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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Hydride absorption refrigerator system for ten Kelvin and below

A very long-life, lightweight and efficient hydride absorption refrigerator system was built to operate at ten Kelvin and below. The system consists of four basic stages of refrigeration. The first stage is accomplished by an active refrigeration system. The second stage is operated by a hydride absorption system, wherein a heated hydride powder drives off high pressure hydrogen through a Joule-Thomson/heat exchanger expansion loop such that the hydrogen is partially liquefied. In the third stage, the vapor pressure over the collected liquid hydrogen is lowered by absorbing the hydrogen vapor onto a different low pressure, worn hydride. With a 1.7 torr partial pressure of hydrogen gas in the hydride, liquid hydrogen is solidified and sublimes at 10 K. Long-life adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators, helium desorption, or helium diaphragm compressors are used to cool to 4 K or below. It is shown that the hydride concepts provide an extremely efficient means of refrigeration to 10 K, and that an entire sorption refrigeration process can be accomplished solely by using low grade heat energy at about 150 C.

Jones, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Surface brightness temperatures at the Apollo 17 heat flow site - Thermal conductivity of the upper 15 cm of regolith

Lunar surface brightness temperatures derived as part of the Apollo 17 heat flow experiment are reported. Nighttime surface temperatures, calculated from the data provided by two thermocouples suspended about 15 cm above the lunar surface, are used to determine the conductivity profile of the upper 15 cm of regolith at the ALSEP site. The surface reaches a maximum temperature of 384 (plus or minus 6) K at lunar noon and cools to a minimum temperature of 102 (plus or minus 1.5 K) at the end of the lunar night. Conductivities of the order of .000015 W/cm-deg K are postulated for a 2-cm porous surface layer overlying more compact regolith material with conductivities in the range of .0001 to .00015 W/cm-deg K between 2 and 15 cm. A mean surface temperature of 216 (plus or minus 5) K is deduced from the thermocouple data. The 256 K temperature measured by the probe sensors at 130 cm thus indicates that a large mean temperature gradient exists at the Apollo 17 site.

Keihm, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

On the uncertainty in the determination of ground reflectance and temperature from TM measurements

Uncertainties in the derivation of the ground reflectance and temperature relative to the uncertainty in the estimation of aerosol loading and water vapor amount are presented. To compute the reflectance for TM 1 (thematic mapper) through TM6, a doubling model is used, and to compute satellite-received radiance for TM7, an emission-transmission model is employed. It is shown that at a water vapor concentration of higher than 50% above normal, the relative sensitivity remains as low as 8% for ground reflectance determinations. The relative sensitivity for determining ground temperature for midlatitude summer climatological profile is less than 5%, but as the ground temperature is approximately 300 K, low sensitivity still means a variation of a few degrees. An increase in water vapor amount causes an uncertainty in ground temperature and reflectance calculations comparable to the uncertainty in aerosol loading and water vapor amount estimations.

Kiang, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Computational modelling of dump combustors flowfield

A computational model aimed at predicting the flowfield of dump combustors is presented. The turbulent combustion model is based on the conserved scalar approach and on a convenient specification of its probability density function, which reduces the computation of the mean density to a closed form. Turbulence is modeled by means of the k-epsilon model. The averaged conservation equations are solved by a technique based on a staggered grid and on the SIMPLE solver. The computational model is applied to a simple dump combustor to assess the computer time requirements and accuracy. The turbulent combustion model is shown to reduce the computer time by an order of magnitude when compared to evaluating the mean density by numerical quadrature.

Lentini, D.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Stark broadening of Fe I 5383 A

Results are reported for a laboratory measurement of the electron broadening of the Fe I line at 5383 A as a function of electron density over the temperature range from 8000 to 12,000 K. A linear Z-pinch electrical discharge served as the spectroscopic light source in the experiment, and special precautions were taken to allow for optical-depth effects, which have been a major source of error in previous investigations. The results obtained include a Stark-broadening constant of 0.106 + or - 0.004 x 10 to the -16th A-cu cm at a mean temperature of 9500 K, an estimated Stark width/electron-broadened width ratio of 1.09 + or - 0.02, and a normalized electron-broadened width of 0.097 + or - 0.004 x 10 to the 16th A-cu cm. Comparison of the last result with a calculated value and with a previous measurement indicates that the present measurement is approximately 38% larger than the value measured earlier.

Freudenstein, S.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Global impacts of vegetation clumping on regulating land surface heat fluxes

The clumping index (CI) quantifies the non-random distribution of vegetation across space, which regulates the canopy radiative transfer processes and land surface carbon, water, and energy cycles. However, its impact on global surface energy budget, particularly sensible heat fluxes and surface temperature, is not well understood. Additionally, while there have been studies showing significant seasonal variations in CI, the impacts of these variations on surface energy fluxes remain unclear. In this study, we incorporated satellite-derived spatially and temporally explicit CI data into the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5) to evaluate the effects of CI on global land energy fluxes. Our results showed that including CI increased the global mean sensible heat flux dissipated from ground by 3.9 W m -2 (~18%), while decreasing the global mean vegetation sensible heat flux by 4.9 W m -2 (~65%), resulting in a total sensible heat decrease of 1.0 W m -2 (~3%). In contrast, CI increased the global mean latent heat flux by 0.8 W m -2 (~2%), primarily due to increased evapotranspiration (up to 11 W m -2 ) in tropical regions. We also found considerable impacts of seasonal variations in CI, particularly on sensible heat fluxes from ground and vegetation in evergreen needleleaf forests and deciduous needleleaf forests. Using constant CI rather than considering seasonal variations resulted in significant overestimation and underestimation of the sensible heat fluxes from vegetation and ground, respectively, in boreal summer. In conclusion, these changes in surface energy fluxes caused by CI and its seasonal variations led to up to 1.7 and 0.5 K differences in simulated mean ground temperature. These findings highlight the importance of including CI and considering its seasonal variations in modeling land surface energy fluxes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1986

Effects of macroscopic inhomogeneities on electron mobility in semi-insulating GaAs

It is shown that defect inhomogeneities of sizes larger than the electron mean free path are responsible for the low values and anomalous temperature dependence of the electron mobility in semi-insulating (SI) GaAs. The room-temperature electron mobility values below about 6000 sq cm/V s cannot be uniquely used for the determination of the concentration of ionized defects, since the contribution from inhomogeneities usually exceeds that from scattering by ionized impurities. The effects of the macroscopically inhomogeneous distribution of residual acceptors and the major deep donor EL2 diminish at elevated temperatures between 600 and 900 K, which offers a means for identification of inhomogeneities, and furthermore explains recently reported steplike mobility versus temperature behavior in SI-GaAs.

Walukiewicz, W.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Occultation studies of planets and satellites: The occultation of epsilon Geminorum by Mars

The occultation of epsilon Geminorum by Mars on 1976 April 8 was observed at three wavelengths and 4 ms time resolution with the 91 cm telescope. Temperature, pressure, and number density profiles of the Martian atmosphere were obtained for both the immersion and emersion events. Within the altitude range of 50 to 80 km above the mean surface, the mean temperature is 145 K, and the profiles exhibit wavelike structures with a peak to peak amplitude of 35 K and a vertical scale of about 20 km. The ratio of the refractivity of the atmosphere at 4500 A and 7500 A, determined from the time shift of the light curves for these wavelengths, is consistent with the atmospheric composition measured by Viking 1, 15 weeks later. From the central flash - a bright feature in the light curve midway between immersion and emersion - an optical depth is found at 4500 A of 3.3 plus or minus 1.7 per km atm (about 0.23 per equivalent Martian air mass) for the atmosphere about 25 km above the mean surface, near the south polar region. This large value and its weak wavelength dependence rule out Rayleigh scattering as the principal cause of the observed extinction.

Elliot, J. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Stable Machine‐Learning Parameterization of Subgrid Processes in a Comprehensive Atmospheric Model Learned From Embedded Convection‐Permitting Simulations

Modern climate projections often suffer from inadequate spatial and temporal resolution due to computational limitations, resulting in inaccurate representations of sub-grid processes. A promising technique to address this is the multiscale modeling framework (MMF), which embeds a kilometer-resolution cloud-resolving model (CRM) within each atmospheric column of a host climate model to replace traditional convection and cloud parameterizations. Machine learning offers a unique opportunity to make MMF more accessible by emulating the embedded CRM and reducing its substantial computational cost. Although many studies have demonstrated proof-of-concept success of achieving stable hybrid simulations, it remains a challenge to achieve near operational-level success with real geography and comprehensive variable emulation that includes, for example, explicit cloud condensate coupling. In this study, we present a stable hybrid model capable of integrating for at least 5 years with near operational-level complexity, including coarse-grid geography, seasonality, explicit cloud condensate and wind predictions, and land coupling. Our model demonstrates skillful online performance, achieving a 5-year zonal mean tropospheric temperature bias within 2 K, water vapor bias within 1 g/kg, and a precipitation root mean square error of 0.96 mm/day. Key factors contributing to our online performance include an expressive U-Net architecture and physical thermodynamic constraints for microphysics. With microphysical constraints mitigating unrealistic cloud formation, our work is the first to demonstrate realistic multi-year cloud condensate climatology under the MMF framework. Despite these advances, online diagnostics reveal persistent biases in certain regions, highlighting the need for innovative strategies to further optimize online performance.

Hu, Zeyuan [NVIDIA Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (U↗
DOE OSTI2022

Measurement of K*(892) ± production in inelastic pp collisions at the LHC

The first results on K*(892) ± resonance production in inelastic pp collisions at LHC energies of √s = 5.02, 8, and 13 TeV are presented. The K*(892) ± has been reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K*(892)→±K$^0_S$ +π ± with the ALICE detector. Measurements of transverse momentum distributions, p T -integrated yields, and mean transverse momenta for charged K*(892) are found to be consistent with previous ALICE measurements for neutral K*(892) within uncertainties. For p T >1 GeV/c the K*(892) ± transverse momentum spectra become harder with increasing centre-of-mass energy from 5.02 to 13 TeV, similar to what previously observed for charged kaons and pions. For p T < GeV/c the K*(892) ± yield does not evolve significantly and the abundance of K*(892) ± relative to K is rather independent of the collision energy. The transverse momentum spectra, measured for K*(892) ± at midrapidity in the interval 0 < p T <15 GeV/c, are not well described by predictions of different versions of PYTHIA 6, PYTHIA 8 and EPOS-LHC event generators. These generators reproduce the measured p T -integrated K *± /K ratios and describe well the momentum dependence for p T <2 GeV/c.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Correlations Between In-Line X-ray Diffraction Data and In-Field Critical Current of Long, 4-μm Thick Film REBCO Tapes Made by Advanced MOCVD

REBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ (REBCO, RE = rare earth) tapes with high critical current can be very impactful in high magnetic field applications at low temperatures and power applications at high temperatures. A pilot-scale Advanced Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) method was used to fabricate 50-m-long, 4+μm-thick REBCO tape in a single pass. Critical currents 3.3x that of commercial HTS tapes were achieved at 20 K, 12 T in these 50-m-long tapes. An in-line 2D X-ray Diffraction (XRD) system has been used to assess the quality of the long tapes in real-time, during manufacturing. The key peaks of REBCO, REO, and BZO phases were identified and utilized for tape quality analysis. Furthermore, a 20-m tape made by Advanced MOCVD was tested over its entire length by reel-to-reel (R2R) scanning Hall-probe microscopy (SHPM) at 65 K, 0.25 T, 2 T, and 4 T. 4-mm-wide strands of Advanced MOCVD tapes showed mean critical currents at 65 K of 530 A, 200 A, and 104 A at 0.25 T, 2 T, and 4 T respectively. The combined use of in-line and offline characterization techniques provides a reliable approach for assessing long REBCO tapes during manufacturing, serving as an effective feedback source for quality control in scaled-up REBCO tape deposition processes. This advancement contributes to the production of longer and more uniform high-performance REBCO tapes for large-scale, high-field superconducting applications

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Simplified Green-Ampt Model, Imbibition-Based Estimates of Permeability, and Implications for Leak-off in Hydraulic Fracturing

Predicting water imbibition into porous materials is important in a wide variety of fields, and hydraulic fracturing of low permeability hydrocarbon reservoirs has emerged as an application that is imposing a large water footprint. Furthermore, reliable predictions of imbibition are needed to better manage water use, yet are challenging because of uncertainties in both the permeability and capillary pressure driving force. Here, this uncertainty is reduced through evaluating correlations between the permeability and the effective capillary pressure associated with the wetting front, P c,f . These correlations allow elimination of P c,f from the Green and Ampt equation and concentrate all uncertainties in fluxes on the effective permeability k . Over a wide range of k and porosities n , imbibition scales approximately with k 1/3 . Although Leverett k 1/4 scaling for predicting P c,f is shown to be inferior when tested with data spanning a wide range of n , it nevertheless predicted imbibition fairly well. From simple imbibition measurements, both the empirical and Leverett scaling approaches allow estimates of k that have root-mean-square deviations of about one order of magnitude relative to measurements that ranged over 10 orders of magnitude in k .

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Global‐Mean Precipitation Response to CO 2 ‐Induced Warming in CMIP6 Models

Abstract We examine the response of globally averaged precipitation to global warming—the hydrologic sensitivity (HS)—in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) multi‐model ensemble. Multi‐model mean HS is 2.5% K −1 (ranging from 2.1–3.1% K −1 across models), a modest decrease compared to CMIP5 (where it was 2.6% K −1 ). This new set of simulations is used as an out‐of‐sample test for observational constraints on HS proposed based on CMIP5. The constraint based on clear‐sky shortwave absorption sensitivity to water vapor has weakened, and it is argued that a proposed constraint based on surface low cloud longwave radiative effects does not apply to HS. Finally, while a previously proposed mechanism connecting HS and climate sensitivity via low clouds is present in the CMIP6 ensemble, it is not an important factor for variations in HS. This explains why HS is uncorrelated with climate sensitivity across the CMIP5 and CMIP6 ensembles.

Pendergrass, A. G.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Little Change in Apparent Hydrological Sensitivity at Large CO 2 Forcing

Apparent hydrological sensitivity (η a ), the change in the global mean precipitation per degree K of global surface warming, is a key aspect of the climate system's response to increasing CO 2 forcing. To determine whether ηa depends on the forcing amplitude we analyze idealized experiments over a broad range of abrupt CO 2 forcing, from 2× to 8× preindustrial values, with two distinct climate models. We find little change in η a between 2× and 4×CO 2 , and almost no change beyond 5×CO 2 . We validate this finding under transient CO 2 forcing at 1%-per-year, up to 8×CO 2 . We further corroborate this result by analyzing the 1%-per-year output of more than 15 CMIP5/6 models. Lastly, we examine the 1,000-year long LongrunMIP model output, and again find little change in η a . This wealth of results demonstrates that η a is a very weak function of CO 2 forcing.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Site Occupancy Preference and Magnetic Properties in Nd 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B

Partial replacement of Fe by Co is an effective method to increase Curie temperature (T C ) , which improves the thermal stability of magnetic properties in Nd 2 Fe 14 B-based permanent magnets. The correlation between Fe substitution and magnetic properties has been studied in Nd 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B via a first-principles calculation. The calculated Fe substitution energies indicate that the Co atoms avoid the 8 j 2 site, which agrees with the experiments. The Co atoms are ferromagnetically coupled with Fe sublattice and show magnetic moments of about 1.2 to 1.7 μ B at different crystallographic sites, less than that of Fe (2.1–2.7 μ B ), resulting in the decrease in total magnetization at ground state (0 K) with increasing Co content. The effective exchange interaction parameter, derived from the energy difference between varied magnetic structures, increases from 7.8 meV to 17.0 meV with increasing Co content from x = 0 to x = 14 in Nd 2 Fe 14–x Co x B. This change in the effective exchange interaction parameter is responsible for the enhancement of T C in Nd 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B. The total magnetization at 300 K, derived from mean-field theory, shows a peak maximum value at x = 1 in Nd 2 Fe 14–x Co x B. The phenomenon results from the interplay between the reduction of the magnetic moment in the Fe(Co) sublattice and the enhancement of T C with increasing Co content.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Foliar Spraying of Solanum tuberosum L. with CaCl2 and Ca(NO3)2: Interactions with Nutrients Accumulation in Tubers

Calcium is essential for plants, yet as its mobility is limited, the understanding of the rate of Ca2+ accumulation and deposition in tissues of tubers, as well as the interactions with other critical nutrients prompted this study. To assess the interactions and differential accumulation of micro and macronutrients in the tissues of tubers, Solanum tuberosum L. varieties Agria and Rossi were cultivated and, after the beginning of tuberization, four foliar sprayings (at 8–10 day intervals) with CaCl2 (3 and 6 kg ha−1) or Ca(NO3)2 (2 and 4 kg ha−1) solutions were performed. It was found that both fertilizers increased Ca accumulation in tubers (mostly in the parenchyma tissues located in the center of the equatorial region). The functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus was not affected until the 3rd application but was somewhat affected when approaching the end of the crop cycle (after the 4th application), although the lower dose of CaCl2 seemed to improve the photochemical use of energy, particularly when compared with the greater dose of Ca(NO3)2. Still, none of these impacts modified tuber height and diameter. Following the increased accumulation of Ca, in the tubers of both varieties, the mean contents of P, K, Na, Fe, and Zn revealed different accumulation patterns. Moreover, accumulation of K, Fe, Mn, and Zn prevailed in the epidermis, displaying a contrasting pattern relative to Ca. Therefore, Ca accumulation revealed a heterogeneous trend in the different regions analyzed, and Ca enrichment of tubers altered the accumulation of other nutrients.

Coelho, Ana Rita F. (ORCID:0000000339447240)↗
NASA NTRS1972

A multispectral technique to determine sea surface temperature using Nimbus 2 data.

Three channels of the Nimbus 2 five-channel Medium Resolution Infrared Radiometer have been employed in the development of a technique to determine sea surface temperature. Two of the channels in the 0.2-4.0 and 6.4-6.9 micron spectral regions are used to indicate a cloud-free line of sight and the third, a high signal-to-noise window channel (10-11 microns), measures the equivalent blackbody temperature (Tbb) which is a function of the thermal emission from the sea surface and the intervening atmosphere. Equivalent blackbody temperatures and normalized reflectance thresholds were established using frequency distributions from the 6.4-6.9 and 0.2-4.0 micron channels, respectively, to determine the existence of cloud-free conditions. The window Tbb's were compared with ship ocean temperature measurements for a one-month period over the western North Atlantic. This comparison revealed a plus or minus 1.5 K dispersion about the mean difference between the ship temperatures and window Tbb's between 31-34 N.

Shenk, W. E.↗