SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Heat generation”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 361 records · Page 20

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2005

Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell System Gas Storage-Radiator Development

High-energy-density regenerative fuel cell systems that are used for energy storage require novel approaches to integrating components in order to preserve mass and volume. A lightweight unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC) energy storage system concept is being developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center. This URFC system minimizes mass by using the surface area of the hydrogen and oxygen storage tanks as radiating heat surfaces for overall thermal control of the system. The waste heat generated by the URFC stack during charging and discharging is transferred from the cell stack to the surface of each tank by loop heat pipes, which are coiled around each tank and covered with a thin layer of thermally conductive carbon composite. The thin layer of carbon composite acts as a fin structure that spreads the heat away from the heat pipe and across the entire tank surface. Two different-sized commercial-grade composite tanks were constructed with integral heat pipes and tested in a thermal vacuum chamber to examine the feasibility of using the storage tanks as system radiators. The storage tank-radiators were subjected to different steady-state heat loads and varying heat load profiles. The surface emissivity and specific heat capacity of each tank were calculated. In the future, the results will be incorporated into a model that simulates the performance of similar radiators using lightweight, spacerated carbon composite tanks.

Burke, Kenneth A.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Tube-in-tube ionic liquid heat exchanger employing a selectively permeable tube

A tube-in-tube heat exchanger utilizes a selectively permeable tube having a selective permeable layer to allow the refrigerant to transfer into an ionic liquid to generate heating or cooling. The ionic liquid then provides heating or cooling to a heat transfer fluid through a non-permeable layer or tube. The system may be configured as a shell and tube design, with the third fluid free to flow on the outside of the shell, or as a shell and tube-in-tube, with a central tube containing a first liquid, a second tube containing a second liquid, and an outer shell containing the third liquid. The selectively permeable tube may include an anion or cation selectively permeable layer and this layer may be supported by a support layer or tube.

Bahar, Bamdad↗

DOE OSTI2024

Tube-in-tube ionic liquid heat exchanger employing a selectively permeable tube

Bahar, Bamdad↗

DOE OSTI2020

A User’s Guide to the PLTEMP/ANL Code

PLTEMP/ANL V4.3 is a program that obtains a steady-state flow and temperature solution for a nuclear reactor core, or for a single fuel assembly. It is based on an evolutionary sequence of codes originally used for plate temperatures, hence “PLTEMP”, developed at Argonne National Laboratory over several decades. Fueled and non-fueled regions are modeled. Each fuel assembly consists of one or more plates or tubes separated by coolant channels. The fuel plates may have one to five layers of different materials, each with heat generation. The width of a fuel plate may be divided into multiple longitudinal stripes, each with its own axial power shape. Depending upon the heat transfer method selected, the temperature solution is effectively 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional (Appendix XV). It begins with a solution across all coolant channels and fuel plates or tubes within a given fuel assembly, at the entrance to the assembly. The temperature solution is repeated for each axial node along the length of the fuel assembly. The geometry may be either slab or radial, corresponding to fuel assemblies made of a series of flat (or slightly curved) plates, or of nested tubes. A variety of thermal-hydraulic correlations are available to determine safety margins such as onset-of-nucleate boiling ratio(ONBR), departure from nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR), and onset of flow instability ratio (OFIR). Coolant properties for either light or heavy water are obtained from FORTRAN functions rather than from tables. The code is intended for thermal-hydraulic analysis of research reactor performance in the sub-cooled boiling regime. Both turbulent and laminar flow regimes can be modeled. Options to calculate both forced flow and natural circulation are available. A general search capability is available (Appendix XII) to greatly reduce the reactor analyst’s time.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2021

A User’s Guide to the PLTEMP/ANL Code (V.4.3)

PLTEMP/ANL V4.3 is a program that obtains a steady-state flow and temperature solution for a nuclear reactor core, or for a single fuel assembly. It is based on an evolutionary sequence of codes originally used for plate temperatures, hence “PLTEMP”, developed at Argonne National Laboratory over several decades. Fueled and non-fueled regions are modeled. Each fuel assembly consists of one or more plates or tubes separated by coolant channels. The fuel plates may have one to five layers of different materials, each with heat generation. The width of a fuel plate may be divided into multiple longitudinal stripes, each with its own axial power shape. Depending upon the heat transfer method selected, the temperature solution is effectively 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional (Appendix XV). It should be noted that for a 3-dimensional solution the axial power shape is modeled without accounting for axial heat conduction. It begins with a solution across all coolant channels and fuel plates or tubes within a given fuel assembly, at the entrance to the assembly. The temperature solution is repeated for each axial node along the length of the fuel assembly. The geometry may be either slab or radial, corresponding to fuel assemblies made of a series of flat (or slightly curved) plates, or of nested tubes. A variety of thermal-hydraulic correlations are available to determine safety margins such as onset-of-nucleate boiling ratio(ONBR), departure from nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR), and onset of flow instability ratio (OFIR). Coolant properties for either light or heavy water are obtained from FORTRAN functions rather than from tables. The code is intended for thermal-hydraulic analysis of research reactor performance in the sub-cooled boiling regime. Both turbulent and laminar flow regimes can be modeled. Options to calculate both forced flow and natural circulation are available. A general search capability is available (Appendix XII) to greatly reduce the reactor analyst’s time.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2023

A User’s Guide to the PLTEMP/ANL Code

PLTEMP/ANL V4.4 is a program that obtains a steady-state flow and temperature solution, in geometrical extent, for a nuclear reactor core, or a single fuel assembly, including the effect of manufacturing and modelling uncertainties by the means of hot channel factors. It is based on an evolutionary sequence of codes originally used for calculating plate temperatures, hence “PLTEMP”, developed at Argonne National Laboratory over the past 30 years. Fueled and non-fueled regions are modeled. Each fuel assembly consists of one or more plates or tubes separated by coolant channels. The fuel plates may have one to five layers of different materials, each with heat generation. The width of a fuel plate may be divided into multiple longitudinal stripes, each with its own axial power shape. Depending upon the heat transfer method selected, the temperature solution is effectively 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional. The geometry may be either slab or radial, corresponding to fuel assemblies made of a series of flat (or slightly curved) plates, or of nested tubes. A variety of thermal-hydraulic correlations are available to determine safety margins such as onset of nucleate boiling ratio (ONBR), departure from nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR), and onset of flow instability ratio (OFIR). Coolant properties for either light or heavy water are obtained from FORTRAN functions rather than from tables. The code is intended for thermal-hydraulic analysis of research reactor performance in the sub-cooled boiling regime. Both turbulent and laminar flow regimes can be modeled. Options to calculate both forced flow and natural circulation are available. A general search capability for select design and safety parameters is available to greatly reduce the reactor analyst’s time.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA NTRS1972

Evaluation of boundary layer transition criteria for space shuttle orbiter entry

A comparison was made of the effect of boundary layer transition on center-line heating in a conical and a normal-shock flow field. It was shown that the time of transition onset (and, hence, the heating parameter) is significantly influenced by the choice of transition criterion in the normal-shock flow but that this parameter is much less sensitive to the transition criterion in a conical flow field. An evaluation of the effects of boundary layer transition on center-line heating in the conical flow field has shown that the temperatures are less affected by the use of various transition crieria than are heat loads. This difference is due to the delay in the time of transition onset predicted by those criteria with high transition Reynolds numbers. The criteria which predict the most severe thermal environment are those of fully turbulent flow throughout the entry, because transition occurs early in the trajectory for each of these criteria, they tend to predict similar values of maximum temperature and total heat load especially at center-line locations aft of 0.6. Evaluation of center-line heating generated by various trajectory shaping approaches has shown that the maximum surface temperature distribution was not significantly affected by the shaping technique. However, the heat load distribution is influenced, particularly on the forward portion of the vehicle.

Helms, V. T., III↗

NASA NTRS1976

Heat pipe heat rejection system

A prototype of a battery heat rejection system was developed which uses heat pipes for more efficient heat removal and for temperature control of the cells. The package consists of five thermal mock-ups of 100 amp-hr prismatic cells. Highly conductive spacers fabricated from honeycomb panels into which heat pipes are embedded transport the heat generated by the cells to the edge of the battery. From there it can be either rejected directly to a cold plate or the heat flow can be controlled by means of two variable conductance heat pipes. The thermal resistance between the interior of the cells and the directly attached cold plate was measured to be 0.08 F/Watt for the 5-cell battery. Compared to a conductive aluminum spacer of equal weight the honeycomb/heat pipe spacer has approximately one-fifth of the thermal resistance. In addition, the honeycomb/heat pipe spacer virtually eliminates temperature gradients along the cells.

Kroliczek, E. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Finite difference solution for a generalized Reynolds equation with homogeneous two-phase flow

An attempt is made to relate elements of two-phase flow and kinetic theory to the modified generalized Reynolds equation and to the energy equation, in order to arrive at a unified model simulating the pressure and flows in journal bearings, hydrostatic journal bearings, or squeeze film dampers when a two-phase situation occurs due to sudden fluid depressurization and heat generation. The numerical examples presented furnish a test of the algorithm for constant properties, and give insight into the effect of the shaft fluid heat transfer coefficient on the temperature profiles. The different level of pressures achievable for a given angular velocity depends on whether the bearing is thermal or nonisothermal; upwind differencing is noted to be essential for the derivation of a realistic profile.

Braun, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Computer simulation of thermal modeling of primary lithium cells

The objective was to gain a better understanding of the safety problem of primary Li-SOCl2 and Li-SO2 cells by carrying out detailed thermal modeling work. In particular, the transient heat generation rates during moderate and extermely high discharge rate tests of Li-SOCl2 cells were predicted and compared with those from the electrochemical heating. The difference between the two may be attributed to the lithium corrosion and other chemical reactions. The present program was also tested for charging of Li-SO2. In addition, the present methodology should be applicable to other primary cylindrical cells as well as rechargeable battery analyses with minor modifications.

Young, I. Cho↗

NASA NTRS1960

Orbital Thermal Control of the Mercury Capsule

The approach to orbital thermal control of the Project Mercury capsule environment is relatively unsophisticated compared with that for many unmanned satellites. This is made possible by the relatively short orbital flight of about 4 1/2 hours and by the presence of the astronaut who is able to monitor the capsule systems and compensate for undesirable thermal conditions. The general external features of the Mercury configuration as it appears in the orbital phase of flight are shown. The conical afterbody is a double-wall structure. The inner wall serves as a pressure vessel for the manned compartment, and the outer wall, of shingle type construction, acts as a radiating shield during reentry. Surface treatment of the shingles calls for a stably oxidized surface to minimize reentry temperatures. The shingles are supported by insulated stringers attached to the inner skin. Areas between stringers are insulated by blankets of Thermoflex insulation. This insulation is especially effective at high altitude due to the reduction of its thermal conductivity with decreasing pressure. As a result of the design of the afterbody for the severe reentry conditions, the heat balance on the manned compartment indicates the necessity for moderate internal cooling to compensate for the heat generation due to human and electrical sources. This cooling is achieved by the controlled vaporization of water in the cabin and astronaut-suit heat exchangers.

Weston, Kenneth C.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Estimation of Delamination Crack Depth Using Passive Thermography

Passive thermography is used to monitor small increases in temperature resulting from delamination damage formation in a composite hat-stiffened panel during quasi-static loading. The heating is composed of two heat generation components. The first component is an instantaneous response due to a strain release during quasi-static loading. The second component is mechanical heating, at the interface of failure, due to fracture damage. This second component produces a transient rise in temperature that is a function of the damage depth and thermal diffusivity. The first component defines the thermal start time for the transient response. A one-dimensional thermal model is used to determine the damage depth. The results are compared to ultrasonic and X-ray CT data. The advantages and limitations of the thermal technique for damage depth detection are discussed.

Zalameda, Joseph N.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Evolution and use of combined mechanical and thermal codes for cryogenic turbopump bearings

Shaft bearing system analysis codes were developed, improved, and used to investigate Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Liquid Oxygen (LOX) turbopump bearing problems, and to support the Marshall Space Flight Center Bearing and Seal Materials Test (BSMT) program. Thermal network modeling uses the SINDA thermal code, and the modeling of bearing quasi-dynamic characteristics uses the SHABERTH bearing/shaft code. These codes are solved concurrently for a bearing/shaft system using software developed for this purpose. Simulation of the SSME LOX turbopump turbine and pump end bearings and the MSFC BSMT operating in liquid nitrogen (LN sub 2) and LOX was done. The thermal network models include the bearing components, bearing carriers, shaft, housing, frictional heat, and viscous fluid energy. A cage model was included to account for heat generation between the cage and rolling elements. Since most bearing surfaces operate at temperatures well above the coolant saturation temperature, and move at high speed relative to the coolant, forced convection boiling is the dominant mechanism for heat removal. Improved modeling of forced convection film boiling was incorporated to take into account the local vapor generation at the high temperature surfaces. Rearing preloads in the pump and tester are provided by preload springs. As bearing operating clearances and contact angles change due to thermal effects and loading, the bearing preload changes with these varying conditions. These characteristics were modeled and are included in the overall system models. Results from these models indicate an operational limit which, if exceeded, predicts a thermal excursion.

Cody, Joe C.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Optimal Design and Operation of Intensified Absorbers with 3D-Printed Packing for Solvent-Based CO 2 Capture

Many potential solvent-based carbon capture processes suffer from a high heat of absorption of CO 2 that adversely affects the thermodynamic driving force. While interstage coolers are often used for removing a portion of the generated heat by removing the solvent or a portion of the solvent from a stage and cooling and returning it back to the absorber, they can be placed only at discrete locations in the tower. This work investigates intensified absorbers with 3D-printed packing that includes an internal cooler and therefore can be potentially used for maximizing the operational efficiency of the absorbers for CO 2 capture. The intensified absorber is modeled by using a generic, first-principles, equation-oriented absorber column model. Since the placement of these intensified packings would cause a loss of area/volume used for mass transfer, optimization of the proposed intensified absorber is performed by optimally selecting the locations at which to place these devices and designing them such that the trade-off due to the addition of the heat removal area and the resulting loss in the mass transfer area is accounted for. Results show that optimally placed and designed intensified packings can lead to a significant increase in the capture efficiency of the process in comparison to a similar column with no internal cooling. It is also observed that by optimally placing and designing intensified packings, the lean solvent flow rate to the absorber can be decreased, and the CO 2 lean loading can be increased while still maintaining the same capture efficiency. These process changes can lead to a substantial reduction in the cost of capture.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2020

The Role of Interfacial Thermal Resistance in Li-Ion Battery Thermal Management: Preprint

Temperature critically affects the performance, life and safety of lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, it is essential to understand heat generation and dissipation within individual battery cells and battery packs to plan a proper thermal management strategy. One of the key challenges is that interfacial heat transfer of a battery unit is difficult to quantify. The steady-state absolute method and the transient laser-flash-diffusivity method were employed to measure heat conductivities of battery layer stacks and individual battery layer separately. Results show flash diffusivity method gives higher thermal conductivity at both cross-plane and in-plane directions. The difference is primarily caused by interfacial thermal resistance so that it can be estimated by steady-state and transient measurements. To investigate the effects of interfacial thermal transport beyond individual cell level, a multiphysics battery model is used. The model is built upon a multi-scale multi-domain modeling framework for battery packs that accounts for the interplay across multiple physical phenomena. Benefits of a battery module using thermal management materials are quantified through numerical experiments. During a thermal runaway event, it is found interfacial thermal resistance can mitigate thermal runaway in a battery module by significantly reducing heat transfer between cells.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

NASA NTRS1997

Pair Production and Gamma-Ray Emission in the Outer Magnetospheres of Rapidly Spinning Young Pulsars

Electron-positron pair production and acceleration in the outer magnetosphere may be crucial for a young rapidly spinning canonical pulsar to be a strong Gamma-ray emitter. Collision between curvature radiated GeV photons and soft X-ray photons seems to be the only efficient pair production mechanism. For Crib-like pulsars, the magnetic field near the light cylinder is so strong, such that the synchrotron radiation of secondary pairs will be in the needed X-ray range. However, for majority of the known Gamma-ray pulsars, surface emitted X-rays seem to work as the matches and fuels for a gamma-ray generation fireball in the outer magnetosphere. The needed X-rays could come from thermal emission of a cooling neutron star or could be the heat generated by bombardment of the polar cap by energetic particles generated in the outer magnetosphere. With detection of more Gamma-ray pulsars, it is becoming evident that the neutron star's intrisic geometry (the inclination angle between the rotation and magnetic axes) and observational geometry (the viewing angle with respect to the rotation axis) are crucial to the understanding of varieties of observational properties exhibited by these pulsars. Inclination angles for many known high energy Gamma-ray pulsars appear to be large and the distribution seems to be consistent with random orientation. However, all of them except Geminga are pre-selected from known radio pulsars. The viewing angles are thus limited to be around the respective inclination angles for beamed radio emission, which may induce strong selection effect. The viewing angles as well as the inclination angles of PSR 1509-58 and PSB 0656+14 may be small such that most of the high energy Gamma-rays produced in the outer accelerators may not reach the observer's direction. The observed Gamma-rays below 5 MeV from this pulsar may be synchrotron radiation of secondary electron-positron pairs produced outside the accelerating regions.

Ruderman, Malvin↗

NASA NTRS2002

Power System for Venus Surface Exploration

A radioisotope power and cooling system is designed to provide electrical power for a probe operating on the surface of Venus. Most foreseeable electronics devices and sensors cannot operate at the 450 C ambient surface temperature of Venus. Because the mission duration is substantially long and the use of thermal mass to maintain an operable temperature range is likely impractical, some type of active refrigeration may be required to keep electronic components at a temperature below ambient. The fundamental cooling parameters are the cold sink temperature, the hot sink temperature, and the amount of heat to be removed. In this instance, it is anticipated that electronics would have a nominal operating temperature of 300 C. Due to the highly thermal convective nature of the high-density (90 bar CO2) atmosphere, the hot sink temperature was assumed to be 50 C, which provided a 500 C temperature of the cooler's heat rejecter to the ambient atmosphere. The majority of the heat load on the cooler is from the high temperature ambient surface environment on Venus, with a small contribution of heat generation from electronics and sensors. Both thermoelectric (RTG) and dynamic power conversion systems were analyzed, based on use of a standard isotope (General-purpose heat source, or GPHS) brick. For the radioisotope Stirling power converter configuration designed, the Sage model predicts a thermodynamic power output capacity of 478.1 watts, which slightly exceeds the required 469.1 watts. The hot sink temperature is 1200 C, and the cold sink temperature is 500 C. The required heat input is 1740 watts. This gives a thermodynamic efficiency of 27.48 %. It is estimated that the mechanical efficiency of the power converter design is on the order of 85 %, based on experimental measurements taken from 500-watt power class, laboratory-tested Stirling engines. The overall efficiency is calculated to be 23.36 %. The mass of the power converter is estimated at approximately 21.6 kg. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Landis, Geoffrey A.↗

NASA NTRS2008

General Purpose Heat Source Simulator

The General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) simulator project is designed to replicate through the use of electrical heaters, the form, fit, and function of actual GPHS modules which generate heat through the radioactive decay of Pu238. The use of electrically heated modules rather than modules containing Pu238 facilitates the testing of spacecraft subsystems and systems without sacrificing the quantity and quality of the test data gathered. Previous GPHS activities are centered around developing robust heater designs with sizes and weights that closely matched those of actual Pu238 fueled GPHS blocks. These efforts were successful, although their maximum temperature capabilities were limited to around 850 C. New designs are being pursued which also replicate the sizes and weights of actual Pu238 fueled GPHS blocks but will allow operation up to 1100 C.

Emrich, Bill↗