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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 OSTI2020

Charge Management for an Inductively Charged On-Demand Battery-Electric Shuttle Service with High Penetration of Renewable Energy

This paper presents a charge management control strategy for an on-demand battery-electric shuttle van operating at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) campus and supported by day-time inductive charging at the vehicle's waiting spot. A new control algorithm has been proposed for reducing the demand charge costs incurred from wireless charging of the on-demand shuttle. A custom controller has been developed to monitor the shuttle, wireless charger, renewable energy generation, and various loads at NREL's campus, and regulate charging behavior for demand response. The intermittent renewable generation and sporadic operation of the on-demand shuttle service contribute to a high level of uncertainty in expected campus load profile, which must be carefully managed. The control algorithm predicts energy profile to estimate the mobility needs of the vehicle and maintain uninterrupted service during operation while still minimizing peak demand. The proposed controller has been designed and optimized using a Simulink model for the entire system. Next, it has been implemented and tested in real-time on the NREL campus. Two primary vehicle-use cases, charge sustaining and charge depletion operation, are tested under different load profiles and drive cycles to assess the controller's effectiveness at reducing peak demand and therefore demand charges. The proposed controller showed robust performance under different driving scenarios with high correlation between simulated and experimental data. The results showed that proper demand response can be achieved with an average of 94% reduction of charging loads during peak demand events.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1986

Experimental investigation of rotorcraft hub and shaft fairing drag reduction

A wind-tunnel test was conducted to obtain data on several rotorcraft hub and shaft fairing drag reduction configurations. Aerodynamic loads and moments were acquired for each test configuration. Limited wake pressure measurements and flow visualization (tuft) photographs were obtained for some configurations. All hub and shaft fairing configurations were tested on a 1/5-scale XH-59A model fuselage. Both coaxial and single rotor configurations were tested. All rotor assemblies were modeled with nonrotating hardware. The drag reduction methods tested included cambered elliptical hub fairings, several different shaft fairings, and strakes. Test data show that significant drag reductions can be attained with certain fairing configurations. The lowest drag values for the single rotor configurations were obtained for a cambered elliptical hub fairing with a large thickness airfoil shaft fairing. The lowest coaxial configuration drag values were obtained with cambered elliptical hub fairings and a long chord intermediate shaft fairing.

Young, L. A.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Industrial battery operation and utilization in the presence of electrical load uncertainty using Bayesian decision theory

Behind the meter battery storage is becoming increasing popular in all sectors, though enthusiasm has recently lagged in the industrial sector. Even though there may be many factors contributing to this including lack of innovation, prohibitive costs, and undesirable rate structures, a difficulty arises in accounting for uncertainty of electrical load in industrial facilities while still attempting to utilize battery storage as much as possible all while trying to achieve fiscal profitability. Here this study utilizes Gaussian process regression and Bayesian decision theory to organize load data and quantify electrical load uncertainty to properly and effectively discharge industrial battery storage. The study employs a simulation model to set battery load setpoints for the span of the utility billing period according to the degree of risk aversion. This combination of economic analysis according to utility billing period and utilization of degree of risk aversion to make decisions on the uncertainty of the data has not before been applied to battery storage. The method resulted in an annual average reduction of peak demand by 3.8 % at the lowest amount of savings and lowest risk aversion. The highest risk aversion resulted in an annual average reduction of peak demand of 7.5 %. The maximum reduction of peak load in any month was 13.8 % in the month of December with a relatively high risk aversion. With a the highest amount risk aversion tested, the model reduced demand ten of the twelve months of the year.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1972

Performance of an aircraft tire under cyclic braking and of a currently operational antiskid braking system

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the performance of an aircraft tire under cyclic braking conditions and to study the performance of a currently operational aircraft antiskid braking system. Dry, damp, and flooded runway surface conditions were used in the investigation. The results indicated that under cyclic braking conditions the braking and cornering-force friction coefficients may be influenced by fluctuations in the vertical load, flexibility in the wheel support, and the spring coupling between the wheel and the tire-pavement interface. The cornering capability was shown to be negligible at wheel slip ratios well below a locked-wheel skid under all test surface conditions. The maximum available brake-force friction coefficient was shown to be dependent upon the runway surface condition, upon velocity, and, for wet runways, upon tire differences. Moderate reductions in vertical load and brake system pressure did not significantly affect the overall wet-runway performance of the tire.

Tanner, J. A.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Broadly neutralizing humanized SARS-CoV-2 antibody binds to a conserved epitope on Spike and provides antiviral protection through inhalation-based delivery in non-human primates

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a global challenge that has impacted and is expected to continue to impact the lives and health of people across the world for the foreseeable future. The rollout of vaccines has provided highly anticipated relief, but effective therapeutics are required to further reduce the risk and severity of infections. Monoclonal antibodies have been shown to be effective as therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2, but as new variants of concern (VoC) continue to emerge, their utility and use have waned due to limited or no efficacy against these variants. Furthermore, cumbersome systemic administration limits easy and broad access to such drugs. As well, concentrations of systemically administered antibodies in the mucosal epithelium, a primary site of initial infection, are dependent on neonatal Fc receptor mediated transport and require high drug concentrations. To reduce the viral load more effectively in the lung, we developed an inhalable formulation of a SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody binding to a conserved epitope on the Spike protein, ensuring pan-neutralizing properties. Administration of this antibody via a vibrating mesh nebulization device retained antibody integrity and resulted in effective distribution of the antibody in the upper and lower respiratory tract of non-human primates (NHP). In comparison with intravenous administration, significantly higher antibody concentrations can be obtained in the lung, resulting in highly effective reduction in viral load post SARS-CoV-2 challenge. This approach may reduce the barriers of access and uptake of antibody therapeutics in real-world clinical settings and provide a more effective blueprint for targeting existing and potentially emerging respiratory tract viruses.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2004

Kinematic Characteristics of the Posture Corrective Responses After 6 Hours Exposure to Support Withdrawal Environment

Posture disorders are an inevitable consequence of exposure to microgravity . However, the role of different sensorimotor and sensory factors on postural function at different stages of the exposure to microgravity still remains unknown. The results obtained in a 6 hr dry immersion (DI) study where chest pushes served as a pre- and post-immersion perturbation, and DI was used as an analog of microgravity suggest that in addition to vestibular contributions, postural control may be related to a reduction of support loading and consequent decline of the tone of anti-gravitational muscles. Analysis of postural video data in response to chest pushes obtained before and after DI indicate that the structure of corrective responses was modified so that postural perturbations from threshold to moderate pushes showed a significant rise in the amplitude of ankle and knee angular displacement. With push intensity near the submaximal level, equilibrium was maintained by the elimination of excessive degrees of freedom; as manifested by the restriction of the hip joints mobility when coupled with a reduction of the knee and ankle displacement. These results suggest that DI increases the sensitivity of the posture control system by making posture control more rigid reflecting a change of the weight bearing receptors.

Sayenko D.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Linear Quadratic Tracking Design for a Generic Transport Aircraft with Structural Load Constraints

When designing control laws for systems with constraints added to the tracking performance, control allocation methods can be utilized. Control allocations methods are used when there are more command inputs than controlled variables. Constraints that require allocators are such task as; surface saturation limits, structural load limits, drag reduction constraints or actuator failures. Most transport aircraft have many actuated surfaces compared to the three controlled variables (such as angle of attack, roll rate & angle of side slip). To distribute the control effort among the redundant set of actuators a fixed mixer approach can be utilized or online control allocation techniques. The benefit of an online allocator is that constraints can be considered in the design whereas the fixed mixer cannot. However, an online control allocator mixer has a disadvantage of not guaranteeing a surface schedule, which can then produce ill defined loads on the aircraft. The load uncertainty and complexity has prevented some controller designs from using advanced allocation techniques. This paper considers actuator redundancy management for a class of over actuated systems with real-time structural load limits using linear quadratic tracking applied to the generic transport model. A roll maneuver example of an artificial load limit constraint is shown and compared to the same no load limitation maneuver.

Burken, John J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Convergence of the SMI and the diagonally loaded SMI algorithms with weak interference

Approximations for the power levels at the output of an adaptive array that uses the diagonally loaded sample-matrix inversion (SMI) algorithm are derived. Diagonal loading is a technique where the diagonal of the covariance matrix is augmented with a positive or negative constant prior to inversion. This paper examines how the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) at the array output vary with the number of samples taken when the input signals are CW. It is shown that positive loading produces more rapid convergence with a reduction in output SIR. Negative loading provides an improved SIR level, but positive loading produces more rapid convergence. Negative loading provides an improved SIR level, but the output power levels are erratic and slow to converge. Simulation results which verify the theoretical procedure are given.

Ganz, Matthew W.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Using a Multi‐Institutional Ensemble of Watershed Models to Assess Agricultural Conservation Effectiveness in a Future Climate

This study investigates the combined impacts of climate change and agricultural conservation on the magnitude and uncertainty of nutrient loadings in the Maumee River Watershed, the second-largest watershed of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Two scenarios — baseline agricultural management and increased agricultural conservation — were assessed using an ensemble of five Soil and Water Assessment Tools driven by six climate models. The increased conservation scenario included raising conservation adoption rates from a baseline of existing conservation practices to feasible rates in the near future based on farmer surveys. This increased adoption of winter cover crops on 6%–10% to 60% of cultivated cropland; subsurface placement of phosphorus fertilizers on 35%–60% to 68% of cultivated cropland; and buffer strips intercepting runoff from 29%–34% to 50% of cultivated cropland. Increased conservation resulted in statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) reductions in annual loads of total phosphorus (41%), dissolved reactive phosphorus (18%), and total nitrogen (14%) under the highest emission climate scenario (RCP 8.5). While nutrient loads decreased with increased conservation relative to baseline management for all watershed models, different conclusions on the true effectiveness of conservation under climate change may be drawn if only one watershed model was used.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Proactive Operations and Investment Planning via Stochastic Optimization to Enhance Power Systems’ Extreme Weather Resilience

We present scalable stochastic optimization approaches for improving power systems’ resilience to extreme weather events. We consider both proactive redispatch and transmission line hardening as alternatives for mitigating expected load shed due to extreme weather, resulting in large-scale stochastic linear programs (LPs) and mixed-integer linear programs (MILPs). We solve these stochastic optimization problems with progressive hedging (PH), a parallel, scenario-based decomposition algorithm. Our computational experiments indicate that our proposed method for enhancing power system resilience can provide high-quality solutions efficiently. With up to 128 scenarios on a 2,000-bus network, the operations (redispatch) and investment (hardening) resilience problems can be solved in approximately 6 min and 2 h of wall-clock time, respectively. Additionally, we solve the investment problems with up to 512 scenarios, demonstrating that the approach scales very well with the number of scenarios. Moreover, the method produces high quality solutions that result in statistically significant reductions in expected load shed. Our proposed approach can be augmented to incorporate a variety of other operational and investment resilience strategies, or a combination of such strategies.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1944

The inward bulge type buckling of monocoque cylinders I : calculation of the effect upon the buckling stress of a compressive force, a nonlinear direct stress distribution, and a shear force

In the present part I of a series of reports on the inward bulge type buckling of monocoque cylinders the buckling load in combined bending and compression is first derived. Next the reduction in the buckling load because of a nonlinear direct stress distribution is determined. In experiments nonlinearity may result from an inadequate stiffness of the end attachments in actual airplanes from the existence of concentrated loads or cut-outs. The effect of a shearing force upon the critical load is investigated through an analysis of the results of tests carried out at GALCIT with 55 reinforced monocoque cylinders. Finally, a simple criterion of general instability is presented in the form of a buckling inequality which should be helpful to the designer of a monocoque in determining the sizes of the rings required for excluding the possibility of inward bulge type buckling.

Hoff, N J↗
NASA NTRS2003

Novel Engineering and Fabrication Techniques Tested in Low-Noise- Research Fan Blades

A major source of fan noise in commercial turbofan engines is the interaction of the wake from the fan blades with the stationary vanes (stators) directly behind them. The Trailing Edge Blowing (TEB) project team at the NASA Glenn Research Center designed and fabricated new fan blades to study the effects of fan trailing edge blowing as a potential noise-reduction concept. The intent is to fill the rotor wake by supplying air to the rotor blade trailing edge at the proper conditions to minimize the wake deficit, and thus generate less noise. The TEB hardware is designed for the Active Noise Control Fan (ANCF) test rig in Glenn's Aeroacoustic Propulsion Laboratory. For this test, the air is fed from an external supply through the shaft of the rig. It is distributed to the base of each blade through an impeller, where it is forced into a plenum at the core of each blade. In actual engine configuration, air would most likely be bled from the compressor, but only at times when noise is an issue, such as takeoffs and landings. Glenn researchers designed and manufactured the blades in-house, using new techniques and concepts. The skins, which were designed for maximum strength in the directions of highest stress, were molded from multiple layers of carbon fiber. Considerable use was made of rapid prototyping techniques, such as laser sintering. The core was sintered from a lightweight polymer, and the retainer was CNC-machined (computer numerical control machined) from aluminum. All the components were joined with a cold-cure aerospace adhesive. These techniques and processes reduced the overall cost and allowed the new concept to be studied much sooner than would be possible using traditional fabrication methods. Since this test rig did not support the use of blade-monitoring techniques such as strain gauges, extensive bench testing was required to qualify the design. The blades were examined using a variety of methods including holography, pull tests (cyclic and failure), shake tests, rap tests, and nondestructive inspection. Acoustic testing of the ANCF fan using TEB has been ongoing since January of 2001. The fan has completed about 100 hr of testing with no structural, vibrational, or fatigue problems. Far-field acoustic measurements, in-duct mode measurements, precise hot wire surveys, and detailed performance measurements are providing data for evaluating the concept. The far-field noise data show that tone noise was reduced significantly with the initial ANCF TEB fan design. In addition, a significant reduction in unsteady stator loading has been measured, indicating the potential for stator broadband noise reduction. The acoustic benefits will be assessed and important design parameters identified to improve the ability to fully exploit any benefit provided by this technique. On the basis of the success of trailing edge blowing, Glenn plans to continue this research with a higher speed, higher pressure ratio fan operating in an acoustic wind tunnel to simulate flight conditions.

Cunningham, Cameron C.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Real-Time Implementation of Smart Wireless Charging of On-Demand Shuttle Service for Demand Charge Mitigation

This paper presents a smart charge management strategy for an on-demand electric shuttle operating at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) campus and supported by an inductive charger at the vehicle's waiting spot. A new control algorithm has been proposed for mitigating the demand charges incurred from the wireless charger. It monitors the shuttle, wireless charger, renewable energy generation, and other loads and regulates charging behavior for demand charge mitigation. Within the control algorithm, an energy prediction is made to estimate the mobility needs of the vehicle and maintain uninterrupted service during operation while still minimizing peak demand. The proposed controller is designed and optimized using a Simulink model for the entire system. It is then implemented and tested in real time at the NREL campus using online cloud services. Two vehicle-use cases' charge-sustaining and charge-depletion operation' are tested under different campus power profiles and drive cycles to assess the controller's performance. In this work, the proposed controller showed a robust performance under different driving scenarios, with high correlation between simulation and experimental data. The results show that proper demand response can be achieved, with an average of 94% reduction of charging loads during peak demand events.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Machine learning-enhanced MPC for demand flexibility in small commercial buildings: An experimental study

Small- and medium-sized commercial buildings (SMCBs) represent the majority of U.S. commercial building stock and a significant share of peak electricity demand, yet they often lack centralized building automation systems, representing a significant untapped resource for urban energy management. This infrastructure gap makes advanced control implementation challenging, limiting the potential for widespread demand flexibility. Model Predictive Control (MPC) has shown strong potential for load shifting, peak demand reduction, and cost savings, but its effectiveness is hindered by unmeasured disturbances such as internal heat gains. This paper presents a Hybrid MPC framework that integrates a physics-based gray-box building thermal model, identified using a lumped disturbance (LD) approach, with a machine learning (ML) model for forecasting unmeasured disturbances. The hybrid approach is designed for buildings with multiple individually controlled heat pump and thermostat pairs, common in SMCBs, and aims to optimize coordinated scheduling of multiple heat pumps under dynamic electricity pricing while respecting comfort constraints. The methodology is validated through both simulations of case study buildings and experimental studies at a highly-instrumented test facility. Simulation results show that the Hybrid MPC achieves substantial load shifting and peak demand reduction, approaching the performance of an ideal MPC with perfect disturbance knowledge, and outperforming a conventional MPC without disturbance forecasting. In experiments, the Hybrid MPC reduced daily HVAC energy costs by 8.7%, peak-price time load (load shifting) by 41.7%, and peak demand by 29.2% compared to baseline control, demonstrating comparable benefits to the 11.6% cost savings, 42.9% load shifting, and 23.2% peak reduction of the ideal MPC. These results demonstrate that the proposed hybrid modeling approach can significantly improve MPC performance in real-world SMCB applications without requiring additional disturbance measurements.

Demand Flexibility↗
DOE OSTI2022

Critical problems of energy frontier Muon Colliders: optics, magnets and radiation

This White Paper brings together our previous studies on a Muon Collider (MC) and presents a design concept of the 6 TeV MC optics, the superconducting (SC) magnets, and a preliminary analysis of the protection system to reduce magnet radiation loads as well as particle backgrounds in the detector. The SC magnets and detector protection considerations impose strict limitations on the lattice choice, hence the design of the collider optics, magnets and Machine Detector Interface (MDI) are closely intertwined. As a first approximation we use the Interaction Region (IR) design with beta-star=3 mm, whereas for the arcs we re-scale the arc cell design of the 3 TeV MC. Traditional cos-theta coil geometry and Nb3Sn superconductor were used to provide field maps for the analysis and optimization of the arc lattice and IR design, as well as for studies of beam dynamics and magnet protection against radiation. The stress management in the coil will be needed to avoid large degradation or even damage of the brittle SC coils. In the assumed IR designs, the dipoles close to the Interaction Point (IP) and tungsten masks in each IR (to protect magnets) help reducing background particle fluxes in the detector by a substantial factor. The tungsten nozzles in the 6 to 600 cm region from the IP, assisted by the detector solenoid field, trap most of the decay electrons created close to the IP as well as most of the incoherent electron-positron pairs generated in the IP. With sophisticated tungsten, iron, concrete and borated polyethylene shielding in the MDI region, the total reduction of background loads by more than three orders of magnitude can be achieved.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparison of two Calibrations of NASA's MC60 Five-component Semi-span Balance

Two separate manual calibrations of NASA’s MC60 five–component semi–span balance were compared. The calibrations were performed in 1999 and 2019using CALSPAN Force Measurement System’s Large Load Rig. The Iterative Method was chosen as the load prediction algorithm and data reduction matrices were generated from both calibration data sets. Then, the applied calibration load schedules, the standard deviations of the calibration load residuals, the prime sensitivities of the five gages, and the maximum outputs at capacity of the five gages were compared. In addition, the calibration data of 1999 was used as check load data for the data reduction matrix that was obtained from the 2019 data. Overall, the agreement between the data analysis results is very good considering the facts that two different load schedules were used for the calibrations, different people performed the calibrations, different instrumentation was used to measure the loads and the outputs, the Large Load Rig was moved to a different site in between the calibrations, and no tare load corrections could be applied to the 1999 data set. Nevertheless, the calibration data of 2019 is clearly the better data set. This observation is no surprise considering that CALSPAN Force Measurement Systems made significant investments in calibration hardware and process improvements during the last 20 years.

wind tunnel balance↗
DOE OSTI2025

Load-Shifting Strategies for Cost-Effective Emission Reductions at Wastewater Facilities

Significant hourly variation in the carbon intensity of electricity supplied to wastewater facilities introduces an opportunity to lower emissions by shifting the timing of their energy demand. This shift could be accomplished by storing wastewater, biogas from sludge digestion, or electricity from on-site biogas generation. However, the life cycle emissions and cost implications of these options are not clear. Here, we present a multiobjective optimization framework for comparing cost- and emission-minimizing load-shifting strategies at a California case study facility with a relatively low carbon intensity grid and high spread in peak and off-peak electricity prices. We evaluate cost and emission trade-offs from the optimal flexible operation of both existing infrastructure and optimally sized energy flexibility upgrades. We estimate energy-related emission reductions of up to 9.0% with flexible operation of existing infrastructure and up to 16.8% with optimally sized storage upgrades. Only a fraction of these potential savings are realized under actual industrial energy tariffs and the EPA’s recommended social cost of carbon. Energy flexibility may hold promise as a short-term emission-saving solution for the wastewater sector, but the extent of savings is heavily dependent on the cost of carbon, electricity tariffs, and emission intensity of the regional electricity grid.

climate↗