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At least 379 records · Page 21

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NASA NTRS2020

Lunar Water ISRU Measurement Study (LWIMS): Establishing a Measurement Plan for Identification and Characterization of a Water Reserve

NASA’s Artemis program aims to achieve a sustainable lunar presence by 2028. To carry out sustained crewed surface operations, In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), which would use lunar resources (e.g., water) to produce mission consumables, will be critical. Water-bearing materials have been identified at both lunar poles, butthe nature and extent of this resource is not well understood. Identification of the presence of water alone is not adequate for ISRU architecture planning and engineering design. The Lunar Water ISRU Measurement Study (LWIMS) assessed and defined the type, amount, and fidelity of the information and measurements needed to select mining locations for lunar water ISRU and to define requirements for ISRU hardware and architecture development. Current ISRU requirements were used to define a water ‘reserve’ in this context. A measurement plan to achieve these goals includes three key elements; a predictive ‘water favorability’ model to identify and map potential deposits, continued assessment of orbital data, and three types of landed missions to make direct ground measurements. Corresponding mission scenarios and instrument suites will depend on risk posture and timelines for ISRU implementation.

In situ resource utilization↗

DOE OSTI2020

Ultrasonic in-situ water-cut measurement using ultrasonic oil-water separation for affecting sound speed calibration

An apparatus and method for the separation of an oil-water mixture into its components are described. An acoustic radiation force moves oil droplets to the nodes of an acoustic standing wave generated in a vertical column containing the oil-water mixture. Once the droplets are sufficiently close together, attractive forces become dominant and the droplets may coalesce to form larger droplets, which have greater buoyancy, and separation of the mixture into a layer of oil and a layer of water occurs, not possible by simple gravitational separation. Acoustically-driven oil-water separation may be used for water-cut measurements in oil production wells, since separation of the oil from the water permits accurate sound speed measurements to be made for both the oil and the water, thereby allowing frequent in situ calibrations of the apparatus to determine whether sound speed measurements on the mixture are accurate in the event that one or both of the mixture constituents is changing.

02 PETROLEUM↗

DOE OSTI2026

Hybrid Cooling and Water Treatment for Resilient, Water-Self-Sufficient Data Centers

The continued growth of data center infrastructure is intensifying demand for freshwater resources, particularly in water-stressed regions, and is increasingly limiting sustainable capacity expansion. This work investigates a conceptual hybrid system that integrates freeze desalination with ultrasonic-assisted ice separation to enable on-site production of pure water from diverse sources, including seawater, brackish groundwater, and reclaimed industrial or agricultural wastewater. Simultaneously, the system produces low-temperature cooling streams that enhance heat removal in high power density computing environments. A process-level thermodynamic analysis is performed across a range of boundary and operating conditions, including variations in feed concentration, freezing temperature, and mass flow rate. The results are presented as performance curves relating feedwater concentration and target purified water output to the corresponding intake flow requirements, enabling estimation of source water demand per unit of Information Technology Equipment (ITE) energy consumption (kWh) across varying data center scales and operational scenarios. The corresponding electrical energy consumption for integrated cooling and water treatment is also evaluated as a function of system operating parameters and target water production levels. These results provide a basis for evaluating system feasibility across different conditions and for identifying parameter ranges in which integrated water treatment and cooling improve resource efficiency, thermal performance, and operational flexibility in data centers.

Elhefny, Aly [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000284907923)↗

DOE OSTI2019

Positive water linkages of producing short rotation poplars and willows for bioenergy and phytotechnologies

The production of short rotation woody crops (SRWCs) such as poplars and willows is a promising component of global bioenergy and phytotechnology portfolios. In addition to the provision of biomass feedstocks and pollution remediation, these trees and shrubs have been sustainably grown to conserve or utilize water in a variety of applications. Growing these woody plants for multiple uses supports many of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG6) and Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG7). As a result, focusing on ecosystem services such as freshwater and biomass has become an important aspect of deploying these production systems across variable landscapes. The current review consists of an introduction of ecosystem services and the SDGs, as well as SRWCs and their applications. The middle section of the review contains case studies highlighting the positive water linkages of producing short rotation poplars and willows for bioenergy and phytotechnologies. The review concludes with a section that combines the common themes that are consistent among the case studies to address options for integrating new bioenergy feedstock production systems into rural and urban landscapes to promote environmental, social and economic sustainability. This article is categorized under: Bioenergy > Economics and Policy Bioenergy > Climate and Environment

biomass production↗

DOE OSTI2018

Water Supply System with Light-Water Production Based on a Nuclear Desalination Complex

The aim of this work is to develop an ecologically safe energy efficient system of supplying water with production of light-water on the basis of a nuclear desalination complex with low-power reactors in order to solve the problem of water shortage, reduction of ecological load on the environment, and secure freshwater in regions where it is in short supply. A fundamentally new combined scheme of a water supply system with light-water produced on the basis of nuclear desalination and water circulation (recycling) using membrane and distillation methods is proposed. The system provides for maximum extraction of contaminants before the desalination stage by less expensive methods of purification, which decreases the load on desalination and makes it more efficient.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2023

Analytical investigation of the dew point water recovery system with potential application for drinking water production

The article presents the analytical investigation of the Dew Point Water Recovery (DPWR) system with potential application for drinking water production. Four different configurations of the DPWR system were proposed, differing in the number and type of dew point cooling exchangers used, and their operation was described using a validated convective heat transfer coefficient mathematical model. It was found that the three stage configu-ration of the DPWR system with a regenerative exchanger has the best water recovery performance, while the three stage configuration with a counter-flow exchanger has the best ratio of energy supplied to the system in relation to the amount of water produced. It was also found that the DPWR system can operate in a wide range of operating conditions with a specific electric energy consumption reaching below 0.9 kWh/m 3 and GOR in the range of 0.36-2.16. What distinguishes the DPWR system from other methods of drinking water production is the ability to work without an additional source of thermal energy apart from the energy of the air supplied to the system. Thanks to this property, the system has the potential to fill the technological gap of a low-energy and easily accessible method of drinking water production.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2017

Development and validation of quasi-steady-state heat pump water heater model having stratified water tank and wrapped-tank condenser

Heat pump water heater systems (HPWH) introduce new challenges for design and modeling tools, because they require vapor compression system balanced with a water storage tank. In addition, a wrapped-tank condenser coil has strong coupling with a stratified water tank, which leads HPWH simulation to a transient process. To tackle these challenges and deliver an effective, hardware-based HPWH equipment design tool, a quasi-steady-state HPWH model was developed based on the DOE/ORNL Heat Pump Design Model (HPDM). Two new component models were added via this study. One is a one-dimensional stratified water tank model, an improvement to the open-source EnergyPlus water tank model, by introducing a calibration factor to account for bulk mixing effect due to water draws, circulations, etc. The other is a wrapped-tank condenser coil model, using a segment-to-segment modeling approach. In conclusion, the HPWH system model was validated against available experimental data. After that, the model was used for parametric simulations to determine the effects of various design factors.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2022

Multistage Surface-Heated Vacuum Membrane Distillation Process Enables High Water Recovery and Excellent Heat Utilization: A Modeling Study

Surface-heated membrane distillation (MD) enhances the energy efficiency of desalination by mitigating temperature polarization (TP). However, systematic investigations of larger scale, multistage, surface-heated MD system with high water recovery and heat recycling are limited. Here, we explore the design and performance of a multistage surface-heated vacuum MD (SHVMD) with heat recovery through a comprehensive finite difference model. In this process, the latent heat of condensation is recovered through an internal heat exchanger (HX) using the retentate from one stage as the condensing fluid for the next stage and an external HX using the feed as the condensing fluid. Model results show that surface heating enhances the performance compared to conventional vacuum MD (VMD). Specifically, in a six-stage SHVMD process, 54.44% water recovery and a gained output ratio (GOR) of 3.28 are achieved with a surface heat density of 2000 W m –2 , whereas a similar six-stage VMD process only reaches 18.19% water recovery and a GOR of 2.15. Mass and energy balances suggest that by mitigating TP, surface heating increases the latent heat trapped in vapor. The internal and external HXs capture and reuse the additional heat, which enhances the GOR values. We show for SHVMD that the hybrid internal/external heat recovery design can have GOR value 1.44 times higher than that of systems with only internal or external heat recovery. Furthermore, by only increasing six stages to eight stages, a GOR value as high as 4.35 is achieved. The results further show that surface heating can reduce the energy consumption of MD for brine concentration. As a result, the multistage SHVMD technology exhibits a promising potential for the management of brine from industrial plants.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2014

Investigating the significance of zero-point motion in small molecular clusters of sulphuric acid and water

The nucleation of particles from trace gases in the atmosphere is an important source of cloud condensation nuclei, and these are vital for the formation of clouds in view of the high supersaturations required for homogeneous water droplet nucleation. The methods of quantum chemistry have increasingly been employed to model nucleation due to their high accuracy and efficiency in calculating configurational energies; and nucleation rates can be obtained from the associated free energies of particle formation. However, even in such advanced approaches, it is typically assumed that the nuclei have a classical nature, which is questionable for some systems. The importance of zero-point motion (also known as quantum nuclear dynamics) in modelling small clusters of sulphuric acid and water is tested here using the path integral molecular dynamics method at the density functional level of theory. The general effect of zero-point motion is to distort the mean structure slightly, and to promote the extent of proton transfer with respect to classical behaviour. In a particular configuration of one sulphuric acid molecule with three waters, the range of positions explored by a proton between a sulphuric acid and a water molecule at 300 K (a broad range in contrast to the confinement suggested by geometry optimisation at 0 K) is clearly affected by the inclusion of zero point motion, and similar effects are observed for other configurations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2016

Quasielastic neutron scattering with in situ humidity control: Water dynamics in uranyl fluoride

The structural phase diagram of uranyl fluoride (UO{sub 2}F{sub 2}), while incomplete, contains at least one anhydrous crystal structure and a second, zeolite-like structure with the formula [(UO{sub 2}F{sub 2})(H{sub 2}O)]{sub 7} ⋅ (H{sub 2}O){sub 4} that can be produced by adding water to the anhydrous structure. While traditional diffraction measurements can easily differentiate these crystals, additional aqueous structures (in general of the form UO{sub 2}F{sub 2} + xH{sub 2}O) have been proposed as well. We present results using a novel sample environment setup to intercalate water during a quasielastic neutron scattering measurement over the course of 86 h. Our sample environment allows low-pressure (<2 atm) humid air flow across the sample coupled with a system to control the relative humidity of this air flow between 10% and 70%. The water dynamics in UO{sub 2}F{sub 2} and [(UO{sub 2}F{sub 2})(H{sub 2}O)]{sub 7} ⋅ (H{sub 2}O){sub 4} are sufficiently different to distinguish them, with water in the latter executing a restricted diffusion (D = 2.7 × 10{sup −6} cm{sup 2}/s) within the structure's accessible pores (r = 3.17 Å) such that the dynamics can be used as a fingerprinting tool. We confirm that water vapor pressure is the driving thermodynamic force for the conversion of the anhydrous structure to [(UO{sub 2}F{sub 2})(H{sub 2}O)]{sub 7} ⋅ (H{sub 2}O){sub 4}, and we demonstrate the feasibility of extending this approach to aqueous forms of UO{sub 2}F{sub 2} + xH{sub 2}O. This method has general applicability to systems in which water content itself is a driving variable for structural or dynamical phase transitions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2016

Comparative study of GeO{sub 2}/Ge and SiO{sub 2}/Si structures on anomalous charging of oxide films upon water adsorption revealed by ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The energy difference between the oxide and bulk peaks in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra was investigated for both GeO{sub 2}/Ge and SiO{sub 2}/Si structures with thickness-controlled water films. This was achieved by obtaining XPS spectra at various values of relative humidity (RH) of up to ∼15%. The increase in the energy shift is more significant for thermal GeO{sub 2} on Ge than for thermal SiO{sub 2} on Si above ∼10{sup −4}% RH, which is due to the larger amount of water molecules that infiltrate into the GeO{sub 2} film to form hydroxyls. Analyzing the origins of this energy shift, we propose that the positive charging of a partially hydroxylated GeO{sub 2} film, which is unrelated to X-ray irradiation, causes the larger energy shift for GeO{sub 2}/Ge than for SiO{sub 2}/Si. A possible microscopic mechanism of this intrinsic positive charging is the emission of electrons from adsorbed water species in the suboxide layer of the GeO{sub 2} film to the Ge bulk, leaving immobile cations or positively charged states in the oxide. This may be related to the reported negative shift of flat band voltages in metal-oxide-semiconductor diodes with an air-exposed GeO{sub 2} layer.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2020

Mapping the Temperature-dependent and network site-specific onset of spectral diffusion at the surface of a water cluster cage

We explore the kinetic processes that sustain equilibrium in a microscopic, finite system. This is accomplished by monitoring the spontaneous, time-dependent frequency evolution (the frequency autocorrelation) of a single OH oscillator, embedded in a water cluster held in a temperature-controlled ion trap. The measurements are carried out by applying two-color, IR-IR photodissociation mass spectrometry to the D3O+?(HDO)(D2O)19 isotopologue of the “magic number” protonated water cluster, H+?(H2O)21. The OH group can occupy any one of the five spectroscopically distinct sites in the distorted pentagonal dodecahedron cage structure. The OH frequency is observed to evolve over tens of milliseconds in the temperature range (90-120 K). Starting at 100 K, large “jumps” are observed between two OH frequencies separated by ~300 cm-1 indicating migration of the OH group from the bound OH site at 3350 cm-1 to the free position at 3686 cm-1. Increasing the temperature to 110 K leads to partial interconversion among many sites. All sites are observed to interconvert at 120 K such that the distribution of the unique OH group among them adopts the form one would expect for a canonical ensemble. The spectral dynamics displayed by the clusters thus offer an unprecedented view into the molecular-level processes that drive spectral diffusion in an extended network of water molecules.

Yang, Nan↗

NASA NTRS2006

Water vapor, water-ice clouds, and dust in the North Polar Region

The behavior of water vapor, water-ice and dust in the Martian atmosphere is important for understanding the overall Martian climate system, which is characterized by three main cycles: water, including water-ice, dust, and CO2. Understanding these cycles will lend insight into the behavior of the atmospheric dynamics, the atmosphere's ability to transport dust, water-ice, and vapor to different parts of the planet, and how that ability changes as a function of dust and water-ice loading.

water vapors↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Prototype Spectral Water Inversion Processor and Emulator (SWIPE): Towards Global Coastal and Inland Water Quality and Algal Biodiversity Monitoring

Degradation of Earth’s inland water resources due to anthropogenic perturbations and climate anomalies at both local and global scales continues to place human health at substantial risk. There is now a growing necessity to develop pragmatic approaches that allow timely and effective extrapolation of local processes, to spatially resolved global products, and to promote operational and sustainable resource policy management. This presentation will provide updates on NASA’s prototype open-source aquatic modeling platform, Spectral Water Inversion Processor and Emulator (SWIPE), which is a comprehensive, multi-faceted modeling platform for both forward and inverse modeling of diverse aquatic ecosystems from the benthos to top-of-atmosphere (TOA). SWIPE provides a cohesive application which leverages recent advancements in particle modeling, Big Data analytics, and machine learning to develop a high-fidelity synthetic training ground for sensitivity studies and algorithm development for multispectral or upcoming hyperspectral missions. Some of the prominent features of SWIPE to be discussed include: 1. Advanced hyperspectral modeling of globally diverse algal and non-algal particles using a novel two-layer coated sphere scattering model and radiative transfer modeling, 2. Massive, highly detailed synthetic spectral libraries of Analysis-Ready-Data (ARD) which include spectral libraries of particle microphysics, water biogeophysical and optical properties, as well as surface and TOA reflectances at 1 nm resolution, 3. An ensemble of pre-built analytic, machine learning, and deep learning inversion algorithms for various water quality and biodiversity related retrieval parameters and uncertainty quantification, 4. Sensor-agnostic water quality inversion at wide ranging spatial and spectral resolutions including a codebase for seamless application in the Google Earth Engine and NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) for planetary scale analysis. SWIPE will be a fully open-source platform based in python with comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and options for distributed computing on high performance computing clusters or on single, local machines. Further, we will discuss how we envision SWIPE contributing towards a global analysis of coastal and inland water quality dynamics.

top-of-atmosphere (TOA)↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developmental Hardware Testing Results and Forward Plans for the Spacecraft Water Impurity Monitor (SWIM) Organic Water Module (OWM)

We present testing results for developmental hardware of the Spacecraft Water Impurity Monitor (SWIM) Organic Water Module (OWM). SWIM-OWM will monitor spacecraft potable water and system water for trace organic contaminants. The system will detect and identify the specific organic chemical that makes up a given total organic carbon reading. We have built a first development unit (1DU) for SWIM-OWM, which directly injects aqueous water samples and detects chemicals with both a thermal conductivity detector and mass spectrometer sensor. The gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS) system that comprises SWIM-OWM draws on the success of ISS-proven mass spectrometer hardware, and the demonstration of GCMS detection of trace organic contaminants in ISS cabin air. SWIM-OWM benefits from the excellent sensitivity and specificity afforded by GCMS. We have demonstrated detection of a set of chemicals relevant to both crew health and performance as well as system monitoring; these target chemicals range from light, volatile organics such as acetone and ethanol, to heavier, very non-volatile compounds such as dimethyl sulfone and o-phthalaldehyde. Direct aqueous injection was chosen for the general applicability of the technique to clean water sampling and to preclude sample pre-processing, which facilitates an on-line implementation of the SWIM-OWM when deployed in a spacecraft or habitation module. A specific advantage of direct aqueous injection when coupled with appropriate methods is that both the light, volatile organics and heavier non-volatiles can be detected from a single injection, in a single chromatogram. Results from 1DU testing will be discussed, and forward plans will be outlined for continued maturation of SWIM-OWM with the goal of implementing a technology demonstration for the purposes of maturing the engineering design and operations in an environment relevant to NASA’s future goals of exploring and setting up habitation on the Moon and Mars.

Water Monitoring↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developmental Hardware Testing Results and Forward Plans for Spacecraft Water Impurity Monitor (SWIM) Organic Water Module (OWM)

Water Monitoring↗

DOE OSTI2019

X-ray Absorption Signatures of Hydrogen-bond Structure in Water-Alcohol Solutions

Despite fundamental importance, the experimental characterization of the hydrogen bond network, particularly in multicomponent protic solutions, remains a challenge. Although recent work has experimentally validated that the oxygen K-edge X-ray ab- sorption spectra is sensitive to local hydrogen bond patterns in pure water and aqueous alcohol solutions, the generality of this observation is unknown - as is the sensitivity to the electronic structure of the alcohol cosolvent. In this work, we investigate the electronic structure of water solvated alcohol model geometries using energy specic time-dependent density functional theory to calculate oxygen K-edge X-ray excitations. We nd that the geometry of dangling hydrogen bonds in pure water is the main con- tributor to the pre-edge feature seen in the X-ray absorption spectra, agreeing with previous experimental and theoretical work. We then extend this result to solvated alcohol systems and observe a similar phenomenon, yet importantly, the increase of electron donation from alkyl chains to the alcohol OH group directly correlates to the strength of the core excitation on the dangling hydrogen bond model geometry. This trend arises from a stronger transition dipole moment due to electron localization on the OH group.

Stetina, Torin↗

DOE OSTI2018

Inferring the source of evaporated waters using stable H and O isotopes

Stable isotope ratios of H and O are widely used to identify the source of water, e.g., in aquifers, river runoff, soils, plant xylem, and plant-based beverages. In situations where the sampled water is partially evaporated, its isotope values will have evolved along an evaporation line (EL) in δ 2 H/δ 18 O space, and back-correction along the EL to its intersection with a meteoric water line (MWL) has been used to estimate the source water’s isotope ratios. Here, we review the theory underlying isotopic estimation of source water for evaporated samples (iSW E ). We note potential for bias from a commonly used regression-based approach for EL slope estimation and suggest that a model-based approach may be preferable if assumptions of the regression approach are not valid. We then introduce a mathematical framework that eliminates the need to explicitly estimate the EL–MWL intersection, simplifying iSW E analysis and facilitating more rigorous uncertainty estimation. We apply this approach to data from the US EPA's 2007 National Lakes Assessment. We find that data for most lakes are consistent with a water source similar to annual runoff, estimated from monthly precipitation and evaporation within the lake basin. Strong evidence for both summer- and winter-biased sources exists, however, with winter bias pervasive in most snow-prone regions. Furthermore, the new analytical framework should improve the rigor of iSW E in ecohydrology and related sciences, and our initial results from US lakes suggest that previous interpretations of lakes as unbiased isotope integrators may only be valid in certain climate regimes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗