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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 271 records · Page 15

Solar+Storage for Household Back-up Power: Implications of building efficiency, load flexibility, and electrification for backup during long-duration power interruptions [Slides]

The study analyzes the evolving role of solar+storage for home backup power during long-duration power interruptions. In particular, it evaluates how required storage sizing is impacted as homes become more efficient, flexible, and electrified. The study relies on NREL’s ResStock building modeling platform to create statistically representative distributions of the existing building stock in ten locations across the United States. It then shows how the amount battery storage required for backup power rises or falls as a series of building envelope efficiency, load flexibility, and electrification measures are applied across the building stock in each region. The study also includes sensitivities to show how backup power requirements are impacted by the timing and duration of power interruptions, and explores variation in backup power requirements across the building stock within each study location. The results demonstrate the value of pairing solar+storage with efficiency upgrades, smart home controls, and (in mild winter climates) efficient heat pump retrofits. That value comes in the form of reducing the amount of storage required and/or extending the range of interruption conditions over which a given system can provide backup power (i.e., more extreme weather and/or longer interruptions). Heat pumps in cold-weather climates can pose a challenge for solar+storage backup power, given the amount of storage required, though are a vast improvement over electric-resistance heating. Retaining existing fossil-based heating systems for occasional use during power interruptions, as either the primary or supplementary source of heat, can mitigate this challenge. Other forms of building electrification (e.g., cooking and water heating) generally have marginal impacts on backup battery sizing, given their relatively small energy demand.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Technical Risks Associated with Heat Melt Compaction Systems

The processing of trash and waste is a welcome and valuable addition to humans living and working in space. Besides the obvious desire to have a pleasant and productive habitation environment, trash management has many practicalbenefits for crew health, resource recovery, and volume reclamation through garbage compaction. The Trash Compaction and Processing System (TCPS), which is a NASA project to develop a trash processing system for long-duration spaceflight, is currently undergoing concept development with engineering prototype validation through two contracted efforts. The development efforts are being supported with activities associated with the NASA Generation 2 Heat Melt Compactor (HMC). The HMC is a facility that compacts trash, recovers water, heats the trash to eliminate biological activity, and manages gas and vapor effluents. The resulting residual processed trash is a compact tile that is free of biological growth and that can be used for augmenting radiation shields. The work being conducted with the HMC focuses on high risk technical areas with respect to operations, subsystem performance, and ISS effluent management interface requirements. This paper gives an overview of the technical risks and the current use of the HMC as a facility for reducing risk.

HMC↗

Solar-heating system design data brochure

Report details design and performance specifications of complete system for space and hot-water heating that is assembled from commercially available components. System can meet need of single family dwelling having approximately 1,200 sq ft of floor area and can be scaled to requirements of larger or smaller installations.

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Solar-heating system performance tests

Report contains results of performance tests on complete system for solar space and hot-water heating system that uses commercially available components. Results were used to determine system suitability for field installation and to generate performance data base for comparison with future tests on field installed systems.

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Machined Titanium Heat-Pipe Wick Structure

Wick structures fabricated by machining of titanium porous material are essential components of lightweight titanium/ water heat pipes of a type now being developed for operation at temperatures up to 530 K in high-radiation environments. In the fabrication of some prior heat pipes, wicks have been made by extruding axial grooves into aluminum unfortunately, titanium cannot be extruded. In the fabrication of some other prior heat pipes, wicks have been made by in-situ sintering of metal powders shaped by the use of forming mandrels that are subsequently removed, but in the specific application that gave rise to the present fabrication method, the required dimensions and shapes of the heat-pipe structures would make it very difficult if not impossible to remove the mandrels due to the length and the small diameter. In the present method, a wick is made from one or more sections that are fabricated separately and assembled outside the tube that constitutes the outer heat pipe wall. The starting wick material is a slab of porous titanium material. This material is machined in its original flat configuration to form axial grooves. In addition, interlocking features are machined at the mating ends of short wick sections that are to be assembled to make a full-length continuous wick structure. Once the sections have been thus assembled, the resulting full-length flat wick structure is rolled into a cylindrical shape and inserted in the heatpipe tube (see figure). This wick-structure fabrication method is not limited to titanium/water heat pipes: It could be extended to other heat pipe materials and working fluids in which the wicks could be made from materials that could be pre-formed into porous slabs.

Rosenfeld, John H.↗

Prototype solar heating and hot water system

Progress is reported in the development of a solar heating and hot water system which uses a pyramidal optics solar concentrator for heating, and consists of the following subsystems: collector, control, transport, and site data acquisition. Improvements made in the components and subsystems are discussed.

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Raman and infrared spectra of plutonium (IV) oxalate and its thermal degradation products

For over 80 years, plutonium dioxide has been routinely produced via thermal decomposition of hydrated plutonium(IV) oxalate. Despite the longstanding utility of this process, the chemical structures of starting materials and intermediates produced during this thermal conversion remain ill-defined. To help resolve this uncertainty, we measured high-resolution Raman and infrared spectra of Pu(C 2 O 4 ) 2 ·6H 2 O that was heated to 25, 100, 220, 250, 350, and 450 °C in air. Our measurements show that Pu(C 2 O 4 ) 2 ·6H 2 O has a rich vibrational spectrum with at least 15 Raman bands between 180 cm -1 and 1900 cm -1 and 9 infrared bands between 800 cm -1 and 4000 cm -1 . As Pu(C 2 O 4 ) 2 ·6H 2 O is heated, water is liberated, and the oxalate ligand decomposes to produce plutonium oxycarbide species. When heated to 350 °C or higher, vibrational spectra are consistent with PuO 2 with some residual carbon-containing species. Full vibrational spectra, powder X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy measurements of Pu(C 2 O 4 ) 2 ·6H 2 O and its thermal degradation products are presented herein along with approximate assignments for observed spectral bands. These data can be used to validate and potentially improve existing computational models that describe the chemical structure of compounds produced during thermal degradation of plutonium (IV) oxalate. Given the utility of plutonium (IV) oxalate in synthesizing plutonium dioxide, these results are expected to provide value in the fields of nuclear fuel processing, nuclear nonproliferation, and nuclear forensics.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Decarbonization of Liquid Heating Fuels

Annually, residential and commercial buildings use about 5 billion gallons (18.9 billion liters) of distillate fuel for space and water heating. There is considerable interest in decarbonizing these markets through a combination of heat pumps and a future, carbon-free grid. An alternate approach that offers rapid and cost effective decarbonization involves substitution of low-carbon biofuels for fossil fuels within this market. Heating fuel marketers in North America and Europe are aggressively moving to achieve market penetration of biofuels. Processes for this include fuel specification standards, development of manufacturer-approved burners and all system components, development of standards for equipment listing, installation code changes, and generation of performance data. There has been considerable progress in these areas and each of these are reviewed in this paper. Currently, the most important biofuel for this market is biodiesel with a U.S. production capacity of 2.4 billion gallons (9.1 billion liters) and approximately a 75% reduction in GHG emissions. The biodiesel industry has stated a vision for dramatic increases in biodiesel production over the next decades. Fuel and equipment standards are in place to enable use of biodiesel blends to 20% and this blend is now widely used. Standard changes to extend this to as high as 100% biodiesel are nearing completion. Several states have implemented requirements for minimum levels of biodiesel in heating oil with these levels increasing over time.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Solar heating and hot water system installed at office building, One Solar Place, Dallas, Texas

A solar heating on cooling system is described which is designed to provide 87 percent of the space heating needs, 100 percent of the potable hot water needs and is sized for future absorption cooling. The collection subsystem consists of 28 solargenics, series 76, flat plate collectors with a total area of 1,596 square feet. The solar loop circulates an ethylene glyco water solution through the collectors into a hot water system exchanger. The water storage subsystem consists of a heat exchanger, two 2,300 gallon concrete hot water storage tanks with built in heat exchangers and a back-up electric boiler. The domestic hot water subsystem sends hot water to the 10,200 square feet floor area office building hot water water fixtures. The building cold water system provides make up to the solar loop, the heating loop, and the hot water concrete storage tanks. The design, construction, cost analysis, operation and maintenance of the solar system are described.

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The role of large-scale atmospheric circulation in the formation of temperature anomalies in surface waters as illustrated by the northern part of the Pacific Ocean

One important reason for thermal anomalies in the ocean is the dynamic action of anomalous wind systems that set masses of surface water in motion; predominant longitudinal transport of water and air leads to a significant redistribution of cold and warm waters. Heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere plays an additional role in the formation of water temperature anomalies.

Sorkina, A. I.↗

Scoping Study of Integrated Geothermal CO 2 Heat Pump and Water Well System in Cold Climate Region

This study evaluates the feasibility of using ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) integrated with water wells for residential heating demands in cold regions of the United States. Four different heat pump systems were evaluated and compared: a CO 2 air-source heat pump (ASHP), a R-410A ASHP, a CO 2 GSHP integrated with well water, and a R-410A GSHP integrated with well water. Simulations were conducted at both equipment and building integration levels, followed by a nationwide analysis across 10 selected cities. Results indicate that integrating GSHP technology with existing water wells (e.g., artesian, bedrock, drilled, and collector wells) is a feasible heating solution because of their high flow rates, good water quality, stable temperatures, and low environmental impact. Although R-410A systems demonstrate higher efficiency, CO 2 systems are more suitable for heating from contamination-free and energy security perspective. The CO 2 GSHPs maintain better performance in colder climates compared with that of ASHPs, providing higher coefficient of performance and environmental benefits because CO 2 refrigerant leakage would not contaminate well water. A national analysis confirms that CO 2 GSHPs outperform furnaces, especially in cold climates, making them a promising solution for residential heating.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Hydrogel-Salt Hydrate Composite for Highly Stable Heat Energy Storage with Reduced Supercooling

Phase change materials (PCM) have potential for use in thermal energy storage in buildings, medical devices, and water heat pumps. Sodium sulfate hydrate (SSD) is appealing due to its high energy storage capability and affordability. However, SSD has issues including high supercooling (> 15°C) and low thermal cyclic stability. In this study, we introduced an ionic molecular nucleating agent that decreases the supercooling temperature to under 2°C. When this SSD was combined with a hydrogel, it maintained its thermal energy storage capacity for over 100 cycles without any decline. The success is attributed to the polymer confining the SSD crystals, preventing large-scale phase separation and the nucleating agent which resulted in nucleation of many small SSD crystals at small undercoolings rather than a small number of larger crystals. As a proof-of-application, we synthesized this composite at a kg scale and demonstrated its properties in a close to real-world demonstration.

chemical composition, thermodynamics↗

Forced-convection Heat Transfer to Water at High Pressures and Temperatures in the Nonboiling Region

Forced-convection heat-transfer data have been obtained for water flowing in an electrically heated tube of circular cross section at water pressures of 200 and 2000 pounds per square inch, and temperatures in the nonboiling region, for water velocities ranging between 5 and 25 feet per second. The results indicate that conventional correlations can be used to predict heat-transfer coefficients for water at pressures up to 2000 pounds per square inch and temperatures in the nonboiling region.

HEAT TRANSFER THEORY AND EXPERIMENT↗

Parametric Study of Panel PCM–Air Heat Exchanger Designs

Heat exchangers, devices for the transfer of heat between two or more working fluids, are extensively used in cooling applications and heating applications. Heat exchangers in buildings are typically components of space-conditioning systems, as well as of water-heating applications. Heat exchangers are also sometimes used in applications that require storage and release of energy at specific times. Phase change materials (PCMs) enhance these heat-exchange processes, given their ability to melt and solidify at a fixed range of temperatures, absorbing or releasing significant amounts of latent heat. Five different configurations of PCM–air heat exchangers for thermal control in buildings are analyzed in this work. The heat exchangers were fitted with PCM encapsulated in plastic and composite pouches of various shapes, and packaged in stackable panel layers. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of coupled incompressible fluid and conjugate heat transfer were performed on the designs. The phase change process was numerically modelled using the apparent heat capacity method. Steady-state CFD simulations provided quantification of pressure drop as a function of air flow velocity. Transient simulation results describe the thermal evolution of PCM in the pouches, helping to determine the best performing configuration with respect to total thermal charging time.

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗

Controller for solar heating-design package

Report contains performance specifications and detailed drawings for two instruments: (1) differential controller, and (2) temperature monitor, for solar-powered water-heating systems. Included in package are schematics, wiring diagrams, test procedures, and parts list.

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