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At least 379 records · Page 21
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

High Heat Flux Testing of Castellated Graphite Plasma- Facing Components

As part of the recovery project of the National Spherical Tokamak Experiment–Upgrade (NSTX-U), the divertor plasma-facing components (PFCs) were redesigned to handle significantly higher heat fluxes and longer pulse lengths than NSTX. The design process resulted in a castellated, graphite PFC tile. To verify the thermal performance of this design, dedicated electron beam, high heat flux (HHF) testing was carried out on a de-optimized mock-up PFC target. These tests demonstrated that the tile design is itself robust to large, localized thermal gradients. No mechanical damage to the mock-up was observed during HHF testing, though the actual PFC tile mechanical tie-down was not tested. Rather, when the surface temperature exceeded the sublimation temperature of graphite, carbon blooms from the mock-up tile surface were observed. Finally, this resulted in 1 to 2 mm of surface material ablating from the mock-up after repeated, highly localized electron beam exposures.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) High Heat Flux Bellows for Component Alignment in High Microwave Environment

The Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) device is a linear plasma device developed to perform plasma material interaction experiments under the conditions prototypic of a fusion reactor divertor. MPEX has multiple systems that must be precisely aligned to the plasma axis, including an electron cyclotron heating system that emits up to 400 kW of microwave power into the vacuum vessel. Five distinct systems require precise alignment on the MPEX device, thus requiring four bellows, all of which are adjacent to the plasma at a relatively high heat flux of approximately 47 kW/m2 and microwave power regions. The MPEX high heat flux bellows (HHFB) is designed to deliver 6 degrees of freedom positioning. The HHFB includes titanium–zirconium–molybdenum (TZM) inserts that are brazed into a Glidcop AL-15 body using a high-temperature braze alloy, thus blocking direct line of sight to an edge-welded bellows from the plasma and microwave screen to block microwaves from the bellows. Further, a custom ConFlat knife edge is machined into the Glidcop AL-15, so the vacuum flanges do not need a braze or weld joint on the vacuum interface. Fingerstock or copper mesh is used to restrict microwave power from entering the interstitial space between the water-cooled Glidcop AL-15 body and edge-welded bellows. Glidcop AL-15 was selected as the material of choice for the water-cooled body because it can maintain mechanical integrity at elevated temperatures, and it also allows for a high-temperature braze. TZM was selected for its machinability and compatibility with vacuum and plasma requirements. A test article is also being considered for a similarly shaped component, the MPEX limiter, that will demonstrate the integrity of the braze joint under high thermal load. Results from this testing will be extrapolated to deduce the lifetime and integrity of the HHFB design.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The NASA Turbulent Heat Flux Experiments: Summary and Lessons Learned

The Turbulent Heat Flux (THX) experiments were conducted at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in order to collect measurements of velocities and temperatures for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) validation of heated flows, with a focus on propulsion system components. The experiments spanned 5 phases; four of which were conducted in the GRC AeroAcoustic Propulsion Laboratory (AAPL) using the Small Hot Jet Flow Rig (SHJAR). In addition to making velocity measurements with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), the THX experiments introduced a new Raman-scattering based capability to measure temperatures. Computational studies were also conducted for each of the experimental configurations, in order to provide a baseline of expected CFD results and conduct an assessment of the capability of various CFD approaches for calculating flows where the turbulent transport of heat was important. Two of the collected sets of data were used for American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Propulsion Aerodynamic Workshops (PAWs). The data set from the 5th phase, collected for heated supersonic jets, was also used to construct new validation cases for the NASA Turbulence Model Resource (TMR). This paper provides an overview of the experiments and associated computations for each of the 5 test phases. Key experimental findings are presented. Lessons learned are provided concerning the effect of computational modeling choice on accuracy of predicting turbulent flows where thermal transport is important. Emphasis is placed on comparing Reynolds- averaged Navier-Stokes approaches with large-eddy simulation approaches. The benefits of utilizing a conjugate heat transfer method in conjunction with CFD solver for film cooling is demonstrated.

RANS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Parameterizing Subgrid Variations of Land Surface Heat Fluxes to the Atmosphere Improves Boreal Summer Land Precipitation Simulation With the NCAR CESM1.2

Subgrid horizontal variations of land surface heat fluxes to the atmosphere resulting from subgrid land cover heterogeneity are important in land-atmosphere interaction in global climate models (GCMs). To incorporate it, a parameterization using stochastic sampling based on truncated normal distributions diagnosed from the land model and internal ensemble mean of multiple calls to the planetary boundary layer and deep convection schemes is developed. After its implementation in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model version 1.2 (CESM1.2), large changes of simulated land precipitation are found to occur in regions where large subgrid variations of surface heat fluxes exist. The simulated precipitation is improved in boreal summer, especially over eastern China and the coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal. The improved precipitation is mainly a result of improved large-scale moisture convergence and advection by altered vertical diffusion and convection.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1998

Remote Heat Flux Using a Self Calibration Multiwavelength Pyrometer and a Transparent Material

A self calibrating multiwavelength pyrometer was used to conduct remote heat flux measurements using a transparent sapphire disk by determining the sapphire disk's front and back surface temperatures. Front surface temperature (Tfs) was obtained from detection of surface emitted radiation at long wavelengths (k = 6 gm). Back surface temperature (Tbs) was obtained from short wavelength (1 to 5 gm) radiation transmitted through the sapphire disk. The thermal conductivity of the sapphire disk and the heat transfer coefficients h, and h2 of its surfaces are determined experimentally. An analysis of the heat flux measurement is presented.

Ng, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS1997

Can the Topex/Poseidon Altimetry Data be Used to Estimate Air Sea Heat Flux in the North Atlantic?

We propose a novel approach to directly invert large-scale anomalous annual net air-sea heat flux from the Topex/Poseidon altimetry data in the North Atlantic. The major advantage of this new approach over the conventional bulk formula approach is that it does not need those climate parameters used in the conventional bulk formula calculation in estimating the large-scale anomalous annual net air-sea heat flux. Comparison with expendable bathythermograph data demonstrates that it is a feasible approach.

Wang, Liping↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Formation of Electron Heat Flux in the Region of Diffuse Aurora

Whistler and electrostatic electron cyclotron harmonics waves are responsible for scattering and precipitating the energetic plasma sheet electrons that drive the diffuse aurora. These primary electrons with energies in the kiloelectron volt range, simultaneously precipitating in magnetically conjugate regions, produce the secondary electron population and can be reflected by the atmosphere back through the magnetosphere and precipitate into the conjugate region with additional follow‐up atmospheric backscatter. Primary, degraded, and secondary electrons can be trapped back into the magnetosphere as they travel back and forth between the two magnetically conjugate ionospheres and continuously delivering their energy to the cold plasma sheet electrons and form the electron thermal fluxes that deposit this energy at the upper ionospheric altitudes. We consider the formation of these heat fluxes focusing on the magnetosphere‐ionosphere energy interplay of the entire superthermal electron spectra from 1 eV up to 10 keV and discuss the efficiency of the different spectral energy intervals that contribute to the electron plasma heating at the magnetospheric altitudes. Our parametric studies at L = 6.8, with lower and upper band chorus whistler wave amplitudes of 10 pT and electron cyclotron harmonic wave amplitudes of 1 mVm−1, indicate the dominant role of the whistler mode in the formation of the electron heat flux coming from the magnetosphere to the ionosphere.

George V. Khazanov↗
NASA NTRS2013

Teleconnections, Midlatitude Cyclones and Aegean Sea Turbulent Heat Flux Variability on Daily Through Decadal Time Scales

We analyze daily wintertime cyclone variability in the central and eastern Mediterranean during 1958-2001, and identify four distinct cyclone states, corresponding to the presence or absence of cyclones in each basin. Each cyclone state is associated with wind flows that induce characteristic patterns of cooling via turbulent (sensible and latent) heat fluxes in the eastern Mediterranean basin and Aegean Sea. The relative frequency of occurrence of each state determines the heat loss from the Aegean Sea during that winter, with largest heat losses occurring when there is a storm in the eastern but not central Mediterranean (eNOTc), and the smallest occurring when there is a storm in the central but not eastern Mediterranean (cNOTe). Time series of daily cyclone states for each winter allow us to infer Aegean Sea cooling for winters prior to 1985, the earliest year for which we have daily heat flux observations. We show that cyclone states conducive to Aegean Sea convection occurred in 1991/1992 and 1992/1993, the winters during which deep water formation was observed in the Aegean Sea, and also during the mid-1970s and the winters of 1963/1964 and 1968/1969. We find that the eNOTc cyclone state is anticorrelated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) prior to 1977/1978. After 1977/1978, the cNOTe state is anticorrelated with both the NAO and the North Caspian Pattern (NCP), showing that the area of influence of large scale atmospheric teleconnections on regional cyclone activity shifted from the eastern to the central Mediterranean during the late 1970s. A trend toward more frequent occurrence of the positive phase of the NAO produced less frequent cNOTe states since the late 1970s, increasing the number of days with strong cooling of the Aegean Sea surface waters.

cyclones↗
NASA NTRS1998

Remote Heat Flux Measurement Using a Self Calibration Multiwavelength Pyrometer and a Transparent Material

A self calibrating multiwavelength pyrometer was used to conduct remote heat flux measurements using a transparent sapphire disk by determining the sapphire disk's front and back surface temperatures. Front surface temperature (Tfs) was obtained from detection of surface emitted radiation at long wavelengths (lambda > 6 micrometers). Back surface temperature (Tbs) was obtained from short wavelength (1 to 5 micrometers) radiation transmitted through the sapphire disk. The thermal conductivity k of the sapphire disk and the heat transfer coefficients h(sub 1) and h(sub 2) of its surfaces are determined experimentally. An analysis of the heat flux measurement is presented.

Ng, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS2007

Two-Dimensional Thermal Boundary Layer Corrections for Convective Heat Flux Gauges

This work presents a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) study of two-dimensional thermal boundary layer correction factors for convective heat flux gauges mounted in flat plate subjected to a surface temperature discontinuity with variable properties taken into account. A two-equation k - omega turbulence model is considered. Results are obtained for a wide range of Mach numbers (1 to 5), gauge radius ratio, and wall temperature discontinuity. Comparisons are made for correction factors with constant properties and variable properties. It is shown that the variable-property effects on the heat flux correction factors become significant

Kandula, Max↗
NASA NTRS1974

The meridional variation of the eddy heat fluxes by baroclinic waves and their parameterization

The meridional and vertical eddy fluxes of sensible heat produced by small-amplitude growing baroclinic waves are calculated using solutions to the two-level model with horizontal shear in the mean flow. The results show that the fluxes are primarily dependent on the local baroclinicity, i.e., the local value of the isentropic slopes in the mean state. Where the slope exceeds the critical value, the transports are poleward and upward; where the slope is less than the critical value, the transports are equatorward and downward. These results are used to improve an earlier parameterization of the tropospheric eddy fluxes of sensible heat based on Eady's model. Comparisons with observations show that the improved parameterization reproduces the observed magnitude and sign of the eddy fluxes and their vertical variations and seasonal changes, but the maximum in the poleward flux is too near the equator.

Stone, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Open-Ocean Sensible Heat Flux and Its Significance for Arctic Boundary Layer Mixing During Early Fall

The increasing ice-free area during late summer has transformed the Arctic to a climate system with more dynamic boundary layer (BL) clouds and seasonal sea ice growth. The open-ocean sensible heat flux, a crucial mechanism of excessive ocean heat loss to the atmosphere during the fall freeze season, is speculated to play an important role in the recently observed cloud cover increase and BL instability. However, lack of observations and understanding of the resilience of the proposed mechanisms, especially in relation to meteorological and interannual variability, has left a poorly constrained BL parameterization scheme in Arctic climate models. In this study, we use multiyear Japanese cruise-ship observations from RV Mirai over the open Arctic Ocean to characterize the surface sensible heat flux (SSHF) during early fall and investigate its contribution to BL turbulence. It is found that mixing by SSHF is favored during episodes of high surface wind speed and is also influenced by the prevailing cloud regime. The deepest BLs and maximum ocean-atmosphere temperature difference are observed during cold air advection (associated with the stratocumulus regime), yet, contrary to previous speculation, the efficiency of sensible heat exchange is low. On the other hand, the SSHF contributes significantly to BL mixing during the uplift (low pressure) followed by the highly stable (stratus) regime. Overall, it can explain 10 of the open ocean BL height variability, whereas cloud-driven (moisture and radiative) mechanisms appear to be the other dominant source of convective turbulence. Nevertheless, there is strong interannual variability in the relationship between the SSHF and the BL height which can be intensified by the changing occurrence of Arctic climate patterns, such as positive surface wind speed anomalies and more frequent conditions of uplift. This study highlights the need for comprehensive BL observations like the RV Mirai for better understanding and predicting the dynamic nature of the Arctic climate.

boundary layer↗
DOE OSTI2025

Taming harmful bursts and heat flux in high-confinement tokamak plasmas

A major challenge in tokamak fusion research is first-wall erosion caused by steady heat loads and sudden energy bursts known as edge-localized modes. Divertor detachment reduces steady-state heat flux, while resonant magnetic perturbations can suppress these instabilities. However, integrating the two has been difficult because they require conflicting operating conditions. Here we demonstrate simultaneous achievement of resonant magnetic perturbations mitigated small edge-localized modes and impurity seeded partial divertor detachment in plasmas with an ITER-similar shape on the DIII-D tokamak. Experiments and simulations show that resonant magnetic perturbations facilitate detachment by redistributing particles, lowering the core density and increasing the scrape-off layer density, thereby reducing the amount of injected gas required. Cooling-gas injection eliminates the secondary heat-flux peak created by three-dimensional magnetic lobes, while edge cooling weakens the plasma response to the applied magnetic fields. These advances illustrate a viable pathway for integrating edge stability control with power exhaust in future fusion reactors.

magnetically confined plasmas↗
NASA NTRS1990

Heat flux induced dryout and rewet in thin films

Heat flux induced dryout of thin liquid films on an inclined copper plate was studied. Rewet of the dried out area is also considered. The four fluids used to form the thin films exhibited very different dryout and rewet characteristics. The contact angle and hysteresis effects were found to be important, but they must be considered in context with other parameters. No single variable was found to independently determine the pattern of dryout and rewet.

Stroes, Gustave↗
NASA NTRS1984

Effects of dynamical heat fluxes on model climate sensitivity

A coupled high and low latitude radiative-dynamical model of the annual mean northern hemisphere has been constructed in order to study the interactions of the vertical and meridional heat fluxes and their feedback effect on model climate sensitivity. The model's climate sensitivity to solar constant changes and CO2 increases is investigated, and the effect of feedback in the dynamical fluxes on model climate sensitivity is examined. Nonlinear interactions between heat fluxes and other feedbacks such as radiation-temperature, ice albedo, and humidity are also discussed.

Wang, W.-C.↗