Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “CONSULTANTS”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

The Statistical Consulting Center for Astronomy (SCCA)

The process by which raw astronomical data acquisition is transformed into scientifically meaningful results and interpretation typically involves many statistical steps. Traditional astronomy limits itself to a narrow range of old and familiar statistical methods: means and standard deviations; least-squares methods like chi(sup 2) minimization; and simple nonparametric procedures such as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. These tools are often inadequate for the complex problems and datasets under investigations, and recent years have witnessed an increased usage of maximum-likelihood, survival analysis, multivariate analysis, wavelet and advanced time-series methods. The Statistical Consulting Center for Astronomy (SCCA) assisted astronomers with the use of sophisticated tools, and to match these tools with specific problems. The SCCA operated with two professors of statistics and a professor of astronomy working together. Questions were received by e-mail, and were discussed in detail with the questioner. Summaries of those questions and answers leading to new approaches were posted on the Web (www.state.psu.edu/ mga/SCCA). In addition to serving individual astronomers, the SCCA established a Web site for general use that provides hypertext links to selected on-line public-domain statistical software and services. The StatCodes site (www.astro.psu.edu/statcodes) provides over 200 links in the areas of: Bayesian statistics; censored and truncated data; correlation and regression, density estimation and smoothing, general statistics packages and information; image analysis; interactive Web tools; multivariate analysis; multivariate clustering and classification; nonparametric analysis; software written by astronomers; spatial statistics; statistical distributions; time series analysis; and visualization tools. StatCodes has received a remarkable high and constant hit rate of 250 hits/week (over 10,000/year) since its inception in mid-1997. It is of interest to scientists both within and outside of astronomy. The most popular sections are multivariate techniques, image analysis, and time series analysis. Hundreds of copies of the ASURV, SLOPES and CENS-TAU codes developed by SCCA scientists were also downloaded from the StatCodes site. In addition to formal SCCA duties, SCCA scientists continued a variety of related activities in astrostatistics, including refereeing of statistically oriented papers submitted to the Astrophysical Journal, talks in meetings including Feigelson's talk to science journalists entitled "The reemergence of astrostatistics" at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, and published papers of astrostatistical content.

Akritas, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1994

Automated Consultation for the Diagnosis for Interplanetary Telecommunications

SHARP (Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Program) is a knowledge-based consultant for diagnosing problems in NASA'a Deep Space Network (DSN) telecommunications link in near real-time...This paper describes the most recent version, which is an operational system used by spacecraft mission contollers; previous versions are described elsewhere...

DSN deep space network↗
NASA NTRS2009

NESC Independent Review of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Contamination Thermal/Vacuum (T/V) Anomaly Technical Consultation Report

The NESC eras requested by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to conduct an independent review of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Thermal/Vacuum (T/V) Anomaly Assessment. Because the anomaly resulted in the surface contamination of the MRO, selected members of the Materials Super Problem Resolution Team (SPRT) and the NASA technical community having technical expertise relative to contamination issues were chosen for the independent review. The consultation consisted of a review of the MRO Project's reported response to the assessment findings, a detailed review of JPL technical assessment final report, and detailed discussions with the JPL assessment team relative to their findings.

Sutter, James K.↗
NASA NTRS2009

STS-114 Engine Cut-off Sensor Anomaly Technical Consultation Report

The NESC consultation team participated in real-time troubleshooting of the Main Propulsion System (MPS) Engine Cutoff (ECO) sensor system failures during STS-114 launch countdown. The team assisted with External Tank (ET) thermal and ECO Point Sensor Box (PSB) circuit analyses, and made real-time inputs to the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) problem resolution teams. Several long-term recommendations resulted. One recommendation was to conduct cryogenic tests of the ECO sensors to validate, or disprove, the theory that variations in circuit impedance due to cryogenic effects on swaged connections within the sensor were the root cause of STS-114 failures.

Wilson, Timmy R.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Building Energy Asset Score for Energy Services Companies, Engineers and Green Building Consultants

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national standardized tool for evaluating the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily residential buildings. The Asset Score generates a simple energy efficiency rating that enables comparison among buildings, and identifies opportunities for users to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. It is web-based and free to use. This fact sheet discusses the value of the score for energy services companies, engineers and green building consultants.

Building energy simulation, building envelope, hot↗
DOE OSTI2018

Remediation Residential Properties Contaminated with LLRW as Part of the Port Hope Area Initiative - The Importance of Effective Community Consultation - 18591

The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) is a community-based solution for the long-term management of historic low level radioactive waste (LLRW) resulting from 60 years of uranium and radium processing operations in the urban setting of Port Hope, Ontario. The Eldorado refinery, on the shores of Lake Ontario, began refining radium-226 from pitchblende ore, later transitioning to the refining of uranium ore. Process residues were deposited at the Welcome Waste Management Facility in the Municipality of Port Hope until the mid-1950's switching to the Port Granby Waste Management Facility (PGWMF), which continued to accept waste until the late 1980's. Within the community of Port Hope, surveys are being conducted at approximately 4800 individual properties to identify the presence of LLRW resulting from fugitive emissions from the refinery and/or the use of refinery residue as construction backfill within the community. Identification of the presence of LLRW is based on multiple lines of evidence including reviews of historical information, gamma radiation surveys and physical sampling of soil for the presence of four signature contaminants. Of the 4800 properties being surveyed, it is expected that approximately 10% will contain some degree of LLRW requiring physical remediation. Many of the residences requiring remediation will require extensive soil removal, removal and restoration of outbuildings, fences and other structures, and the removal of mature trees, hedges and decorative gardens. For the property owners involved this phase represents the final and most intrusive aspect of the program. As such, the remedial designs must be sensitive to the needs of the community and individual property owners taking into consideration factors such as the need to minimize the disturbance to the neighborhood; maintaining geotechnical and structural stability of homes during excavations; removal and restoration of outbuildings affected by LLRW; removal and replacement of landscaping features (decks, fences, pools etc) and mature trees; radiation protection during earthworks; control of dust and noise; and maintaining safe access by residents. As Community satisfaction is a key metric for the success of the project, constant and effective communication at all stages of the project is necessary to ensure the residents understand the nature and extent of work to be undertaken; any and all inconveniences they can expect during the work; contingencies to deal with those inconveniences (e.g. parking, garbage collection etc); measures to protect their health and safety; scheduling; and what their property will look like at the completion of works. This paper provides an overview of the residential remediation program in Port Hope and describes the consultation efforts with property owners that are integral to the development of final designs. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2014

MO-G-BRE-05: Clinical Process Improvement and Billing in Radiation Oncology: A Case Study of Applying FMEA for CPT Code 77336 (continuing Medical Physics Consultation)

Purpose: The improvement of quality in healthcare can be assessed by Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). In radiation oncology, FMEA, as applied to the billing CPT code 77336, can improve both charge capture and, most importantly, quality of the performed services. Methods: We created an FMEA table for the process performed under CPT code 77336. For a given process step, each member of the assembled team (physicist, dosimetrist, and therapist) independently assigned numerical values for: probability of occurrence (O, 1–10), severity (S, 1–10), and probability of detection (D, 1–10) for every failure mode cause and effect combination. The risk priority number, RPN, was then calculated as a product of O, S and D from which an average RPN was calculated for each combination mentioned above. A fault tree diagram, with each process sorted into 6 categories, was created with linked RPN. For processes with high RPN recommended actions were assigned. 2 separate R and V systems (Lantis and EMR-based ARIA) were considered. Results: We identified 9 potential failure modes and corresponding 19 potential causes of these failure modes all resulting in unjustified 77336 charge and compromised quality of care. In Lantis, the range of RPN was 24.5–110.8, and of S values – 2–10. The highest ranking RPN of 110.8 came from the failure mode described as “end-of-treatment check not done before the completion of treatment”, and the highest S value of 10 (RPN=105) from “overrides not checked”. For the same failure modes, within ARIA electronic environment with its additional controls, RPN values were significantly lower (44.3 for end-of-treatment missing check and 20.0 for overrides not checked). Conclusion: Our work has shown that when charge capture was missed that also resulted in some services not being performed. Absence of such necessary services may result in sub-optimal quality of care rendered to patients.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Consultancy on Large-Scale Submerged Aerobic Cultivation Process Design - Final Technical Report: February 1, 2016 -- June 30, 2016

NREL is developing an advanced aerobic bubble column model using Aspen Custom Modeler (ACM). The objective of this work is to integrate the new fermentor model with existing techno-economic models in Aspen Plus and Excel to establish a new methodology for guiding process design. To assist this effort, NREL has contracted Genomatica to critique and make recommendations for improving NREL's bioreactor model and large scale aerobic bioreactor design for biologically producing lipids at commercial scale. Genomatica has highlighted a few areas for improving the functionality and effectiveness of the model. Genomatica recommends using a compartment model approach with an integrated black-box kinetic model of the production microbe. We also suggest including calculations for stirred tank reactors to extend the models functionality and adaptability for future process designs. Genomatica also suggests making several modifications to NREL's large-scale lipid production process design. The recommended process modifications are based on Genomatica's internal techno-economic assessment experience and are focused primarily on minimizing capital and operating costs. These recommendations include selecting/engineering a thermotolerant yeast strain with lipid excretion; using bubble column fermentors; increasing the size of production fermentors; reducing the number of vessels; employing semi-continuous operation; and recycling cell mass.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Final report on the MAGARC software consulting support contract (WFO No. 15904) for ITER magnet safety assessment

he ITER (not an acronym but Latin for "the Way”) International Organization (IO) is building a large-scale scientific experiment that is now under construction in Cadarache, France. The ITER Tokamak fusion reactor aims to demonstrate that it is possible to produce energy from fusion. The ITER’s power output goal is to deliver ten times the power it consumes. During its operational lifetime, ITER will test key technologies necessary for the next step: the demonstration fusion power plant that will prove that it is possible to capture fusion energy for commercial use. General information on the ITER project can be found at http://www.iter.org. The ITER reactor’s superconducting magnet systems create ~41GJ of stored magnetic field energy when fully energized. The consequences of such energy dissipating via electrical arcs under faulted conditions gives rise to safety concerns even though these fault events are extremely unlikely. As part of the ITER licensing procedure, and as a result of such safety concerns, this contract was established to benchmark a developing magnet safety analysis tool at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy against the MAGARC computer code. MAGARC was developed by the U.S. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) under the ITER Engineering Design Activity (EDA) Project and was applied to produce previous analyses, in order to support magnet fault and safety assessment for the ITER design description document. This contract report documents the completion of requested modifications to the MAGARC code by the ITER IO, a time-step size sensitivity analysis with MAGARC during an unmitigated quench event, a comparison of the modeling approaches taken in developing MAGARC and the CCFE analysis package, and the data required for the benchmarking activity for these codes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Transmittal of Draft Consultation Letter to the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Officer Regarding the Proposed Loading Dock to Conference Room Conversion Building 303 at Technical Area 16

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Los Alamos Field Office (NA-LA) proposes to enclose the existing loading dock to create a conference room at building 303, located within Technical Area (TA) 16, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). TA-16-303 has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in correspondence with the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Division dated June 22, 2003. Eligibility status is based on its historical significance during the Cold War at Los Alamos and its representative architectural style, which is associated with high explosives research and development in support of the nation’s nuclear weapons program. As shown in the enclosed photograph, key architectural elements include a flat roof with overhangs, unpainted reinforced-concrete construction, green painted doors and trim.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS1973

Photographic consulting services for earth resources program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

A comparison of prints from ERTS photography revealed significant differences in the image quality produced at GSFC, the EROS facility at Sioux Falls, and Eastman Kodak in Rochester. Based on this survey photographic quality was improved significantly at Sioux Falls, and improvements were suggested for optical and contact printers at the GSFC. Based on a test in which 365 meters of Eastman Electron Recording Film (ESTAR Base) SO-438 were processed the 1-sigma variation in process control from all sources is about + or - 0.04 at a density of 1.0. Variations from film and from processing were approximately equal contributors to the overall tolerance. Distortion produced by the Kodak Colorado printer at GSFC covers a range of about 0.04%, a small value compared to that caused by other factors in the ERTS system. The edge fringing inherent in the color film materials used at GSFC also seems to be a small factor in the unsharpness of ERTS color prints. MTF and granularity measurements were made on processed film samples supplied by GSFC. MTF values were above 0.70 out to 42 cycles/mm for all stages of contact printing in the ERTS system.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1973

Technical consulting services for earth resources program

Evaluations of several sets of test data which show a normal amount of variability in gamma and Dmax on KODAK Aerial Duplicating Film (ESTAR Base) SO-467 are reported. Kodak is now furnishing to engineers at GSFC a full set of test data for each coating of SO-467 film. Glass-enclosed sensitometer step tablets which are being made for the Herrnfeld instrument at GSFC are discussed. These tablets include a gray scale and uniformity check areas as well as tribar resolution patterns imaged in a durable chromium layer. It is recommended that the Sioux Falls EDC procure four new enlarging printers and study the value and economics of a system for printer automation based on edge coding.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1976

Photographic consulting services to the Earth Resources program

The recommendations, procedures, and techniques are summarized which provided by the Kodak Apparatus Division to the Ames Research Center to support the Earth Resources Aircraft Program at that facility. Recommendations, procedures, and calibration data are included for sensitometry, densitometry, laboratory cleanliness, and determination of camera exposure. Additional comments are made regarding process control procedures and general laboratory operations.

Source record↗