach solution and demonstrate that mixed rare earth concentrates can be successfully produced from fine coal refuse.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2022

Variable Resource Resilience: How Systems Experience Increased Resilience from Variable and Hybrid Resources

Variable resources like wind and solar are often seen as detriments to system resilience rather than benefits because they may not be available with the capacities or services required during a high-impact low-frequency (HILF) event, whether that is a physical threat, natural disaster, or cyber attack. However, resilience goals and metrics are inadequate for electric energy delivery systems with inverter-based resources. Examination of this topic reveals that renewable resources are well suited to combat many resilience hazards due to local resource availability. Metrics that demonstrate the resilience value of variable resources are presented and categorized for resource (wind, solar, storage, hybrid) and installation type (bulk utility scale, behind-the-meter, front-of-the-meter, isolated). Distributed and hybrid systems can further enhance resilience benefits my maximizing resource potential for a locality. A case study demonstrating quantitative resilience benefits from wind alone is provided for St. Mary's, AK, which concludes that hundreds of thousands of dollars are saved by the addition of a wind turbine in the face of realistic fuel shortage and extreme winter weather scenarios.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Integrated modeling for assessing climate change impacts on water resources and hydropower potential in the Himalayas

Regional hydroclimatic variability and change can affect water resources and hydropower generation. It is essential to assess hydropower potential under current and future climatic conditions to inform the design and operation of hydropower infrastructures. Here, we employ an integrated modeling framework to assess the impact of projected hydroclimatic conditions on water resource systems and hydropower generation. The integrated framework samples climate model outputs under different scenarios to force a hydrologic model and produces streamflow projections. The projected streamflows are inputs for the future hydropower potential assessment. We implement the framework in the central Himalayan river basin. Our results demonstrate substantial spatiotemporal variability in different water balance components (precipitation, evapotranspiration, and water yield) under current and future climatic conditions. For the Himalayan Tila river basin, the annual average energy production is expected to increase under future hydroclimatic conditions (up to 39% in Tila-2 hydropower project, suggested by ensemble mean). Furthermore, this increase in energy is driven mainly by the increased streamflow projections, particularly during the dry season and in the late century. Our results highlight the impacts of hydroclimatic variability in hydropower productions and are of practical use to provide decision-relevant information for designing and operating hydropower infrastructures. The integrated modeling framework presented here is region-specific; however, the approach is reproducible, and the overall insights are generalizable across the Himalayan region.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Pumped Storage Hydropower Resource and Deployment Potential

There is growing interest in deploying new pumped storage hydropower (PSH) to meet grid needs for flexibility, reliability, and resiliency. This presentation describes how NLR resource assessment, cost modeling, and capacity expansion modeling are used to identify technical and economic PSH deployment potential and support industry decision-making on PSH investments. NLR's open data and tools demonstrate the vast technical potential of PSH on the order of 80 TW, and modeling shows economic PSH deployment under an attractive cost-value proposition.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2016

Some Strategic Considerations Related to the Potential Use of Water Resource Deposits on Mars by Future Human Explorers

A long-term base on Mars, at the center of an "Exploration Zone", would require substantial quantities of in-situ resources. Although water is not the only resource on Mars of potential interest, it stands out as the one that most dominates long-lead strategic planning. It is needed for multiple purposes for various human activities (including our own survival!), and in significant quantities. The absence of viable deposits could make a surface "field station" logistically unsustainable. Therefore, identification of deposits, and development of the technology needed to make use of these deposits, are an important priority in the period leading up to a human mission to Mars. Given our present understanding of Mars, ice and hydrated minerals appear to be the best potential sources for the quantity of water expected to be needed. The methods for their extraction would be different for these two classes of deposits, and at the present time it is unknown which would ultimately be an optimal solution. The deposits themselves would also ultimately have to be judged by certain economics that take into account information about geologic and engineering attributes and the "cost" of obtaining this information. Ultimately much of this information would need to come from precursor missions, which would be essential if utilization of martian is situ water resources is to become a part of human exploration of Mars.

Beaty, D.W.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Some Strategic Considerations Related to the Potential Use of Water Resource Deposits on Mars by Future Human Explorers

A long-term base on Mars, at the center of an “Exploration Zone”, would require substantial quantities of in-situ resources. Although water is not the only resource on Mars of potential interest, it stands out as the one that most dominates long-lead strategic planning. It is needed for multiple aspects of various human activities (including our own survival), and in significant quantities. The absence of a viable deposits could make a surface “field station” logistically unsustainable. Therefore, identification of deposits, and development of the technology needed to make use of these deposits, are an important priority in the period leading up to a human mission to Mars. Given our present understanding of Mars, ice and hydrated minerals appear to be the best potential sources for the quantity of water expected to be needed. The methods for their extraction would be different for these two classes of deposits, and at the present time it is unknown which would ultimately be an optimal solution. The deposits themselves would ultimately have to be judged by an economic assessment that takes into account information about geologic and engineering attributes and the “cost” of obtaining this information. Ultimately, much of this information would need to come from precursor missions, which would be essential if utilization of martian is situ water resources is to become a part of human exploration of Mars.

Beaty, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Helium-3 inventory of lunar samples: A potential future energy resource for mankind?

Recent public concern over the safety, cost, and environmental impact of the worldwide fission reactors has focused the attention of scientists and engineers towards perfecting fusion technology because it promises a much more environmentally acceptable 'clean' energy supply. The fusion reaction D-2 + He-3 yields p(14.7 MeV) + He-4(3.6 MeV) has long been recognized as an ideal candidate for producing commercially 'safer and cleaner' fusion power. Naturally occurring He-3 is scarce on earth; however, lunar regolith is a potential ore for He-3 because the high He-3 in solar wind has been implanted in the lunar regolith for more than 4 x 10(exp 9) years, along with other volatile species. The helium abundance in lunar soils is dependent not only on the maturity of soils (I(sub S)/FeO) but also on their mineralogy. The titanium-rich (ilmenite) lunar soils are important repositories for volatiles, which may be released by heating these soils up to approximately 700 C.

Murali, A. V.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Resource Prospector: Evaluating the ISRU Potential of the Lunar Poles

Resource Prospector (RP) is a lunar volatiles prospecting mission being developed for potential flight in CY2021-2022. The mission includes a rover-borne payload that (1) can locate surface and near-subsurface volatiles, (2) excavate and analyze samples of the volatile-bearing regolith, and (3) demonstrate the form, extractability and usefulness of the materials. The primary mission goal for RP is to evaluate the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) potential of the lunar poles.

Colaprete, A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The potential for crustal resources on Mars

Martian resources pose not only an interesting scientific challenge but also have immense astronautical significance because of their ability to enhance mission efficiency, lower launch and program costs, and stimulate the development of large Mars surface facilities. Although much terrestrial mineralization is associated with plate tectonics and Mars apparently possesses a thick, stationary lithosphere, the presence of crustal swells, rifting, volcanism, and abundant volatiles indicates that a number of sedimentary, hydrothermal, dry-magma mineral concentration processes may have operated on Mars. For example, in Colorado Plateau-style (roll-front) deposits, uranium precipitation is localized by redox variations in groundwater. Also, evaporites (either in salt pans or even interstitially in pore spaces) might concentrate Cl, Li, and K. Many Martian impact craters have been modified by volcanism and probably have been affected by rising magma bodies interacting with ground ice or water. Such conditions might produce hydrothermal circulations and element concentrations. If the high sulfur content found by the Viking landers typifies Martian abundances, sulfide ore bodies may have been formed locally. Mineral-rich Africa seems to share many volcanic and tectonic characteristics with portions of Mars and may suggest Mars' potential mineral wealth. For example, the rifts of Valles Marineris are similar to the rifts in east Africa, and may both result from a large mantle plume rising from the interior and disrupting the surface. The gigantic Bushveld complex of South Africa, an ancient layered igneous intrusion that contains ores of chromium and Pt-group metals, illustrates the sort of dry-magma processes that also could have formed local element concentrations on Mars, especially early in the planet's history when heat flow was higher.

Cordell, Bruce M.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advanced Synchrophasor-based Application for Potential Distributed Energy Resources Management: Key Technology, Challenge and Vision

With an increasing number of distributed energy resources (DERs) integrating into the power system, the power grid is becoming more complex and uncertain. Owing to most of DERs are through grid-connected converters to integrate into the power system, the intermittent nature and resource-depended characteristic of the DERs are challenging their monitoring and control. Conventional synchronized measurement devices (SMDs) may be difficult to provide qualified data for DERs management for its accuracy and reporting-rate limitation. The monitoring systems developed basing on SMDs may be insufficient for depicting detailed dynamic manifestations of power systems with a high proportion integration of DERs. This paper shares some advanced synchrophasor-based applications developed in FNET/GridEye, which have a broad prospect for assisting system operator on the control and integration of the DERs.

Wang, Weikang↗
DOE OSTI2020

Water and Wastewater Systems as Potential Distributed Energy Resources for California - High-level Feasibility Assessment

Water systems in California are a major electricity user, and electricity costs represent a significant portion of water utilities’ operating costs. Water and wastewater utilities have the capacity to shift demand in response to grid needs or price signals and can generate power through biogas, hydropower or onsite renewable energy systems like solar panels and wind turbines. This report points to some of the most promising opportunity areas for water and wastewater utilities to implement distributed energy resources while also carefully laying out practical considerations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comparative Life Cycle Analysis of Scalable Single-Junction and Tandem Perovskite Solar Cell (PSC) Systems

Efficient, low-cost solar cells based upon perovskites have the potential to transform the US and global energy portfolio and improve energy security if they can be manufactured in an environmentally sustainable manner. However, previous life cycle analyses (LCA) of perovskite solar cells (PSC) used lab recipes to project the environmental impact of industrial PSC production – using materials and processes that may not be representative of industrial productions due to high material waste and complex synthesis – and such studies were limited to a few single-junction technologies. Thus, the goal of this project was threefold: a) to review the most promising for industrial production single-junction and tandem PSC technologies, b) to build life-cycle materials inventories that reflect scalable production of these technologies, and c) to conduct comprehensive life-cycle analysis of these technologies and compare their environmental impact with those of established commercial technologies. In response, this project identified challenges for fabrication transitioning from laboratory to sustainable industrial production, developed life-cycle inventory (LCI) data for scaling to industrial production four promising single-junction and three tandem PSC systems and produced life-cycle-investigations using, as metrics, a complete spectrum of energy, environmental and ecological impact indicators. Special focus was given to the use of lead, silver and indium in PSC. The project used the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology as standardized by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), ISO standards 14040 and 14044, and the International Energy Agency PVPS Task 12 LCA guidelines. LCA allows the calculation of a number of energy and environmental and impact categories, including energy cumulative energy demand (CED), global warming potential (GWP), human toxicity potential (HTP), eco-toxicity potential (ETP), abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP), acidification potential (AP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), photochemical oxidation potential (POP), eutrophication potential (EP). In addition to those, we calculated the Energy Pay-Back Time (EPBT) and the Energy Return On Investment (EROI). We provide LCA impacts for complete perovskite PV systems – including balance of system components – installed at three irradiation levels and considering reference and future potential module efficiencies. Finally, a sensitivity analysis on perovskite lifetime has been performed, considering 10, 20 and 30 years. Contribution analysis of the impacts of each material and layer of PSC shows, that the use of Pb in metalorganic PSC does not result in significant environmental impacts as the major contributions to environmental indicators arise from the use of Ag and encapsulation materials. Solution-based PSC manufacturing was found to be less impactful to the environment than vapor-based fabrication, and roll-to-roll (RtR) printing uses less energy and generates the lowest emissions. PSC produced with RtR manufacturing could reach the same Energy Return on Energy Investment (EROI) as that of crystalline-Si PV within 12 years of life, whereas the most energy demanding spray coating on rigid substrates, would require a 20-yr life to match the EROI of 30-yr lasting silicon PV. This work lays the foundation for sustainability investigations in a comparative context of large-scale production and deployment of PSC. The results of this project have the potential to have a significant impact on the future of PV manufacturing, by providing industry, policy-makers, and academia with insights necessary to choose which, if any, lead-based solar cell life cycles are environmentally sustainable.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗