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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Thermal Management Solution for an Integrated Outer-Rotor Motor Drive: Opportunities and Challenges

This work highlights an integrated thermal management solution for the outer-rotor motor (ORM) drive. The integrated ORM drive utilizes water-ethylene glycol coolant for power electronics and stator cooling. Air cooling is used for rotor laminations, magnets and outer-rotor structures, and the rotor shaft. To fully understand the performance of the integrated ORM drive and thermal management coupling effects, a full drive conjugate heat transfer model has been developed to investigate coupled cooling performance of various components of the ORM drive. Various motor rotational speeds, power output scenarios, and cooling options for the integrated ORM drive have been investigated. The model estimates the operating window for the ORM drive while keeping component operating temperatures below prescribed limits. The model also highlights the importance of windage losses at higher rotational speeds for this ORM design, which involves higher rotor surface area per unit width of the rotor. Different designs are also investigated, particularly focusing on rotor cooling with air either naturally induced by rotor spin or forced airflow with the help of a blower, to circumvent challenges imposed by higher windage losses. The work highlights motor rotational speed limitations and the need for potential liquid cooling options for desired rotor performance at higher rotational speeds. Liquid cooling for the rotor may even become more critical for nonuniform rotor-stator gaps, leading to even higher and uneven windage losses across the full circumference of the motor, consequentially, more heating for the rotor.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimal 1D Ly α forest power spectrum estimation – III. DESI early data

ABSTRACT The 1D power spectrum P1D of the Ly α forest provides important information about cosmological and astrophysical parameters, including constraints on warm dark matter models, the sum of the masses of the three neutrino species, and the thermal state of the intergalactic medium. We present the first measurement of P1D with the quadratic maximum likelihood estimator (QMLE) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey early data sample. This early sample of 54 600 quasars is already comparable in size to the largest previous studies, and we conduct a thorough investigation of numerous instrumental and analysis systematic errors to evaluate their impact on DESI data with QMLE. We demonstrate the excellent performance of the spectroscopic pipeline noise estimation and the impressive accuracy of the spectrograph resolution matrix with 2D image simulations of raw DESI images that we processed with the DESI spectroscopic pipeline. We also study metal line contamination and noise calibration systematics with quasar spectra on the red side of the Ly α emission line. In a companion paper, we present a similar analysis based on the Fast Fourier Transform estimate of the power spectrum. We conclude with a comparison of these two approaches and discuss the key sources of systematic error that we need to address with the upcoming DESI Year 1 analysis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2012

Space-based Observational Constraints for 1-D Plume Rise Models

We use a space-based plume height climatology derived from observations made by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard the NASA Terra satellite to evaluate the ability of a plume-rise model currently embedded in several atmospheric chemical transport models (CTMs) to produce accurate smoke injection heights. We initialize the plume-rise model with assimilated meteorological fields from the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System and estimated fuel moisture content at the location and time of the MISR measurements. Fire properties that drive the plume-rise model are difficult to estimate and we test the model with four estimates for active fire area and four for total heat flux, obtained using empirical data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) re radiative power (FRP) thermal anomalies available for each MISR plume. We show that the model is not able to reproduce the plume heights observed by MISR over the range of conditions studied (maximum r2 obtained in all configurations is 0.3). The model also fails to determine which plumes are in the free troposphere (according to MISR), key information needed for atmospheric models to simulate properly smoke dispersion. We conclude that embedding a plume-rise model using currently available re constraints in large-scale atmospheric studies remains a difficult proposition. However, we demonstrate the degree to which the fire dynamical heat flux (related to active fire area and sensible heat flux), and atmospheric stability structure influence plume rise, although other factors less well constrained (e.g., entrainment) may also be significant. Using atmospheric stability conditions, MODIS FRP, and MISR plume heights, we offer some constraints on the main physical factors that drive smoke plume rise. We find that smoke plumes reaching high altitudes are characterized by higher FRP and weaker atmospheric stability conditions than those at low altitude, which tend to remain confined below the BL, consistent with earlier results. We propose two simplified parameterizations for computing injection heights for fires in CTMs and discuss current challenges to representing plume injection heights in large scale atmospheric models.

Martin, Maria Val↗
NASA NTRS1990

State estimation for spacecraft power systems

A state estimator appropriate for spacecraft power systems is presented. Phasor voltage and current measurements are used to determine the system state. A weighted least squares algorithm with a multireference transmission cable model is used. Bad data are identified and resolved. Once the bad data have been identified, they are removed from the measurement set and the system state can be estimated from the remaining data. An observability analysis is performed on the remaining measurements to determine if the system state can be found from the reduced measurement set. An example of the algorithm for a sample spacecraft power system is presented.

Williamson, Susan H.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy, power, and infrastructure demands from electrifying airport ground support equipment at United States airports

As the airline industry seeks to reduce costs and transition to clean energy, electric ground support equipment is emerging as a favorable option. The integration of electric ground support equipment into airport operations requires careful planning for vehicle deployment, charging infrastructure, and grid impacts. We develop a flexible, bottom-up modeling framework to assess energy and infrastructure needs across more than 300 U.S. airports. Our analysis estimates site-specific power and energy demand, equipment counts by type, charger requirements, and costs. Here we quantify the magnitude of new electrical loads created by the electrification of airport ground support equipment, finding that peak power demand at the largest airports can reach up to 20 megawatts, with annual electricity consumption approaching 51,000 megawatt-hours. We further show that behind-the-meter battery energy storage systems and solar photovoltaic systems can reduce peak load and lower total system costs by as much as 10 million dollars.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2000

Robust Fault Detection for Aircraft Using Mixed Structured Singular Value Theory and Fuzzy Logic

The purpose of fault detection is to identify when a fault or failure has occurred in a system such as an aircraft or expendable launch vehicle. The faults may occur in sensors, actuators, structural components, etc. One of the primary approaches to model-based fault detection relies on analytical redundancy. That is the output of a computer-based model (actually a state estimator) is compared with the sensor measurements of the actual system to determine when a fault has occurred. Unfortunately, the state estimator is based on an idealized mathematical description of the underlying plant that is never totally accurate. As a result of these modeling errors, false alarms can occur. This research uses mixed structured singular value theory, a relatively recent and powerful robustness analysis tool, to develop robust estimators and demonstrates the use of these estimators in fault detection. To allow qualitative human experience to be effectively incorporated into the detection process fuzzy logic is used to predict the seriousness of the fault that has occurred.

Collins, Emmanuel G.↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 power spectrum foreground model and validation

We discuss the model of astrophysical emission at millimeter wavelengths used to characterize foregrounds in the multi-frequency power spectra of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6), expanding on Louis et al. (2025) (2503.14452). We detail several tests to validate the capability of the DR6 parametric foreground model to describe current observations and complex simulations, and show that cosmological parameter constraints are robust against model extensions and variations. We demonstrate consistency of the model with pre-DR6 ACT data and observations from Planck and the South Pole Telescope. We evaluate the implications of using different foreground templates and extending the model with new components and/or free parameters. In all scenarios, the DR6 ΛCDM and ΛCDM+N eff cosmological parameters shift by less than 0.5σ relative to the baseline constraints. Some foreground parameters shift more; we estimate their systematic uncertainties associated with modeling choices. From our constraint on the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich power, we obtain a conservative limit on the duration of reionization of Δz rei < 4.4, assuming a reionization midpoint consistent with optical depth measurements and a minimal low-redshift contribution, with varying assumptions for this component leading to tighter limits. Finally, we analyze realistic non-Gaussian, correlated microwave sky simulations containing Galactic and extragalactic foreground fields, built independently of the DR6 parametric foreground model. Processing these simulations through the DR6 power spectrum and likelihood pipeline, we recover the input cosmological parameters of the underlying cosmic microwave background field, a new demonstration for small-scale CMB analysis. These tests validate the robustness of the ACT DR6 foreground model and cosmological parameter constraints.

CMBR experiments↗
DOE OSTI2023

Economic evaluation of variable renewable energy participation in U.S. ancillary services markets

Variable renewable energy (VRE) is not yet meaningfully participating in U.S. ancillary services (AS) markets. VRE participation in AS markets could provide a new source of revenue for VRE resource owners to offset declining energy and capacity values and a new tool for power system operators to address emerging system constraints. This paper uses a price-taker dispatch model and historical prices to estimate the economic value of standalone and hybrid (battery-paired) VRE participation in AS markets, from the resource owner and electricity system perspectives, in each of the seven U.S. independent system operator and regional transmission organization (ISO/RTO) markets where ancillary service prices are set. Across ISO/RTO markets, average (2015–2019) simulated incremental revenues from power regulation market participation were 0.0–2.9 USD/MWh (+0–15% of revenue without participation) for standalone VRE owners and 1–33 USD/MWh (+1–69%) for hybrid VRE owners. However, ISO/RTO reserve markets are relatively thin and have the potential to become saturated by energy storage projects that are currently in ISO/RTO interconnection queues. In most markets, standalone and hybrid VRE could provide power regulation reserves during periods with high power regulation prices, suggesting that VRE participation in AS markets could have high system value. The analysis highlights the relevance of separate upward and downward power regulation products and indicates that ISOs/RTOs might consider initially focusing on enabling hybrid VRE provision of AS.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis for SPERT III E-core reactivity measurement benchmarking

The Special Power Excursion Reactor Test (SPERT) III E-core experiment is important because it provides critical data on reactor behavior under significant reactivity insertions, which is essential for validating computer simulations and ensuring the safety of modern light water reactors. Its design similarities to contemporary reactors make it a valuable resource for understanding and mitigating extreme hazards in nuclear operations. The current study details the application of formal parametric uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis to a model of the SPERT-III E-core model for zero power reactivity benchmarking. Additionally, the reactivity impact from various modeling assumptions is quantified. Overall, an conservative estimate for an uncertainty in k$_{\text{eff}}$ of $\pm$1257 was observed. A less conservative, more realistic, uncertainty estimate of $\pm$1096 pcm can be justified by the potential for various parametric uncertainties to become negligible when sampled independently across the ~1400 pins in the core. The experimental results fall within both of these uncertainty bounds. Standardized regression coefficient as well as Sobol indices are used to identify the guide tube thicknesses as the primary contributors to the uncertainty in k$_{\text{eff}}$. Overall, this study provides information on how the uncertainties in input parameters and modeling methods impact simulated k$_{\text{eff}}$ values and can be used to aid model building efforts for future code validation with the SPERT-III E-core experiment.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Helium metastable density determination in the COST reference source by absolutely calibrated optical emission spectroscopy

Helium metastable densities in the COST Reference Microplasma Jet are estimated for a variety of He/N2 admixtures and dissipated powers by applying a collisional-radiative model to absolutely calibrated optical emission spectroscopy measurements. This is accomplished by delineating the excitation mechanisms that result in the N2(C–B) and N2+(B–X) emission bands, the latter of which is strongly coupled to the presence of helium metastables. A number of other plasma parameters are established and discussed for each operating condition including the electron energy distribution function, reduced electric field, rate constants, and electron density. With these parameters, the reaction rates for the primary ionization pathways are also calculated, emphasizing the importance of helium metastables for discharge sustainment. Good agreement with the existing literature is found for most plasma parameters and for helium metastable densities, in particular. A clear [N2]−1 relationship between the nitrogen concentration and density of helium metastables is demonstrated, as has been identified in previous studies in analogous atmospheric pressure plasma jets. This validates the efficacy of this optical technique for determining helium metastable densities and establishes it as a viable, and in many cases, more accessible alternative to other means of quantifying helium metastables in low-temperature plasmas.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comparison of Load Models for Estimating Electrical Efficiency in DC Microgrids: Preprint

This paper compares several electrical load models for estimating the efficiency of DC vs. AC distribution in microgrids. Candidate models include energy balance, harmonic power flow, and time-domain modeling. Model results are compared with numerical studies and validated with experimental measurements. Based on quantitative and qualitative considerations, the most appropriate load modeling approach for larger-scale DC distribution efficiency studies is proposed.

DC distribution↗
NASA NTRS1984

Electromagnetic damping of neutron star oscillations

A simple model of magnetic field perturbations driven by neutron star oscillations is used to estimate the electromagnetic power radiated by g-modes and torsional oscillations. The calculation assumes that the neutron star has a frozen-in magnetic field which is perturbed by the oscillatory motions of the surface. The disturbances propagate into the vacuum as outgoing electromagnetic waves. The relative effectiveness of Joule heating of the neutron star crust by pulsation-induced electric currents is estimated. It is concluded that electromagnetic damping is the dominant energy dissipation mechanism for quadrupole g-mode oscillations of neutron stars. For dipole spheroidal modes, both electromagnetic radiation and Joule heating are important, and there is no gravitational radiation emitted by these modes.

Mcdermott, P. N.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Novel multireceiver communication systems configurations based on optimal estimation theory

A novel multireceiver configuration for carrier arraying and/or signal arraying is presented. The proposed configuration is obtained by formulating the carrier and/or signal arraying problem as an optimal estimation problem, and it consists of two stages. The first stage optimally estimates various phase processes received at different receivers with coupled phase-locked loops wherein the individual loops acquire and track their respective receivers' phase processes but are aided by each other in an optimal manner via LF error signals. The proposed configuration results in the minimization of the the effective radio loss at the combiner output, and thus maximization of energy per bit to noise power spectral density ratio is achieved. A novel adaptive algorithm for the estimator of the signal model parameters when these are not known a priori is also presented.

Kumar, Rajendra↗
NASA NTRS2017

A Comparison of Three Random Number Generators for Aircraft Dynamic Modeling Applications

Three random number generators, which produce Gaussian white noise sequences, were compared to assess their suitability in aircraft dynamic modeling applications. The first generator considered was the MATLAB (registered) implementation of the Mersenne-Twister algorithm. The second generator was a website called Random.org, which processes atmospheric noise measured using radios to create the random numbers. The third generator was based on synthesis of the Fourier series, where the random number sequences are constructed from prescribed amplitude and phase spectra. A total of 200 sequences, each having 601 random numbers, for each generator were collected and analyzed in terms of the mean, variance, normality, autocorrelation, and power spectral density. These sequences were then applied to two problems in aircraft dynamic modeling, namely estimating stability and control derivatives from simulated onboard sensor data, and simulating flight in atmospheric turbulence. In general, each random number generator had good performance and is well-suited for aircraft dynamic modeling applications. Specific strengths and weaknesses of each generator are discussed. For Monte Carlo simulation, the Fourier synthesis method is recommended because it most accurately and consistently approximated Gaussian white noise and can be implemented with reasonable computational effort.

Grauer, Jared A.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Forecasting battery capacity and power degradation with multi-task learning

Lithium-ion batteries degrade due to usage and exposure to environmental conditions, which affects their capability to store energy and supply power. Accurately predicting the capacity and power fade of lithium-ion battery cells is challenging due to intrinsic manufacturing variances and coupled nonlinear ageing mechanisms. In this paper, we propose a data-driven prognostics framework to predict both capacity and power fade simultaneously with multi-task learning. The model is able to predict the degradation trajectory of both capacity and internal resistance together with knee-points and end-of-life points accurately at early-life stage. The validation shows an average percentage error of 2.37% and 1.24% for the prediction of capacity fade and resistance rise, respectively. The model's ability to accurately predict the degradation, facing capacity and resistance estimation errors, further demonstrates the model's robustness and generalizability. Compared with single-task learning models for forecasting capacity and power degradation, the model shows a significant prediction accuracy improvement and computational cost reduction. This work presents the highlights of multi-task learning in the degradation prognostics for lithium-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Conceptual Design of Propulsors for the SUSAN Electrofan Transport Aircraft

Conceptual designs of the propulsor modules for the SUSAN electro-fan aircraft are sought after. Shaft power requirement is reduced by using boundary layer ingesting propulsion technology. There are several obstacles to designing feasible BLI propulsion systems such as inlet distortion, flow blockage from ingesting low-momentum flow, strong coupling between airframe and propulsion systems. Thus, the high fidelity CFD tool is indispensable to assess the performance of the propulsion systems and evaluate the inlet profiles during the design process. Consequently, the CFD data is used to update the inputs for the NPSS model from the initial stage of the system design. Hence, the inlet sizing, fan design, and estimation of the power saving are carried out. Various installation concepts of the mail-slot nacelle, such as under-/over-wing and trailing edge configurations, are investigated for the wing-mounted turbo-electric distributed propulsor module, and their power-saving is evaluated. As for the tail-mounted turbofan engine, the fan diameter and inlet captured area is determined based on the CFD profiles. An appropriate area ratio of the bypass and core ducts is derived from meeting the target bypass ratio from the system design. The baseline fan stage is analyzed by full annulus URANS CFD to assess the efficiency penalty due to the ingested pressure and swirl distortions.

SUSAN Electro-Fan Aircraft↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Conceptual Design of Propulsors for the SUSAN Electrofan Transport Aircrafts

Conceptual designs of the propulsor modules for the SUSAN electro-fan aircraft are sought after. Shaft power requirement is reduced by using boundary layer ingesting propulsion technology. There are several obstacles to designing feasible BLI propulsion systems such as inlet distortion, flow blockage from ingesting low-momentum flow, strong coupling between airframe and propulsion systems. Thus, the high fidelity CFD tool is indispensable to assess the performance of the propulsion systems and evaluate the inlet profiles during the design process. Consequently, the CFD data is used to update the inputs for the NPSS model from the initial stage of the system design. Hence, the inlet sizing, fan design, and estimation of the power saving are carried out. Various installation concepts of the mail-slot nacelle, such as under-/over-wing and trailing edge configurations, are investigated for the wing-mounted turbo-electric distributed propulsor module, and their power-saving is evaluated. As for the tail-mounted turbofan engine, the fan diameter and inlet captured area is determined based on the CFD profiles. An appropriate area ratio of the bypass and core ducts is derived from meeting the target bypass ratio from the system design. The baseline fan stage is analyzed by full annulus URANS CFD to assess the efficiency penalty due to the ingested pressure and swirl distortions.

Electric Aircraft↗