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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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

An Experimental Investigation of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) on Lake Ice

A vibration-sensitive, Distributed Acoustic Sensor (DAS) array, using fiber-optic cables, was deployed in a triangularly shaped geometry on the frozen surface of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The purpose of the array and testing program was to analyze the DAS response and to utilize the high spatial density of the distributed array for system response characterization in a well-constrained, small, surface array. A geophone array was also deployed to provide a reference system. The design of the array allowed us to assess the response of DAS with respect to distance from the seismic sources, the degradation of the response with length of the cable, the directivity of the fiber response with respect of the direction of the particle motion, and the quality of the signal with respect to cable type. The DAS array was examined for different cable constructions and orientations relative to the source propagation direction. Tight-buffered and loose-tube fiber-optic cable constructions were used, with both having good signal responses when well-coupled to the ice. In general, the tight-buffered cable was better suited for DAS applications. Directional sensitivity of the DAS was also inspected for several directions of wave propagation and particle motion. The results showed that the strongest DAS signals were recorded when the direction of the fiber was oriented parallel to the direction of particle motion. Lastly, the DAS and geophone data sets were examined together to qualitatively determine, in conjunction with established DAS best practices, how the high spatial density offered by DAS could improve results over traditional point sensor arrays in certain situations.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

The Effects of Hybrid Relative Maturity on Corn Stover for Ethanol Production and Biomass Composition

Full‐season corn ( Zea mays L.) hybrids take advantage of more of the growing season than shorter‐season hybrids often leading to greater grain and biomass yield. Many agronomic experiments aimed at corn stover production have been performed at forage harvest rather than later when stover is normally harvested for biofuel measurements. The objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of hybrid relative maturity (days RM) on stover ethanol production, ruminant digestibility, and biomass composition. Hybrids selected were high‐yielding commercial grain hybrids grown throughout Wisconsin and ranged from 85 to 115 d RM in 10 d RM increments during 2009, and in 5 d RM increments during 2010. Hybrids were harvested at physiological maturity or after a killing frost. Overall, stover and theoretical ethanol yields increased as RM increased at a linear rate of 0.211 Mg ha −1 RM −1 and 67.1 L ha −1 RM −1 . Stover nutritional and biomass composition improved as RM increased, but yield variability was greater than nutritional and biomass compositional variability. Increasing ethanol yields will likely occur by increasing stover yields rather than by altering stover composition. Therefore, until price premiums for stover composition are made available to farmers for ethanol production, the adoption of full‐season or longer maturing hybrids should be implemented for increased stover and ethanol yields.

Wilkens, Steve↗
DOE OSTI2017

Biomass Production a Stronger Driver of Cellulosic Ethanol Yield than Biomass Quality

Core Ideas Fermentable sugars were greatest in corn stover > perennial grasses > polycultures. Corn stover had the highest ethanol content. Miscanthus had the highest ethanol yield potential on a per hectare basis. Ethanol yield potential per hectare of switchgrass ≥ corn stover. Biomass yield was the strongest driver of per hectare ethanol yield. Many crops have been proposed as feedstocks for the emerging cellulosic ethanol industry, but information is lacking about the relative importance of feedstock production and quality. We compared yield and sugar content for seven bioenergy cropping systems in south‐central Wisconsin (ARL) and southwestern Michigan (KBS) during three growing seasons (2012 through 2014). The cropping systems were (i) continuous corn stover ( Zea mays L.), (ii) switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.), (iii) giant miscanthus ( Miscanthus × giganteus Greef & Deuter ex Hodkinson & Renvoize), (iv) hybrid poplar ( Populus nigra × P. maximowiczii A. Henry ‘NM6’), (v) native grass mix, (vi) early successional community, and (vii) restored prairie. A high‐throughput pretreatment and fermentation assay showed corn stover with the highest sugar content (213 g glucose kg −1 [Glc] and 115 g xylose kg −1 [Xyl]) followed by the two monoculture perennial grass treatments (154 [Glc] and 88 [Xyl]) and then the herbaceous polycultures (135 [Glc] and 77 [Xyl]). Biomass production and sugar content were combined to calculate ethanol yields. Miscanthus had the highest per hectare ethanol yields (1957 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 2485 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS) followed by switchgrass (1091 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 1017 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS) and corn stover (1121 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 878 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS). Perennial grass cropping systems (i.e., switchgrass and miscanthus) had higher per hectare ethanol yields at both sites relative to diverse systems that included dicots. Despite feedstock differences in fermentable sugars, biomass production was the strongest driver of per hectare ethanol yield.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Sustaining the Natural and Economic resources of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe

The Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, located in northwest Wisconsin has developed a project, entitled Sustaining the Natural and Economic Resources of the LCO Ojibwe. This technical report is a summary of the project. LCO intends to create a Weatherization Center with the ultimate goal of assuring that the resources of Nokomis aki-in which have nourished our lives as Ojibwe people are there for future generations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Atomic and Molecular Physics Effects on Ion Flow into Hot Surfaces

Research during this project at the University of Wisconsin Fusion Technology Institute (UW FTI) on ion and neutral flow through an arbitrary, monotonic potential difference created by nearly transparent electrodes accomplished the following: (1) developed and implemented an integral equation approach for atomic physics effects in helium plasmas; (2) extended the analysis to coupled integral equations that treat atomic and molecular deuterium ions and neutrals; (3) implemented the key deuterium and helium atomic and molecular cross sections; (4) added negative ion production and related cross sections; and (5) benchmarked the code against experimental results. The analysis and codes treat the species D 0 , D 2 0 , D + , D 2 + , D 3 + , D - and, separately at present, He 0 and He + . Extensions enhanced the analysis and related computer codes to include He ++ ions plus planar and cylindrical geometries.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Four-Dimensional Finite-Orbit-Width Fokker-Planck Code with Sources, for Neoclassical/Anomalous Transport Simulation of Ion and Electron (Final Technical Report)

Within the US Department of Energy/Office of Fusion Energy magnetic fusion research program, there is an important whole-plasma-modeling need for a radio-frequency/neutral-beam-injection (RF/NBI) transport-oriented finite-difference Fokker-Planck (FP) code with combined capabilities for 4D (2R2V) geometry near the fusion plasma periphery, and computationally less demanding 3D (1R2V) bounce-averaged capabilities for plasma in the core of fusion devices. Demonstration of proof-of-principle achievement of this goal has been carried out in research carried out under Phase I of the SBIR award. Two DOE-sponsored codes, the CQL3D bounce-average Fokker-Planck code in which CompX has specialized, and the COGENT 4D, plasma edge-oriented Fokker-Planck code which has been constructed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory scientists, where coupled. Coupling was achieved by using CQL3D calculated velocity distributions including an energetic tail resulting from NBI, as boundary conditions for the COGENT code over the two-dimensional velocity space on a spatial interface (flux) surface at a given radius near the plasma periphery. The finite-orbit-width fast ions from the CQL3D distributions penetrated into the peripheral plasma modeled by the COGENT code. This combined code demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed 3D/4D code. By combining these codes, the greatest computational efficiency is achieved subject to present modeling needs in toroidally symmetric magnetic fusion devices. The more efficient 3D code can be used in its regions of applicability, coupled to the more computationally demanding 4D code in higher collisionality edge plasma regions where that extended capability is necessary for accurate representation of the plasma. More efficient code leads to greater use and utility of the model. An ancillary aim of the project is to make the combined 3D/4D code user friendly. Achievement of full-coupling of these two Fokker-Planck codes will advance computational modeling of plasma devices important to the USDOE magnetic fusion energy program, in particular the DIII-D tokamak at General Atomics, San Diego, the NSTX spherical tokamak at Princeton, New Jersey, and the MST reversed-field-pinch Madison, Wisconsin. The validation studies of the code against the experiments will improve understanding of physics important for magnetic fusion, and will increase our design capabilities for achieving the goals of the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in which the US is a participant and which seeks to demonstrate at least a factor of five in fusion power production divided by input power.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Sensitivity Study of LIFE Chamber Dynamics (Final Report)

The objective of this research is to investigate the turbulent flow state in a prototype of the LIFE fusion chamber, over many fusion cycles, using high-fidelity three-dimensional computational modeling. A fusion cycle duration is defined here as the time between laser shots (that induce fusion of the fuel stored in the capsule). The main problem of interest discussed in this report is the study of the sensitivity of the flow conditions in the fusion chamber to the radiation parameters used in the BUCKY code (Univ. Wisconsin Madison) that give the initial conditions for the present simulations. Of particular interest is the asymptotic “nth-state” cycle in the model fusion chamber and vacuum vessel assembly. The asymptotic (but unsteady) state was reached by advancing in time an initial value problem with estimated initial data that are thought to be representative of the fusion chamber state (in the mean). These conditions were provided to the Illinois team by LLNL. Many details of the flow solver, strategy and other auxiliary information can be found in a previous report entitled “CFD Simulation in Support of the Dynamic Chamber Systems Strategic Initiative.” Here, several quantities were investigated in detail. First, the global balance of mass in the fusion chamber and vacuum vessel. Second, the state of the density field inside the chamber: turbulence and density spectra, mean and fluctuation of the density. Third, to develop an understanding of the effect of forced recirculation imposed on the chamber-vacuum vessel ensemble, to understand the behavior and distribution of the capsule debris throughout the domain and instantaneous fluxes through the numerous ports and openings of the chamber. Fourth, and finally, to elucidate transport properties near the relatively cold walls of the chamber that might affect the chemistry of the complex fluid mixture from calculated temperature condition on the walls. These four questions have been investigated with different degrees of fidelity (as detailed below) assuming as few simplifications as possible while maintaining many elements of the complex geometry of the fusion chamber. Finally, the simulations do not include the effects of radiation explicitly, which is expected to be critical during the instants immediately after a laser pulse and fusion ignition, and instead a rational “handshake” procedure was developed to derive initial conditions consistent with those produced by BUCKY under different assumptions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

10 MW Supercritical CO 2 Turbine Test

The Supercritical CO 2 Turbine Test project was to demonstrate the inherent efficiencies of a supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO 2 ) power turbine and associated turbomachinery under conditions and at a scale relevant to commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) projects, thereby accelerating the commercial deployment of this new power generation technology. The project involved eight partnering organizations: NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, Echogen Power Systems, Abengoa Solar, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Electric Power Research Institute, Barber-Nichols, and the CSP Program of the U.S. Department of Energy.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Midwestern Regional Center of the Doe National Institute for Climatic Change Research

The goal of NICCR (National Institute for Climatic Change Research) was to mobilize university researchers, from all regions of the country, in support of the climatic change research objectives of DOE/BER. The NICCR Midwestern Regional Center (MRC) supported work in the following states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. The MRC of NICCR was able to support nearly $\$ $8 million in climatic change research, including $\$ $6,671,303 for twenty projects solicited and selected by the MRC over five requests for proposals (RFPs) and $\$ $1,051,666 for the final year of ten projects from the discontinued DOE NIGEC (National Institute for Global Environmental Change) program. The projects selected and funded by the MRC resulted in 135 peer-reviewed publications and supported the training of 25 PhD students and 23 Masters students. Another 36 publications were generated by the final year of continuing NIGEC projects supported by the MRC. The projects funded by the MRC used a variety of approaches to answer questions relevant to the DOE’s climate change research program. These included experiments that manipulated temperature, moisture and other global change factors; studies that sought to understand how the distribution of species and ecosystems might change under future climates; studies that used measurements and modeling to examine current ecosystem fluxes of energy and mass and those that would exist under future conditions; and studies that synthesized existing data sets to improve our understanding of the effects of climatic change on terrestrial ecosystems. In all of these efforts, the MRC specifically sought to identify and quantify responses of terrestrial ecosystems that were not well understood or not well modeled by current efforts. The MRC also sought to better understand and model important feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems, atmospheric chemistry, and regional and global climate systems. The broad variety of projects the MRC has supported gave us a unique opportunity to greatly improve our ability to predict the future health, composition and function of important agricultural and natural terrestrial ecosystems within the Midwestern Region.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Polarized 3 He in Neutron Scattering (Final Report)

We propose to extend the technique of polarized neutron scattering into new domains by continued development and application of polarized 3 He spin-filters. These devices are particularly relevant to the Spallation Neutron Source, as the polarizing monochromators historically used at reactor sources will usually not be suitable polarizers, and wide-angle polarization analysis will be essential. With prior support from the Office of Science, we have developed neutron spin-filters based on the large spin dependence of the cross section for neutron capture by 3 He, and applied these devices to a small angle neutron scattering spectrometer (SANS), polarized neutron reflectometers, a thermal energy single crystal diffractometer (SCD), and a thermal energy triple-axis instrument. Our developments have been adopted for application on the magnetism reflectometer at the SNS and for the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) 3He user capability. Results from both these programs are emerging. We have made significant progress in the past grant period on wide-angle polarization analysis. We have also performed several studies relevant to continuous optical pumping, including collaboration on experiments that have revealed neutron beam effects on spin filters that are continuously pumped by spin-exchange optical pumping. We contributed to an experiment on a neutron interferometer, in which the successful results obtained are directly related to both 3He cell technology and high accuracy 3 He-based neutron polarimetry. Implementation of wide-angle polarization analysis will continue to be key thrust for our work in this new proposal. We will also focus on continuous optical pumping and the fundamental issues that determine the achievable 3 He polarization. This project will be carried out by a collaboration involving scientists at NIST, Indiana University, Hamilton College, and the Univ. of Wisconsin who are experts in 3 He polarization techniques, and materials scientists from the NCNR, SNS, and LENS who are neutron scattering experts. We will collaborate with the staff in the new programs at the NCNR and SNS. In addition, we will welcome the opportunity to interact with other laboratories.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Construction and Test of a Novel Superconducting RF Electron gun

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has completed installation of a superconducting electron gun. Its concept was optimized to be the source for a CW free electron laser facility with multiple megahertz repetition rate end stations. This VHF superconducting configuration holds the promise of the highest performance for CW injectors. Initial commissioning efforts show that the cavity can achieve gradients of 35 MV/m at the cathode position. With the cathode inserted CW operation has been achieved at 20 MV/m with good control of microphonics, negligible dark current, and Q 0 > 3×10 9 at 4 K. Bunch charges of ~100 pC have been delivered, and first simple beam measurements made. These preliminary results are very encouraging for production of 100s pC bunches with millimeter-milliradian or smaller normalized emittances. Plans are in place to carry out more definitive studies to establish the full capabilities. However, since the grant was not renewed, the electron gun is currently mothballed, and without supplemental fund the opportunity for further work will be lost.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Construction and Test of a Novel Superconducting RF Electron Gun

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has completed installation of a superconducting electron gun. Its concept was optimized to be the source for a CW free electron laser facility with multiple megahertz repetition rate end stations. This VHF superconducting configuration holds the promise of the highest performance for CW injectors. Initial commissioning efforts show that the cavity can achieve gradients of 35 MV/m at the cathode position. With the cathode inserted CW operation has been achieved at 20 MV/m with good control of microphonics, negligible dark current, and Q o > 3xl0 9 at 4 K. Bunch charges of~100 pC have been delivered, and first simple beam measurements made. These preliminary results are very encouraging for production of lOOspC bunches with millimeter-milliradian or smaller normalized emittances. Plans are in place to carry out more definitive studies to establish the full capabilities. However, since the grant was not renewed, the electron gun is currently mothballed, and without supplemental fund the opportunity for further work will be lost.

Bisognano, Joseph P.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Midwest Clean Energy Application Center

The Midwest Clean Energy Application Center (CEAC) was one of eight regional centers that promoted and assisted in transforming the market for combined heat and power (CHP), waste heat to power (WHP), and district energy (DE) technologies and concepts throughout the United States between October 1, 2009 and December 31, 2013. The key services the CEACs provided included: Market Opportunity Analyses – Supporting analyses of CHP market opportunities in diverse markets including industrial, federal, institutional, and commercial sectors. Education and Outreach – Providing information on the energy and non-energy benefits and applications of CHP to state and local policy makers, regulators, energy end-users, trade associations and others. Information was shared on the Midwest CEAC website: www.midwestcleanergy.org. Technical Assistance – Providing technical assistance to end-users and stakeholders to help them consider CHP, waste heat to power, and/or district energy with CHP in their facility and to help them through the project development process from initial CHP screening to installation. The Midwest CEAC provided services to the Midwest Region that included the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Modeling Results For the ITER Cryogenic Fore Pump (Final Report)

A numerical model characterizing the operation of a cryogenic fore-pump (CFP) for ITER has been developed at the University of Wisconsin – Madison during the period from March 15, 2011 through June 30, 2014. The purpose of the ITER-CFP is to separate hydrogen isotopes from helium gas, both making up the exhaust components from the ITER reactor. The model explicitly determines the amount of hydrogen that is captured by the supercritical-helium-cooled pump as a function of the inlet temperature of the supercritical helium, its flow rate, and the inlet conditions of the hydrogen gas flow. Furthermore the model computes the location and amount of hydrogen captured in the pump as a function of time. Throughout the model’s development, and as a calibration check for its results, it has been extensively compared with the measurements of a CFP prototype tested at Oak Ridge National Lab. The results of the model demonstrate that the quantity of captured hydrogen is very sensitive to the inlet temperature of the helium coolant on the outside of the cryopump. Furthermore, the model can be utilized to refine those tests, and suggests methods that could be incorporated in the testing to enhance the usefulness of the measured data.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Center for Scalable Application Development Software (Final Report)

The Center for Scalable Application Development Software (CScADS) was established as a part- nership between Rice University, Argonne National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, University of Tennessee – Knoxville, and University of Wisconsin – Madison. CScADS pursued an integrated set of activities with the aim of increasing the productivity of DOE computational scientists by catalyzing the development of systems software, libraries, compilers, and tools for leadership computing platforms. Principal Center activities were workshops to engage the research community in the challenges of leadership computing, research and development of open-source software, and work with computational scientists to help them develop codes for leadership computing platforms. This final report summarizes CScADS activities at Rice University in these areas.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Final Report: Correctness Tools for Petascale Computing

In the course of developing parallel programs for leadership computing systems, subtle programming errors often arise that are extremely difficult to diagnose without tools. To meet this challenge, University of Maryland, the University of Wisconsin—Madison, and Rice University worked to develop lightweight tools to help code developers pinpoint a variety of program correctness errors that plague parallel scientific codes. The aim of this project was to develop software tools that help diagnose program errors including memory leaks, memory access errors, round-off errors, and data races. Research at Rice University focused on developing algorithms and data structures to support efficient monitoring of multithreaded programs for memory access errors and data races. This is a final report about research and development work at Rice University as part of this project.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC): Center for Materials Science of Nuclear Fuels (CMSNF) Major Accomplishments

The mission of the Center for Material Science of Nuclear Fuels (CMSNF) has been to develop a first-principles-based understanding of thermal transport in the most widely used nuclear fuel, UO 2 , in the presence of defect microstructure associated with radiation environments. The overarching goal within this mission was to develop an experimentally validated multiscale modeling capability directed toward a predictive understanding of the impact of radiation and fission-product induced defects and microstructure on thermal transport in nuclear fuel. Implementation of the mission was accomplished by integrating the physics of thermal transport in crystalline solids with microstructure science under irradiation through multi institutional experimental and computational materials theory teams from Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Purdue University, the University of Florida, the University of Wisconsin, and the Colorado School of Mines. The Center’s research focused on five major areas: (i) The fundamental aspects of anharmonicity in UO 2 crystals and its impact on thermal transport; (ii) The effects of radiation microstructure on thermal transport in UO 2 ; (iii) The mechanisms of defect clustering in UO 2 under irradiation; (iv) The effect of temperature and oxygen environment on the stoichiometry of UO 2 ; and (v) The mechanisms of growth of dislocation loops and voids under irradiation. The Center has made important progress in each of these areas, as summarized below.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Final Report for Foundational Tools for Petascale Computing

This project concentrated on various aspects of creating tool infrastructure to make it easier to program large-scale parallel computers. This project was collaborative with the University of Wisconsin and closely related to the project DE-SC0002606 (“Tools for the Development of High Performance Energy Applications and Systems”) . The research conducted during this project is summarized in this report. The complete details of the work are available in the ten publications listed at the end of the report. Many of the concepts created during this project have been incorporated into tools and made available as freely downloadable software (at www.dyninst.org). It also supported the Ph.D. studies of three students and one research staff member.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗