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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 379 records · Page 21

A hybrid numerical and machine learning framework for evaluating the performance of a 780 cm 2 aqueous organic redox flow battery

Aqueous organic redox flow battery (AORFB) is a promising cost-competitive technology for large-scale energy storage. Among existing work, the dihydroxyphenazine (DHP)-based AORFB has demonstrated high energy density and low capacity degradation in 10 cm2 cells during lab tests. However, its commercial-scale performance in more complex environments remains unknown, posing a barrier for commercialization. To address this gap, this work presents a comprehensive performance evaluation of a 780 cm 2 DHP-based AORFB by combining physics-based numerical model, machine learning (ML)-based surrogate models, and ML-derived sensitivity quantification. Specifically, we first select 12 key battery parameters that include 10 physicochemical quantities and 2 operation quantities, then select 6 performance metrics that include energy efficiency (EE), discharging capacity, charging energy, and power losses due to concentration, activation, and ohmic over-potentials. With such selection, 12800 combinations of the 12 parameters are subsequently generated using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method. These combinations, together with 38 pre-defined State of Charge, are then integrated to a validated AORFB model developed in COMSOL to compute the performance metrics. With both input parameters and performance metrics, 60 deep neural network (DNN) surrogate models are then trained to approximate the relationship between the 10 physicochemical quantities and 6 performance metrics at each flow rate and current density. Sensitivity scores are then calculated based on the DNN models. Two additional sensitivity analysis tools, i.e., MARS, and SHAP, are also used to cross-validate the sensitivity scores from the DNN. The results demonstrate that 1) the standard potential ranks the first in controlling EE and charging energy, 2) the membrane conductivity is most critical for power loss and EE, and 3) specific area and reaction rate control activation power loss.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Solid-to-Fluid Radiative Heat Transfer Modeling for System Analysis Module

System Analysis Module (SAM) is a system-level thermal hydraulics code being developed at Argonne National Laboratory for advanced nuclear reactor analysis. In addition to a wide range of interests from the advanced reactor design community, SAM has also been adopted by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission's suite of codes purposed for advanced reactor licensing. Nevertheless, the code is still under active development and new capabilities are being added to address various modeling and simulation challenges for advanced reactor analysis. One such phenomenon important to the thermal behavior of some advanced reactor concepts is radiative heat transfer (radHT). Conditions, such as high temperatures and long optical paths, increase the radiative contributions from solids and coolants alike. This paper discusses the development of radHT modeling in SAM and describes the new capabilities provided for thermal analysis. Depending on the geometry and temperatures of the system at hand, as well as the coolant in question, thermal transfer due to thermal radiation will vary dramatically. Therefore, the ability to model variable radiative systems was maintained as a priority during development of SAM radHT modeling. This newly developed simulation feature provides a flexible solid-to-fluid radiative heat transfer framework necessary for SAM to perform accurate analysis for advanced reactor designs. Test cases are also presented and shown to match analytical solutions, which demonstrate the radHT model's efficacy.

Radiative heat transfer↗

Advancing the Performance of Lithium-Rich Oxides in Cooperation with Inherent Complexities: Engineering Domain Structure

The nanodomain structure of lithium- and manganese-rich, composite cathode materials has been systematically altered through synthesis conditions while keeping larger-scale morphological differences to a minimum. Clear changes in electrochemical performance across the samples studied are observed, especially with respect to the anomalous impedance at low states-of-charge. Atomic-scale modeling, coupled to electrochemical measurements and physical characterization, reveals the local consequences of the high-voltage activation charge process as a function of specific domain structures. Furthermore, the results explain the influence of different postactivation structures on the insertion of Li-ions and the associated impedance during discharge. This work adds to our series of studies on lithium- and manganese-rich oxides, demonstrating that the inherent performance of LMRs can be greatly enhanced through rational, highly controlled synthetic strategies based on an understanding of synthesis–structure–property relationships across length scales.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Modified Energy Span Analysis Reveals Heterogeneous Catalytic Kinetics

Mechanistic modeling is a cornerstone of catalyst development generally conducted with microkinetic models or density functional theory-based energy profiles. We extend the energy span model of homogeneous catalysis to heterogeneous systems by introducing the modified energy span analysis (MESA) model by implementing collision theory and gas-phase concentration effects. We determine analytically turnover frequencies, coverages, rate-determining steps, apparent activation energies, and reaction orders in agreement with microkinetic and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The model applies to discrete catalyst state systems, including single-atom catalysts, homogeneous systems, and microporous materials. A generalizable rate expression is derived for reactor modeling or mechanistic insights from solely experimentally measured reaction orders. Here, we illustrate MESA on three published mechanisms and reveal unexpected phenomena absent in traditional energy span profiles.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Biome-scale temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration revealed by atmospheric CO2 observations

Abstract The temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration regulates how the terrestrial carbon sink responds to a warming climate but has been difficult to constrain observationally beyond the plot scale. Here we use observations of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations from a network of towers together with carbon flux estimates from state-of-the-art terrestrial biosphere models to characterize the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration, as represented by the Arrhenius activation energy, over various North American biomes. We infer activation energies of 0.43 eV for North America and 0.38 eV to 0.53 eV for major biomes therein, which are substantially below those reported for plot-scale studies (approximately 0.65 eV). This discrepancy suggests that sparse plot-scale observations do not capture the spatial-scale dependence and biome specificity of the temperature sensitivity. We further show that adjusting the apparent temperature sensitivity in model estimates markedly improves their ability to represent observed atmospheric CO 2 variability. This study provides observationally constrained estimates of the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration directly at the biome scale and reveals that temperature sensitivities at this scale are lower than those based on earlier plot-scale studies. These findings call for additional work to assess the resilience of large-scale carbon sinks to warming.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Research accomplished at the Knowledge Based Systems Lab: IDEF3, version 1.0

An overview is presented of the foundations and content of the evolving IDEF3 process flow and object state description capture method. This method is currently in beta test. Ongoing efforts in the formulation of formal semantics models for descriptions captured in the outlined form and in the actual application of this method can be expected to cause an evolution in the method language. A language is described for the representation of process and object state centered system description. IDEF3 is a scenario driven process flow modeling methodology created specifically for these types of descriptive activities.

Mayer, Richard J.↗

Mission Operations with an Autonomous Agent

The Remote Agent (RA) is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system which automates some of the tasks normally reserved for human mission operators and performs these tasks autonomously on-board the spacecraft. These tasks include activity generation, sequencing, spacecraft analysis, and failure recovery. The RA will be demonstrated as a flight experiment on Deep Space One (DSI), the first deep space mission of the NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP). As we moved from prototyping into actual flight code development and teamed with ground operators, we made several major extensions to the RA architecture to address the broader operational context in which PA would be used. These extensions support ground operators and the RA sharing a long-range mission profile with facilities for asynchronous ground updates; support ground operators monitoring and commanding the spacecraft at multiple levels of detail simultaneously; and enable ground operators to provide additional knowledge to the RA, such as parameter updates, model updates, and diagnostic information, without interfering with the activities of the RA or leaving the system in an inconsistent state. The resulting architecture supports incremental autonomy, in which a basic agent can be delivered early and then used in an increasingly autonomous manner over the lifetime of the mission. It also supports variable autonomy, as it enables ground operators to benefit from autonomy when L'@ey want it, but does not inhibit them from obtaining a detailed understanding and exercising tighter control when necessary. These issues are critical to the successful development and operation of autonomous spacecraft.

Pell, Barney↗

Phosphate cycling on the basic protein of Plodia interpunctella granulosis virus

The presence of infected cell-specific phosphoproteins was investigated in Plodia interpunctella granulosis virus (PiGV)-infected fat body using [32P]orthophosphoric acid labeling. One infected cell-specific phosphoprotein had a mobility similar to that of the basic protein (VP12) of PiGV. Further analysis, using immunoblotting and acid-urea gel analysis of infected fat body, confirmed that this phosphoprotein was VP12. However we did not detect phosphorylated VP12 in 32P-labeled nucleocapsids. Phosphoamino acid analysis of 32P-labeled VP12 revealed that phosphoserine was present in the basic protein. Since VP12 is phosphorylated in the infected cell, but not in the nucleocapsid, it appears that dephosphorylation of VP12 is a critical event in the life cycle of the virus. We therefore assayed virus nucleocapsids and infected fat body for the presence of phosphatase activity. Phosphatase activity was not detected in the virus, but the infected fat body had more activity than uninfected fat body. A model for nucleocapsid assembly and uncoating is presented which takes into account the phosphorylation state of VP12, the role of Zn2+ in the nucleocapsid, and the role of the capsid-associated kinase.

NASA Discipline Cell Biology↗

Emergence of self-organized multivortex states in flocks of active rollers

Active matter, both synthetic and biological, demonstrates complex spatiotemporal self-organization and the emergence of collective behavior. A coherent rotational motion, the vortex phase, is of great interest because of its ability to orchestrate well-organized motion of self-propelled particles over large distances. However, its generation without geometrical confinement has been a challenge. Here, we show by experiments and computational modeling that concentrated magnetic rollers self-organize into multivortex states in an unconfined environment. We find that the neighboring vortices more likely occur with the opposite sense of rotation. Our studies provide insights into the mechanism for the emergence of coherent collective motion on the macroscale from the coupling between microscale rotation and translation of individual active elements. These results may stimulate design strategies for self-assembled dynamic materials and microrobotics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Glass Design Using Machine Learning Property Models with Prediction Uncertainties: Nuclear Waste Glass Formulation

The United States Department of Energy is responsible for managing the legacy nuclear waste stored in underground tanks at the Hanford Site. The waste will be separately vitrified as low-activity waste and high-level waste fractions. Waste glass formulation algorithms have been traditionally developed using partial quadratic mixture property-composition models. Recently, machine learning (ML) techniques have been used to predict glass properties and discover new glass materials for nuclear waste vitrification, and these advancements can be utilized to improve waste glass composition design. In this proof-of-principle study, ML algorithms such as Gaussian process regression (GPR) were used to interpolate glass properties (e.g., viscosity, electrical conductivity, chemical durability). After selecting appropriate sets of GPR hyper-parameters for each property, an optimization program was developed to formulate glass compositions to maximize waste loading while simultaneously satisfying property within constraints. The results of the ML-based waste loadings and glass compositions were compared to those obtained using the traditional methods. Comparing to the previous glass design framework, the ML-based optimization methods offer improved glass designs and a streamlined approach to generation of optimally designed data and near real-time updates.

glass formulation, machine learning, constraints, ↗

Development of Prognostic Models Using Plant Asset Data

The recent growth of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies provides opportunities for leveraging data-driven algorithms to address the problems of diagnostics and prognostics in the nuclear power industry. The use of machine learning and other statistical methods as prognostic models is of particular interest in the nuclear industry to accurately predict future equipment or plant state given a set of measurements. Such predictive capability will enable predictive assessment of component condition and remaining life and allow for condition-based predictive maintenance. The resulting optimization of maintenance scheduling and reduction in unnecessary maintenance activities will lower overall maintenance costs and improve the economics of nuclear power. This report discusses the various aspects of data processing and model development that are likely to influence the performance of prognostic models. Data from a boiling-water reactor was used to evaluate several prognostic models to identify key considerations for developing such models to predict data-driven plant state and equipment degradation condition. Preliminary results indicate the need for data sets that are relevant to the problem at hand and contain signatures that may be correlated to the prediction problem. Assuming such data exist, development of prognostic models using data-driven methods requires an understanding of the various sources of influence on the prediction accuracy (such as the model architecture, data preprocessing approaches, and potentially external factors influencing the equipment or plant system under assessment). Ongoing research is evaluating these factors in greater detail and examining techniques for calculating prediction uncertainty bounds.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Novel Technique for Developing Linearized Convex System Models from Experimentally Derived Data

This paper presents a novel technique for generating a convex system model from an experimentally derived data set which features variance among repeated measurements. The convex system model developed as a test case characterizes the dynamic system losses of a vanadium redox flow battery as a function of the active power output and the battery state of charge. The technique hinges on a pre-cleaning via clustering procedure which precedes the formation of a planar convex hull comprised of triangular simplices. The clustering procedure efficiently reduces the experimental data set while mitigating variance among repeated measurements and removes outliers. Ultimately, the lower evelope of the planar convex hull serves as the desired convex system model. The proposed technique reduces systematic model error which is otherwise present when directly developing a planar convex hull model based on an unreduced data set.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Model-based economic analysis under uncertainty for PFAS treatment by granular activated carbon and ion exchange technologies

Recent drinking water regulations have imposed the need for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remediation. In response, treatment facilities may be required to retrofit existing treatment schemes to treat PFAS below maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). Adsorption technologies such as granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange (IX) have been demonstrated to be effective; however, there are limited techno-economic metrics available which provide guidance on technology selection and design for diverse PFAS-containing source water conditions. Process systems engineering (PSE) tools which can traditionally perform these analyses are hindered by the data availability, model validity, and understanding of treatment phenomena for emerging contaminants. This work employs published data regressions, statistical models, process models, techno-economic analyses, and other process systems tools in a model-based uncertainty framework to consider the limitations of emerging contaminant research. Through this analysis framework, economic results are provided as probabilistic distributions based on the uncertainty of the models and diverse conditions that treatment facilities experience.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Results from the ASTERIA CubeSat Extended Mission Experiments

Over the past two years, JPL has used the ASTERIA (Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research In Astrophysics) CubeSat as an in-flight test platform during extended missions. ASTERIA successfully completed its prime mission in early 2018, and continued to operate in low Earth orbit (LEO) for an additional twenty months. This paper describes demonstrations that were performed on the spacecraft and on the ground-based testbed during the extended mission. These demonstrations fall into three categories: Autonomy technology maturation, hardware characterization, and science discovery. Autonomy technology maturation supported three development efforts. The first shifted the spacecraft commanding paradigm from time-based sequences to Task Networks (tasknets), which allow simpler commanding and more robust onboard execution. The second demonstrated onboard orbit determination in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) without GPS. This activity used a fully-independent means of spacecraft orbit determination for Earth orbiters using only passive imaging. The third technology provided in situ hardware health state estimation using a model-based reasoning technique. These three technologies were demonstrated either in flight or on the testbed individually, and then were combined to demonstrate the capability to perform autonomous navigation on board without ground intervention, even in the presence of anomalies. Hardware characterization involved both onboard and ground-based activities. On board, nonstandard attitude control modes were commanded to characterize the spacecraft pointing jitter as a function of target brightness, reaction wheel speed, controller gain, and the number of guide stars. The results provide insights into the contribution of jitter to the ASTERIA photometry and inform the feasibility of future astrophysics small satellite missions for which jitter control is an enabling technology. On the ground, the ASTERIA Operations Team coordinated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to configure their new ground stations to communicate with ASTERIA to prove out their viability. ASTERIA used AWS ground stations for nominal operations for the last four months of the mission. Finally, ASTERIA continued to perform exoplanet science as the spacecraft was well-suited to execute long-term monitoring of stars such as alpha Centauri to search for small transiting planets. The science team also imaged a number of interesting objects including a comet, an asteroid, cities at night, and the moon, and coordinated with other projects on Targets of Opportunity for follow-up confirmations and co-observations. Throughout the prime and the extended missions, the ASTERIA spacecraft proved to be a mighty platform that “will go into history as an innovative milestone.”[1 - Zurbuchen]

Doran, Patrick↗

Ultrafast conformational dynamics of Rydberg-excited N -methyl piperidine

We have observed the ultrafast conformational dynamics of electronically excited N-methyl piperidine (NMP) using time-resolved Rydberg fingerprint spectroscopy. Optical excitation at various wavelengths ranging from 212 nm to 229 nm leads to the 3s or 3p Rydberg states and induces coherent oscillatory motions with periods of about 700 fs. Furthermore, these coherent motions survive the internal conversion from 3p to 3s but then dephase on a time scale of a few oscillations. Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution on a picosecond time scale leads to an equilibrium between two conformeric structures that are separated in binding energy by 0.09 eV. Model calculations using the DFT-SIC method are in excellent agreement with the experiments and identify the conformers as the chair and twist structures of NMP. The analysis of the equilibrium parameters at long time delays as a function of excitation wavelength allows for the extraction of thermodynamic parameters for the conformeric transformation. We derive an enthalpy of the chair to twist reaction in the 3s excited state of 62 meV with an entropy of 19.70 J mol –1 K –1 . An activation energy of 276 meV is also obtained with a kinetic model.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Active Member Design, Modeling, and Verification

The design and development of active members intended for use in structural control applications is presented. The use of three different solid state actuation materials, namely, piezoelectric, electrostictive, and magnetostrictive, is discussed. Test data is given in order to illustrate the actuator and device characteristics and performance.

Designpiezoelectric electrostrictive magnetostrict↗

Formulation and solution approach for calibrating activity-based travel demand model-system via microsimulation

This study addresses the problem of calibrating utility-maximizing nested logit activity-based travel demand model-systems. After estimation, it is common practice to use aggregate measurements to calibrate the estimated model-system’s parameters prior to their application in transportation planning, policy making, and operations. However, calibration of activity-based model-systems has received much less attention. Existing calibration approaches are myopic heuristics in the sense that they do not consider the fundamental inter-dependencies among choice-models and do not have a systematic way to adjust model parameters. Also, other purely simulation-based approaches do not perform well in large-scale applications. In this study, we focus on utility-maximizing nested logit activity-based model-systems and calibrating aggregate statistics such as activity shares, mode shares, time-dependent & mode-specific OD flows, and time-dependent & mode-specific sensor counts. We formulate the calibration problem as a simulation-based optimization problem and propose a stochastic gradient-based solution procedure to solve it. The solution procedure relies on microsimulation to calculate expectations of the aggregate statistics of interest to the calibration problem. Additionally, we derive approximate analytical expressions for the gradient of the objective function —that are evaluated through microsimulation on mini-batches of the population. The proposed solution procedure is sensitive to the fundamental structure of the activity-based model-system and is non-myopic in considering the dependencies across its model components. The formulated optimization problem is non-convex, highly nonlinear, and potentially has multiple-minima. Lastly, we show —through a real-world application— that the proposed solution procedure outperforms other state-of-the-art purely simulation-based optimization approaches in terms of computational efficiency, stability, and convergence. We also compare various gradient-based solution algorithms to determine the best algorithm to update the parameters. This work has the potential to facilitate wider and easier application of activity-based model-systems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗