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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Urban-Scale Control of School Bus Fleet Charging and Discharging Strategies Using Single and Multi-Stage Optimization

This paper presents a dual-strategy approach to optimizing charging and discharging schedules for school bus fleets, using the limited charging infrastructure effectively. We aim to ensure that each bus is fully charged for daily operations and aids in grid stability during peak demand. The first strategy utilizes linear programming to schedule overnight charging at available station sockets and strategic discharging during peak periods, efficiently coordinating limited resources. The second strategy employs metaheuristic techniques for continuous optimization, focusing on precise power requirements and offering greater flexibility than the linear model.

Selim, Alaa↗
DOE OSTI2011

Lateral distribution of pulse height in a parallel-plate avalanche counter

The nuclear γ-ray spectroscopy enters a new era when the first engineering run of GRETINA [1], a new generation of γ-ray tracking arrays, was successfully carried out at LBNL in early April, 2011. A parallel effort has been setup to develop the auxiliary charged-particle detector arrays with a matching position resolution to fully exploit the potential of GRETINA. Improving the position resolution of the existing charged-particle detector array, CHICO [2], is a part of this coordinated effort. The proposal to upgrade CHICO was approved by DOE/SC at the end of FY10. The goal is to redesign the cathode board and amplifier to improve the resolution for both and coordinates to better than one degree to match that of GRETINA. This project is scheduled to complete by the summer of 2012.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Gasoline Engine and Fuels Offering Reduced fuel Consumption and Emissions (GEFORCE)

The GEFORCE project resulted from a collaborative proposal submitted to a U.S. DOE funding opportunity announcement. The CRADA reported herein was put in place to support the GEFORCE project. The project objective was to establish key engine technologies and fuel characteristics that enable very high fuel efficiency with very low emissions in future vehicles. A matrix of study fuels was designed and produced to support engine experiments in an advanced engine. The advanced engine was constructed and prepared for operation in an engine test cell at a 3rd party laboratory. ORNL conducted engine experiments using a 2.0 LTG engine and used the resulting data to estimatefuel economy values for a mid-size sedan using a vehicle model established in Autonomie. The projected fuel economy trends versus driving schedule were consistent with those identified in a previous projectconducted in partnership with the Coordinating Research Council (CRC), AVFL-20. Additional vehicle modeling is anticipated when data are available from the advanced engine.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRS2010

HDU Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) Prototype Systems Integration

The Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) project team constructed an analog prototype lunar surface laboratory called the Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM). The prototype unit subsystems were integrated in a short amount of time, utilizing a skunk-works approach that brought together over 20 habitation-related technologies from a variety of NASA centers. This paper describes the system integration strategies and lessons learned, that allowed the PEM to be brought from paper design to working field prototype using a multi-center team. The system integration process included establishment of design standards, negotiation of interfaces between subsystems, and scheduling fit checks and installation activities. A major tool used in integration was a coordinated effort to accurately model all the subsystems using CAD, so that conflicts were identified before physical components came together. Some of the major conclusions showed that up-front modularity that emerged as an artifact of construction, such as the eight 45 degree "pie slices" making up the module whose steel rib edges defined structural mounting and loading points, dictated much of the configurational interfaces between the major subsystems and workstations. Therefore, 'one of the lessons learned included the need to use modularity as a tool for organization in advance, and to work harder to prevent non-critical aspects of the platform from dictating the modularity that may eventually inform the fight system.

Gill, Tracy R.↗
NASA NTRS2019

MSL relay coordination and tactical planning in the era of InSight, MAVEN, and TGO

This study examines an approach for optimizing the scheduling of regular relay communications between the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover and the non-sun-synchronous Mars orbiters MAVEN and TGO as well as the impacts of the approaching InSight landing on MSL relay and tactical planning. Rover operations require knowledge of recently executed activities, termed decisional data, in order to inform tactical activity planning. As a result, timely and routine data return is critical for nominal rover operations. Mars orbiters are used as relay assets to achieve such timeliness.

Thomas, Steven↗
DOE OSTI2018

Analysis of the Current and Future Impacts of the AECOM Early Career Technical Exchange - 18497

As the average age of the engineering workforce approaches retirement, early career professionals are hired to supplement the decreasing workforce. Their transition is challenging to implement because new hires typically lack the experience that DOE's nuclear waste facilities have come to rely on. AECOM-partnered corporations have developed the Early Career Professionals Technology Exchange (ECPTE) program to facilitate new hire transitions. This program includes semi-annual workshops that develop both soft and technical skills through extensive networking opportunities, technical presentations, facility tours, and workshop preparation. Early career participants develop reliable peer networks that support their technical collaboration. AECOM's Facility Area Coordination Team (FACT) supports the program by participating during their workshops, which are been scheduled to coincide with ECPTE workshops, allowing early career professionals the opportunity to network with management and technical experts in addition to peers. Early career professionals conduct technical presentations on topics associated with their facilities and projects, developing technical communication skills utilized in professional settings. Early career leadership at the hosting facility prepares tours of local projects for interested attendees. By attending these presentations and tours, attendees gain an understanding of facilities and projects in the U. S. Department of Energy nuclear complex. Since the initiation of the ECPTE, an increasing number of AECOM-partnered corporations have begun to participate in the program. Based on participant interviews and program reviews, this paper discusses the expanding ECPTE program and its impacts on the participants, the facility, and the AECOM-partnered corporations. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Developing a U.S. High Performance Research Reactor Transportation Road-map - 19674

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Reactor Conversion through the U.S. High Performance Research Reactor (USHPRR) Project is developing and qualifying a new Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel to convert USHPRRs from the use of highly enriched uranium fuel to LEU fuel. The USHPRR Project is forecast to complete in 2030's. During the Project's life cycle, it will make hundreds of radiological shipments. These shipments will include material of different sizes and radiological characteristics and involve many facilities. These shipments must be integrated with the Project's detailed schedule to ensure success of the Project. The USHPRR Project has the complex challenge to develop a Packaging and Transportation (P and T) Road-map to coordinate the multitude of packaging and shipment activities. A comprehensive packaging and shipping matrix is being developed to assist in meeting this challenge and ensure the USHPRR shipments can be made on schedule. The vision for the matrix is for it to be a bridge between the schedule and the P and T Road-map, and for it to be the one stop place for USHPRR shipment information. An interactive approach to the P and T Road-map and the comprehensive shipping matrix provides an effective strategy to execute the USHPPR Project today and through its life cycle. This paper provides an overview of the development of the USHPRR P and T Road-map and the comprehensive shipping matrix and their benefits to the USHPRR Project. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Multistage Stochastic optimization for mid-term integrated generation and maintenance scheduling of cascaded hydroelectric system with renewable energy uncertainty

The uncertainties resulting from the escalating penetration of renewable energy resources pose severe challenges to the efficient operation of modern power systems. Hydroelectricity is characterized by its flexibility, controllability, and reliability, and thus becomes one of the most ideal energy resources to hedge against such uncertainties. This paper studies the mid-term integrated generation and maintenance scheduling of a cascaded hydroelectric system (CHS) consisting of multiple cascaded reservoirs and hydroelectric units. To precisely describe the mid-term water regulation policies, the hydraulic coupling relationship and water-energy nexus of CHS are incorporated into the proposed optimization model. The uncertainties of natural water inflow and the power outputs of wind/solar energy generation are taken into consideration and captured via a stochastic process modeled by a scenario tree. A multistage stochastic optimization (MSO) approach is developed to coordinate the complementary operations of multiple energy resources, by optimizing the mid-term water resource management, generation scheduling, and maintenance scheduling of CHS. The proposed MSO model is formulated as a large-scale mixed-integer linear program that presents significant computational intractability. To address this issue, a tailored Benders decomposition algorithm is developed. Two real-world case studies are conducted to demonstrate the capability and characteristics of the proposed model and algorithm. The computational results show that the proposed MSO model can exploit the flexibility of hydroelectricity to efficiently respond to variable wind and solar power, and reserve water resources for the generation in peak months to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel. Furthermore, the proposed solution approach also exhibits promising computational efficiency when handling large-scale models.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Human Initiated Cascading Failures in Societal Infrastructures

In this paper, we conduct a systematic study of human-initiated cascading failures in three critical inter-dependent societal infrastructures due to behavioral adaptations in response to a crisis. We focus on three closely coupled socio-technical networks here: (i) cellular and mesh networks, (ii) transportation networks and (iii) mobile call networks. In crises, changes in individual behaviors lead to altered travel, activity and calling patterns, which influence the transport network and the loads on wireless networks. The interaction between these systems and their co-evolution poses significant technical challenges for representing and reasoning about these systems. In contrast to system dynamics models for studying these interacting infrastructures, we develop interaction-based models in which individuals and infrastructure elements are represented in detail and are placed in a common geographic coordinate system. Using the detailed representation, we study the impact of a chemical plume that has been released in a densely populated urban region. Authorities order evacuation of the affected area, and this leads to individual behavioral adaptation wherein individuals drop their scheduled activities and drive to home or pre-specified evacuation shelters as appropriate. They also revise their calling behavior to communicate and coordinate among family members. These two behavioral adaptations cause flash-congestion in the urban transport network and the wireless network. The problem is exacerbated with a few, already occurring, road closures. We analyze how extended periods of unanticipated road congestion can result in failure of infrastructures, starting with the servicing base stations in the congested area. A sensitivity analysis on the compliance rate of evacuees shows non-intuitive effect on the spatial distribution of people and on the loading of the base stations. For example, an evacuation compliance rate of 70% results in higher number of overloaded base stations than the evacuation compliance rate of 90%.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Region templates: Data representation and management for high-throughput image analysis

Compartment fires exhibit unique features associated with smoke accumulation and restricted air ventilation. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the ability of CFD-based fire models to simulate these features and in particular the effects of flame extinction that results from under-ventilated fire conditions. The study is performed using FireFOAM; FireFOAM is an advanced fire modeling software developed by FM Global and is based on a general-purpose open-source software called OpenFOAM. A new flame extinction model based on the concept of a critical value of the flame Damköhler number is incorporated into FireFOAM. The performance of the extinction model is evaluated via comparisons with a previously developed experimental database corresponding to a reduced-scale, heptane-fueled, compartment fire configuration. The numerical simulations also include a description of fuel evaporation driven by the computed gas-to-liquid heat feedback. Comparisons between experimental data and numerical results provide a suitable test bed to evaluate the ability of CFD-based fire models to describe the transition from over- to under-ventilated fire conditions, as well as the transition from extinction-free conditions to conditions in which the flame experiences partial or total quenching.

Energy & Fuels↗
NASA NTRS1984

A 406 MHz geostationary satellite SARSAT experiment

A 406 MHz SARSAT experiment using the GOES system to demonstrate the utility of integrating a near-instantaneous distress alerting capability achievable by the geostationary satellites with the location capability of the low altitude, near-polar orbiting satellite system is described. Tests include the evaluation of technical performance of a variety of maritime, aviation, and land-based SARSAT beacons under operational environment conditions as well as a demonstration of system effectiveness in pseudo real distress incident situations. The technical performance tests parallel the CCIR coordinated trials program conducted at L-band frequencies using the INMARSAT satellites. Tests, including schedules, are outlined.

Friedman, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Integrated flexible manufacturing program for manufacturing automation and rapid prototyping

The Kansas City Division of Allied Signal Inc., as part of the Integrated Flexible Manufacturing Program (IFMP), is developing an integrated manufacturing environment. Several systems are being developed to produce standards and automation tools for specific activities within the manufacturing environment. The Advanced Manufacturing Development System (AMDS) is concentrating on information standards (STEP) and product data transfer; the Expert Cut Planner system (XCUT) is concentrating on machining operation process planning standards and automation capabilities; the Advanced Numerical Control system (ANC) is concentrating on NC data preparation standards and NC data generation tools; the Inspection Planning and Programming Expert system (IPPEX) is concentrating on inspection process planning, coordinate measuring machine (CMM) inspection standards and CMM part program generation tools; and the Intelligent Scheduling and Planning System (ISAPS) is concentrating on planning and scheduling tools for a flexible manufacturing system environment. All of these projects are working together to address information exchange, standardization, and information sharing to support rapid prototyping in a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) environment.

Brooks, S. L.↗
NASA NTRS1995

SPDE: Solar Plasma Diagnostic Experiment

The physics of the Solar corona is studied through the use of high resolution soft x-ray spectroscopy and high resolution ultraviolet imagery. The investigation includes the development and application of a flight instrument, first flown in May, 1992 on NASA sounding rocket 36.048. A second flight, NASA founding rocket 36.123, took place on 25 April 1994. Both flights were successful in recording new observations relevant to the investigation. The effort in this contract covers completion of the modifications to the existing rocket payload, its reflight, and the preliminary day reduction and analysis. Experience gained from flight 36.048 led us to plan several payload design modifications. These were made to improve the sensitivity balance between the UV and EUV spectrographs, to improve the scattered light rejection in the spectrographs, to protect the visible light rejection filter for the Normal Incidence X-ray Imager instrument (NIXI), and to prepare one new multilayer mirror coating to the NIXI. We also investigated the addition of a brassboard CCD camera to the payload to test it as a possible replacement for the Eastman type 101-07 film used by the SPDE instruments. This camera was included in the experimeter's data package for the Project Initiation Conference for the flight of NASA Mission 36.123, held in January, 1994, but for programmatic reasons was deleted from the final payload configuration. The payload was shipped to the White Sands Missile Range on schedule in early April. The launch and successful recovery took place on 25 April, in coordination with the Yohkoh satellite and a supporting ground-based observing campaign.

Bruner, Marilyn E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Management of the Reflection Grating Spectrometer on the Constellation-X Mission

As RGS Integrated Product Team Lead, normal coordination and management efforts in the past year have involved setting and overseeing budgets and schedules, regular status reporting to the Program Manager at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), interacting with Constellation-X groups at GSFC, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), and RGS team institutions, and supporting the program needs of Constellation-X. In addition to the management aspects described above, there are four significant areas of direct contribution that were accomplished.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2011

Post Flight Reconditioning for US Astronauts Returning from the International Space Station

Prior to spaceflight, each astronaut undergoes medical requirement testing to establish a preflight baseline for physiologic functions. Astronauts returning from the International Space Station can experience deficits in all or some of the following areas: aerobic capacity, muscular strength, power, endurance, stamina, bone, balance, agility, coordination, orthostatic tolerances, proprioception, neurovestibular function and flexibility. These losses occur from living in microgravity and are consistent with deficits seen in terrestrial, de-conditioning individuals. Since 2001, the Astronaut Strength, Conditioning and Rehabilitation (ASCR) specialists have administered a reconditioning program, focusing on all deficits, which improves the physical condition of all returning astronauts. In most cases, astronauts have reached or surpassed their preflight physical condition. Purpose: This presentation will describe and explain the postflight reconditioning program for returning astronauts. Methods: The postflight reconditioning program is designed to stress the body systems that affect the following: aerobic capacity, muscular strength, power, endurance, stamina, bone, balance, agility, coordination, orthostatic tolerances, proprioception, neurovestibular function and flexibility. Postflight reconditioning begins on landing day, is scheduled for two hours per day, 7 days a week for 45 days and is tailored to the specific needs of the astronaut. Initially the program focuses on basic ambulation, cardiovascular endurance, strength, balance, flexibility and proprioception. The program advances through 45 days and specific attention is given to each astronaut s overall condition, testing results, medical status, and assigned duties after their mission. Conclusion: Astronauts will experience noticeable deficits in their physical condition after living in microgravity for an extended length of time. After completing postflight reconditioning, it is shown that astronauts have regained, and in most cases improved upon, their preflight baseline condition.

Nieschwitz, Bruce↗
NASA NTRS2012

Summer Final Report

The summer of 2012 has been filled with many memorable events and activities. As an intern, I had responsibilities that had to be fulfilled. My tour of duty was completed as an administrative student trainee in the Information Technology and Communications Services Business Office (IT-A). In accordance with the Business Objectives and Agreement of the Business Office and my performance plan, I was to provide business office support, improve business, project management, and technical work processes. With this being stated, I supported a project called "The Big Move Project" (TBMP), which will take course over the next several years. The Big Move Project is the planning of the Information Technology (IT) Directorate's relocation to various buildings in the course of upcoming years, when designs and the building of Central Campus have been completed. Working directly with my supervisor and the project manager, I was responsible for gathering both administrative and operational area requirements for the Information Technology (IT) Directorate, along with its outsourced support and contractors, such as IMCS, NICS, and ACES. My first action was to create rubrics that will serve as a guideline for the information that should be given by each branch of IT. After receiving that information via a few KAITS actions, I was able to start the consolidation process, and begin working on a presentation. A SharePoint was created shortly after for others to view the progression of the project, which I managed. During the consolidation ofthis information, I would occasionally present to the IT Deputy Director and IT Chiefs. The draft of this presentation was shown to employees of Center Operations (T A) and stakeholders-IT Chief Officers and contractor managers-in the relocation of IT to make them aware of what requirements must be met that will enable IT to be accommodated appropriately in the design of Central Campus Phase 11-the time in which IT and its contractors are scheduled to be relocated. Besides supporting TBMP, I also supported the Section 508 Policy Compliance Coordinator, R. Liang. Section 508 is a policy that requires employers to implement accessibility assurance of information and technology to disabled communities. On Thursday, July 19, 2012, I was able to go to Camp Boggy Creek-a camp for disabled children-for an education outreach, in collaboration with the Education Office. We shared with them information about how astronauts live and work in space, they were able to ride hovercrafts, build paper rockets, and then launch them outside. Although this outreach was quite fun with the kids at the camp, this was a learning opportunity to gain some insight to those with cognitive and physical disabilities, the problems they typically face, and in tum, how to accommodate those with disabilities in the work environment. In the process of implementing accessibility and Section 508 compliance, I attended various teleconferences, did field runs to supply closed-caption call phones to employees with limited hearing, and helped with the development of the charter ofthe Section 508 Compliance Working Group.

Makidi, Nitou↗
NASA NTRS2017

Getting NuSTAR on Target: Predicting Mast Motion

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is the first focusing high energy (3-79 keV) X-ray observatory operating for four years from low Earth orbit. The X-ray detector arrays are located on the spacecraft bus with the optics modules mounted on a flexible mast of 10.14m length. The motion of the telescope optical axis on the detectors during each observation is measured by a laser metrology system and matches the pre-launch predictions of the thermal flexing of the mast as the spacecraft enters and exits the Earths shadow each orbit. However, an additional motion of the telescope field of view was discovered during observatory commissioning that is associated with the spacecraft attitude control system and an additional flexing of the mast correlated with the Solar aspect angle for the observation. We present the methodology developed to predict where any particular target coordinate will fall on the NuSTAR detectors based on the Solar aspect angle at the scheduled time of an observation. This may be applicable to future observatories that employ optics deployed on extendable masts. The automation of the prediction system has greatly improved observatory operations efficiency and the reliability of observation planning.

NASA small explorer↗
NASA NTRS2018

Using the cFS Command and Data Dictionary (CCDD) to Automate Software Development on Habulous

Final paper is attached. The NASA developed Core Flight System (cFS) is a reusable software architecture that has been used on multiple spaceflight missions. By using this framework, missions are able to reuse code from other missions, as well as leverage deployment onto similar computer architectures (i.e. not "reinvent the wheel" on each new mission). The success in the cFS concept can be seen in the large number of projects using cFS at FSW-2018. The Habulous project is an Earth-based testbed, used for hardware and software that may one day be used on a future space habitat unit, with many participating groups from various NASA centers and aerospace organizations around the country. The distributed nature of the various teams mean that defining (and following) an interface definition is critical on the project. Additionally, since various groups use various types of computer hardware (32/64-bit, big/little endian, Linux/VxWorks/Windows) many additional complications exist in interfacing all the various components into a final integrated system. cFS is used on the majority the flight software (FSW) in running in Habulous. But some subsystems have elected to not use cFS, and use a software bridge (called SBN_lib) to interact with the other cFS nodes in Habulous. In order to most efficiently develop the FSW, a central database is used to define and store each message sent by cFS. A Command and Data Dictionary (CDD) is something nearly universal on spacecraft, but as a team we worked to develop the CDD before the SW development was complete, and not treat it like "as built" documentation. To manage the CDD, the cFS Command and Data Dictionary (CCDD) tool was chosen (available from NASA as open source software). The CCDD tool has successfully been used to automate/autocode a large amount of software used on Habulous, as we are hoping to use it to define even more items in the future (time-triggered Ethernet (TTE) network maps, CPU scheduling). Additionally, Habulous has been exploring the use of cFS on wildly heterogeneous CPUs, and how to coordinate all those various machines using/extending the software bus – network (SBN) application in cFS, as well as TTE to coordinate message passing between various synchronized machines. The major topics to be covered in the presentation are: (1) Updating to the CCSDS_v2 extended headers (and using CPU# as subsystem ID). (2) Managing all the message identification numbers for each cFS message sent/received on any of the various CPUs. (3) Using the CCDD information to automatically generate the C-header files that define the structure for all software bus (SB) commands/telemetry messages. (4) Using the CCDD to automatically generate XML Telemetry and Command Exchange (XTCE) files, which streams display production/integration/testing in a web based display architecture (5) Extending/customizing SBN to pass messages among computers on multiple networks. (6) Using "Protobetter" inside SBN to manage different endian-ness/architectures. (7) Using SBN_lib to allow non-cFS node to communicate with cFS nodes. (8) Developing TTE network and schedule tables for all the various CPUs to use.

Hirsh, Robert L.↗