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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 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Optical Engine Lockout System Design and Operation

Engine run days in the Diesel Combustion and Fuel Effects Lab are hectic. The long mental lists that must be kept by engine operators, paired with the tight time constraints between experiments, can cause operational issues that may be dangerous to personnel and/or cause damage to test equipment. Until now, a paper sign has been used to warn operators not to motor the engine when a foreign object has been placed inside of it. Unfortunately, this simple administrative control has failed in the past, motivating this effort to develop an improved system. The lockout system described in this document introduces an engineering control that, when activated, actually prevents the engine from being motored. The new system consists of a primary and a secondary control panel. Prior to an operator placing a foreign object into the cylinder, they press a button on the secondary control panel near the engine. This breaks the interlock circuit for the engine dynamometer and activates LEDs on both control panels to notify operators that a foreign object is present within the engine cylinder. Once the work is done and all foreign objects have been removed from the combustion chamber, two operators must be present to disable the system by simultaneously pressing the buttons on the primary and secondary control panels. Requiring a second operator to disable the system increases accountability and reduces the likelihood of potentially costly mistakes.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Next Generation Neutrino Oscillation Experiments: Challenges, Opportunities and New Physics

In the next 5+ years, three new neutrino oscillation experiments with be operating: JUNO, HyperK and DUNE. These three complementary experiments will expore the neutrino sector with unprecedented precision and detail. Most likely, neutrinos do not get their masses via the vanilla Higg's mechanism as for all other fermions, thus it is imperative that the neutrino sector be explored with similar precision as the quark sector. This talk will highlight the Challenges, Opportunities and Searches for Additional New Physics in these three experiments.

Parke, Stephen [Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000320286782)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Dynamic modeling of heat pipe integrated thermal battery latent heat storage system experiment validation

A heat pipe integrated thermal battery system has been constructed to investigate a high-temperature latent heat thermal energy storage technology that takes advantage of near isothermal operation of latent heat storage and heat pipes to potentially enable high-energy isothermal heat storage. A dynamic model constructed in Modelica has been validated, showing errors between 2.5 °C–39.7 °C across 10-h to 47-h simulations against experiment results, showing good prediction capability of experiment output, especially against phase change time. Model calibrations showing vessel heat-up capability of 3 kW and heat pipes combining to provide 600 W each during experiment operation validate experiment circumstances including reduced material loading and reduced power capability. The experiment configuration uses an Al-Mg-Zn eutectic metal as the storage material, heated via heat tape wrapped around the vessel and guide tubes to bring the system to operation range (>400 °C) and to simulate charging heat exchange, respectively, with heat rejection occurring through the surfaces of the material and facilitated via guide tubes with less insulation wrapping. The model is available in the open-source repository HYBRID on Github.

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Advanced Test Reactor Safety Basis Update for Gas-Cooled Experiments

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) supports neutron irradiation of several types of experiments. One such experiment type is referred to as a gas leadout. Gas leadout experiments actively flow gas through the experiment which allows for active temperature control. It also allows for in-situ data of the experiment. For example, fission gas migration through a fuel sample can be monitored via activity of the sweep gas. Historically, ex-pile equipment and fission product monitors were housed in shielded ATR cubicles. Due to other facility updates, cubicle space is no longer available for gas leadout experiment equipment. To support continued operation of gas leadout experiments, ATR completed a safety basis update that supports a new housing for leadout equipment that may process potentially contaminated gas. In addition to the structure and associated equipment, technical safety requirements regarding handling and storage of experiments needed to be revised to support fueled gas leadout experiments and associated outage configurations. The safety basis update addressed the full lifecycle of these experiments, including experiment movement and interim storage, and credible abnormal events such as failures or leaks in contaminated gas tubing in occupied areas. This paper discusses the completed analyses performed to support the safety basis update associated with gas leadout experiments, including thermal-hydraulic evaluation, probabilistic analysis, and dose consequence analyses.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

AGR-5/6/7 Operations Update for Technical Coordination Team (Apr 2020)

This is a powerpoint presentation designed to update the Technical Coordination Team (TCT) associated with the AGR irradiation experiment program on operations of the AGR-5/6/7 experiment over the past six months (since the last TCT meeting). The presentation primarily deals with operational challenges to failed fuel particles in capsule 1. Specifically, how to keep fission products from capsule 1 from entering the other four capsules in the experiment.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Improving Self-Driving Labs: Quantifying System-Level Experiment Repeatability and Broadening Instrument-Level Compatibility

Modular Autonomous Research System (MARS) is a self-driving laboratory (SDL) which performs wet-lab science with peptide-lanthanide combinations in an automated and, ultimately, an autonomous manner to aid in soil analysis for domestic lithium mining. Autonomous experimentation involves automated experimentation, experiment planning, and active learning. MARS consists of a 6-axis robotic arm (UR5e) on a linear rail, pipette robots (Opentrons 2), and microplate readers. These components transport, operate on, and collect data with chemical solutions in standard labware. For effective autonomy, MARS must perform system-level labware operations repeatably, plan experiments autonomously, and be portable between research-domains. Repeatability is evaluated by labware placement precision, such that future operations can properly locate labware, as well as the elapsed time, so that low variance mean estimates of experiment duration can inform high-level researcher decision making. Autonomous experiment planning is the next step to decouple experimentation from human management; however, there is a conflict between the ideal system-level experiment goals and the constraints imposed by instruments’ limitations. Sub-domain portability is a long-term goal to extend MARS’ research beyond the chemistry of peptide-lanthanide binding to other sub-domains without having to invest significant overhead to system retrofitting. To address these goals, we manually trained the robotic arm labware placement and modelled statistical failurerate and uncertainty Additionally, we benchmarked the duration and variance of each experiment sub-operation as a heuristic for research decision making. Next, we use a parameterized geometric program (PGP) approach to design experiments that optimize system-level objectives and satisfy instrument-level constraints. Lastly, we proposed a Python framework to maximize MARS’ extensibility to other scientific sub-domains through a JSON-based experiment specification.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Special Issue of Nuclear Science and Engineering celebrates the Tenth Anniversary of Operations at NCERC

The National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) is a general-purpose critical experiment facility, the only one in the US and one a few that remain operational throughout the world. NCERC is located at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), formerly known as the Nevada Test Site, and is operated by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This year, NCERC celebrated its 10th year of operation. To commemorate the first ten years of operations and experiments, a special issue of Nuclear Science and Engineering was prepared with papers focusing on each of the four critical assemblies and one on Radiation Test Object (RTO) measurements.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Upgrade of hardware controls for the STAR experiment at RHIC

The STAR experiment has been delivering significant physics results for more than 20 years. Stable operation of the experiment was achieved by using a robust controls system based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). Now an object-oriented approach with Python libraries, adapted for EPICS software, is going to replace the procedural-based EPICS C libraries previously used at STAR. Advantages of the new approach include stability of operation, code reduction and straightforward project documentation. The first two sections of this paper introduce the STAR experiment, give an overview of the EPICS architecture, and present the use of Python for controls software. Therefore, specific examples, as well as upgrades of user interfaces, are outlined in the following sections.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cross Section Results from the MicroBooNE Experiment

The MicroBooNE detector is currently the largest operating liquid argon neutrino experiment in the world. Located at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), MicroBooNE has been collecting both electron neutrino (\(\nu _{e}\)) and muon neutrino (\(\nu _{\mu }\)) interactions from both the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) and the Neutrino Main Injector (NuMI) since late 2015. During this time, MicroBooNE has measured a wide-variety of interaction topologies including \(\nu _{\mu }\) charged current, \(\nu _{e}\) charged current, resonant \(\pi ^{0}\), and various high multiplicity interactions. To date, many of MicroBooNE’s measurements are either the first of their kind using liquid argon as a target material, or have the largest number of events collected using a liquid argon detector. All of these measurements combine to form a rich cross section programme, aiming to enhance understanding of GeV-range neutrino interaction on liquid argon for upcoming detectors such as SBND, ICARUS, and DUNE.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Molten Salt Reactor Signatures and Modeling Study

Molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies, either liquid fueled and cooled or only liquid cooled, pose specific, unique challenges for safeguards of the special nuclear material during the operation, fueling, and maintenance of the reactor. MSRs are one type of Generation IV technologies being invested in and considered for U.S. domestic fabrication primarily for electricity and process heat production. These designs have generated growing commercial interest for several reasons, including high (≈40%) thermal efficiency, ease of fueling, improved use of uranium fuel, potential utilization of thorium fuel, and proposed inherent safety features. U.S. companies have several planned designs that differ in fuel, cooling, and neutron energy spectrum. Driven by commercial interest and the intent of licensing MSRs, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed a vision and strategy to accommodate non-light water reactors (LWR), which include MSRs (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2019). In addition, the Department of Energy (DOE) through the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) Office of Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART), …sponsors research, development and deployment (RD&D) activities through its Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC), and Advanced Small Modular Reactor (aSMR) programs to promote safety, technical, economical, and environmental advancements of innovative Generation IV nuclear energy technologies. Reactor types considering the use of salts, liquid metals, or gases for coolant fall under both ARC and aSMR. Therefore, Research Design & Development is being pursued by DOE-NE through national laboratories, universities, and international and industrial collaborations. Additionally, the U.S. is a member of the Gen IV International Forum (GIF). The GIF is a cooperative, multinational organization to guide and carry out research and development needed for the GEN IV reactor systems (Forum 2018). GIF evaluated numerous reactor concepts and down-selected to the six most feasible advanced reactor technologies: gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR), MSR, supercritical watercooled reactor (SCWR), sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), and very high temperature reactor (VHTR). In support of the growing interest domestically and internationally, the Materials Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (MPACT) campaign, under the DOE-NE Fuel Cycle Technologies (FCT) program, engages in R&D activities by developing advanced instrumentation and analysis for safeguards and security of modern, advanced nuclear fuel cycle (non-LWR) facilities. Because of the historic experience in the operation of the Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) and the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) (Robertson, MSRE Design and Operations Report Part I 1965), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is heavily engaged in the various R&D activities through the DOE complex related to MSRs including national technical leadership of the DOE-NE MSR campaign. This report discusses and presents the outcomes of the FY19 MPACT MSR Safeguards task. The challenges presented by MSRs for nuclear material accountancy and control (NMAC) and associated safeguards will be investigated. The objective of this research is to explore and compile the safeguards requirements and identify measurement signatures through an initial high-level MSR design and develop complementary advanced simulation and modeling capabilities. A high-level ORNL-developed MSR design called the Molten Salt Demonstration Reactor (MSDR) (Bettis, Alexander and Watts 1972) was used as the target reactor design for this research. The MSDR model incorporates technology from the MSRE and the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (Robertson, Conceptual Design of a Single-Fluid Molten-Salt Breeder Reactor 1971). But the MSDR is a 750 MWth graphite moderated liquid fueled (low-enriched uranium) MSR compared to the MSRE’s of 7.5 MWth. The focus of this report is to discuss the evaluation of novel signatures, correlations, and indicators to understand the applicability of current safeguards instrumentation to MSRs using the modeling results from the MSDR.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Experimental Investigation of Students? Learning Effects When Using a Simplified Nuclear Simulator

This study focuses on investigating students' learning effects and performance trends over a certain period using the Rancor Microworld Simulator. Specifically, it aims to determine the training required to collect HRA data from non-experts (i.e., students) using Rancor Microworld and the differences in human performance measures between students and professional operators. A longitudinal experiment is conducted with sixteen undergraduate students, using four Rancor Microworld scenarios in each of the four experiment trials. The study considers four human performance measurements workload, situation awareness, time, and error. Finally, the trend of students' performance is compared with operator data collected from the previous experiment. Overall, this research complements previous studies by providing insights into how much training is required to collect HRA data from non-experts and the differences in human performance measures between students and professional operators.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A New Era of Nuclear Criticality Experiments: The First 10 Years of Flattop Operations at NCERC

The Flattop critical assembly was built and operated from 1958 through 2004 at the Pajarito Site (Technical Area-18), home to the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility. Flattop was disassembled in 2005 and refurbished over the course of 3 years. In 2008, Flattop was installed in the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) located in the Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada National Security Site. Startup of Flattop with a uranium core occurred in 2011. This paper details the first 10 years of Flattop operations at NCERC (2011–present).

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Financial Analysis of the High Flow Experiment conducted at the Glen Canyon Dam during Water Year 2023

The Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) is a Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) power resource that is a component of the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects (SLCA/IP). The 2016 record of decision (ROD) for the GCD long-term experimental and management plan (LTEMP) final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) specified criteria for GCD monthly water releases, daily and hourly operating limits, and experimental releases. This report examines the financial implications of the high flow experiment (HFE) conducted at GCD during the spring of Water Year (WY) 2023 as required by the LTEMP HFE Protocol. This report is part of a series of reports that describe the financial costs of LTEMP experimental releases since the 2016 ROD was adopted in January 2017. Previous reports analyzed the impact of several past HFEs and Bug Flow Experiments. This report focuses on the HFE conducted in April 2023. For this experimental release, financial costs of approximately $1.33 million were incurred because the HFE required sustained water releases exceeding the power plant’s maximum turbine flow rate. In addition, during the experiment, operators were not allowed to shape GCD power production, either to follow Firm Electric Service (FES) customer day-ahead energy deliveries or to respond to market prices. This study identifies the main factors contributing to the HFE costs and examines the interdependencies among these factors. It applies an integrated set of tools to estimate Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) financial impacts by simulating GCD under two types of cases; namely, (1) a “With Experiment” case that mimics the operations that actually occurred and (2) a “Without Experiment” case that simulates operations under the assumption that the HFE did not occur. The “With Experiment” case mimics operations during the HFE and the entire month the HFE occurred. It complies with LTEMP hourly and daily operating criteria. The “Without Experiment” case assumes that the HFE did not occur. The monthly water release volume is assumed to be identical under both cases. The Colorado River Storage Project Python-based model (CRiSPPy) model was the main modeling tool used to simulate the dispatch of the GCD hydropower plant and associated water releases from Lake Powell. In the modeling process, the research team used extensive data sets and historical information on SLCA/IP power plant characteristics, hydrologic conditions, and WAPA’s power purchases and sales prices. In addition to estimating the financial impact of the HFE, the team used the CRiSPPy model to gain insights into the interplay among ROD operating criteria, exceptions made to criteria to accommodate the HFE, and WAPA operating practices.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Design of a High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium Tri-Structural Isotropic Critical Experiment for Advanced Reactor Validation

High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel is a key component of many small modular reactor designs. Critical experiments are an important way to understand the neutronic performance of systems by obtaining nuclear data validations through measurements. Data reduce uncertainty and risk by showing that systems respond as predicted to changes such as temperature, subsequently advancing the overall technology readiness level of the materials within. Numerous critical experiments have been performed at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) operated by Los Alamos National Laboratory at the Nevada National Security Site since it became operational in 2011. However, the first experiment with HALEU fuel did not occur until 2024. Through extensive engineering, the experiment described in this paper was successfully designed and executed for the Comet vertical lift assembly at NCERC to perform measurements with HALEU tri-structural isotropic fuel that will assist in validation of nuclear data and computational modeling of small modular reactors for years to come.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Comparative Analysis of Heat Exchangers for High Temperature High Pressure Helium Component Testing

Helium gas loops have been designed and built to gain a better understanding of the gas thermohydraulic phenomena that take place in a helium system. Some of these loops are used for validation and testing of components for high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). However, most of them operate at lower pressure and temperature than an HTGR. While these loops can provide valuable information about gas-cooled reactor components, the operating envelope of the experiment is constrained by the maximum operating conditions of the helium loop. In response to the lack of an experimental facility that can provide the infrastructure needed to validate and test components at nominal pressures and temperatures of HTGRS, the HElium Component Testing Out-of-pile Research (HECTOR) facility was designed at Idaho National Laboratory with the assistance of University of Idaho and Walsh Engineering. With the capability to test at temperatures up to 800°C and pressures of 8MPa, HECTOR serves as a critical tool for the advancement of HTGR technology. The facility's primary role is to provide a controlled, high-fidelity environment for the assessment of component resilience and efficiency under nominal HTGR conditions. In the quest to enhance the efficiency and performance of HECTOR, a comparative analysis of three distinct types of heat exchangers—shell and tube, offset strip fin, and printed-circuit—was conducted, focusing primarily on two critical metrics: the required surface area and pressure drop characteristics. The shell and tube heat exchanger, renowned for its robust design and widespread industrial application, was evaluated against the offset strip fin and the cuttingedge printed-circuit heat exchangers, both of which are lauded for their compactness and thermal effectiveness. This comparative study aims to provide detailed insights into the thermal management capabilities of each heat exchanger type under the conditions inherent to HECTOR, thereby facilitating an informed selection for systems demanding high operational integrity and efficiency.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Insights into determining pore size properties of ultrafiltration membranes

The selectivity of porous membranes is often characterized using solute rejection tests, where membranes are challenged with dilute aqueous solutions of neutral solutes at operating conditions that minimize concentration polarization and fouling. In single solute tests, a membrane is challenged with one molecular weight (MW) solute at a time from low to high MW. Since single solute methods are time-intensive, mixed solute tests have become more common, where a mixture of several MW solutes challenges a membrane at once. However, the presence of large solutes in a mixture increases the rejection of smaller solutes. Furthermore, there are no universally accepted operating conditions or standard methods used by membrane manufacturers or researchers for the experiments, leading to difficulty in pore size and pore characteristic comparisons. In this paper, commercial ultrafiltration membranes were challenged with single and mixed solute polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran aqueous solutions. First, rejection values determined using total organic carbon (TOC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) from single solute filtration experiments are compared. Differences in rejection curves obtained by the two techniques are attributed to solute polydispersity. Mixed solute filtration experiments with binary mixtures of solutes showcased co-solute interactions, which increase with both the size and weight percent of large solute in the mixture. Mixed solute filtration experiments at varying operating conditions (i.e., stir speed and flux) were conducted to determine operating conditions that mitigate co-solute interactions. Stir speed had a minimal effect on co-solute interactions. In contrast, low flux conditions can help minimize co-solute interactions, leading to pore size distributions that closely resemble results observed in single solute filtration using narrowly dispersed solutes. Additionally, at low flux conditions, the predicted membrane pore size distributions utilizing mixed solute experiments with PEG and dextran were similar.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of a streaming readout solution for Jefferson Lab experiments

Jefferson Lab (JLab) operates the CEBAF accelerator that provides a high energy (up to 12 GeV) and high current (up to 150 µA) polarized electron beam for fixed target experiments. JLab's mission is to provide substantial progress in understanding the Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD), the current theory of the spectrum and the dynamics of hadronic matter. Given the broad scientific program a general-purpose detector, CLAS12, has been designed and constructed. Such a detector requires a sophisticated trigger and current experiments use an on-line FPGA-based system that relies upon custom firmware and electronics both of which are difficult reconfigure from one experiment to the next. To overcome these challenges transitioning to a streaming readout has been proposed since it would allow a more flexible, easier to debug, software trigger to be developed. To facilitate this JLab is gaining experience with streaming readout systems and is actively working to design and test a streaming data acquisition architecture. Significant work has already been done to make existing front-end electronics compatible with operation in streaming mode. Software-wise, much work remains to be done but an existing framework, TriDAS, which was developed for underwater neutrino telescopes can, in principle, be used with the existing JLab hardware. A test stand is already in place in the INDRA DAQ development lab at JLab. This paper will present the development of this TriDAS based test system and it?s operation in-beam using parts of the CLAS12 detector to evaluate streaming readout for a large general purpose detector.

Battaglieri, Marco↗
DOE OSTI2020

Projected WIMP sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment

LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo. In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector. For a 1000 live day run using a 5.6 tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above $1.6 \times 10^{-48}$ cm$^{2}$ for a 40 $\mathrm{GeV}/c^{2}$ mass WIMP. Additionally, a $5\sigma$ discovery potential is projected reaching cross sections below the existing and projected exclusion limits of similar experiments that are currently operating. For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of $2.7 \times 10^{-43}$ cm$^{2}$ ($8.1 \times 10^{-42}$ cm$^{2}$) for a 40 $\mathrm{GeV}/c^{2}$ mass WIMP is expected. With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗