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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

A novel sub-pilot-scale direct-contact ultrasonic dehydration technology for sustainable production of distillers dried grains (DDG)

DDG is a major source of protein, calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur is arguably the most important byproduct of the bioethanol industry with increasing demand over the past few years. Reducing energy consumption in the DDG production process and energy recovery from DDG is vital for sustainable bioethanol productions. In this paper, a novel direct-contact multi-frequency, multimode, and modulated (MMM) ultrasonic dryer (US) was developed for the first time and has been applied in dehydration of wet distillers' grain (WDG). Ultrasonic drying (US) was combined with a convective airflow (HA) at different temperatures of 25 (room temperature), 50 and 70 °C to evaluate the impact of US, HA, and US + HA on drying kinetics, activation energy, chemical compositions, microstructure, and color of DDG. Semi-empirical kinetic models were developed and evaluating drying performances showed that the application of ultrasound significantly enhanced the drying rate and decreased the drying time (by 46%), especially at low drying temperatures. The activation energy for moisture removal in the presence of ultrasound was about 50% of that without ultrasound. The final dried distillers' grains product processed by ultrasonic drying had a brighter color, a higher available protein, a higher digestible protein (the lowest acid detergent insoluble crude protein), and a better surface profile with no compromise on minerals and fiber contents.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Direct Air Capture Using Aqueous Amino Acid Solvents in a Crossflow Absorber

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the most abundant of all greenhouse gases (GHGs). CO 2 levels in the atmosphere are 50% higher than in the preindustrial era, trapping heat. CO 2 removal from the atmosphere by direct air capture (DAC) is needed to achieve the internationally agreed global temperature goals. The most common CO 2 capture technology is absorption by aminebased solvents in packed columns. Amino acid solutions have recently gained attention due to their advantages over traditional amine solvents. To be implemented effectively, DAC industrial processes need to handle large airflow rates in separation absorbers. The large air and solvent flow rates preclude the use of countercurrent columns due to high-pressure drops and the occurrence of flooding. Crossflow air−liquid absorbers are used to handle large air and liquid volumes due to their lower-pressure drop. The objective of this work is to study the influence of crossflow absorber geometric parameters and operating conditions on product formation and process efficiency. An already derived theoretical model for countercurrent absorbers has been modified to simulate the operation of a crossflow DAC absorber. The predictive model was implemented into a computer code that was used to study the efficiency of the processes as geometric equipment dimensions and operating parameters vary. Practical suggestions are made to design more efficient DAC processes.

Absorption↗
DOE OSTI2025

Measured air quality impacts after teaching parents about cooking ventilation with a video: a pilot study

BackgroundCooking-related emissions contribute to air pollutants in the home and may influence children’s health outcomes.ObjectiveIn this pilot study, we investigate the effects of a cooking ventilation intervention in homes with gas stoves, including a video-based educational intervention and range hood replacement (when needed) in children’s homes.MethodsThis was a pilot (n = 14), before-after trial (clinicaltrials.gov #NCT04464720) in homes in the San Francisco Bay Area that had a school-aged child, a gas stove, and either a venting range hood or over-the-range microwave/hood. Cooking events, ventilation use, and indoor air pollution were measured in homes for 2–4 weeks, and children completed respiratory assessments. Midway, families received this intervention: (1) education about the hazards of cooking-related pollutants and benefits of both switching to back burners and using the range hood whenever cooking and (2) ensuring the range hood met airflow and sound performance standards. The educational intervention was delivered via a video developed in conjunction with local youth.ResultsWe found substantially increased use of back burners and slight increases in range hood use during cooking after intervening. Even though there was no change in cooking frequency or duration, these behavior changes resulted in decreases in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), including significant decreases in the total integrated concentration of NO2 over all cooking events from 1230 ppb*min (IQR 336, 7861) to 756 (IQR 84.0, 4210; p < 0.05) and NO2 collected on samplers over the entire pre- and post-intervention intervals from 10.4 ppb (IQR 3.5, 47.5) to 9.4 (IQR 3.0, 36.1; p < 0.005). There were smaller changes in PM2.5, and no changes were seen in respiratory outcomes.ImpactThis pilot before-after trial evaluated the use of a four-minute educational video to improve cooking ventilation in homes with gas stoves and one or more school-aged children. Participant behavior changed after watching the video, and there were decreases in indoor air pollutant concentrations in the home, some of which were significant. This brief video is now publicly available in English and Spanish (wspehsu.ucsf.edu/projects/indoor-air-quality), and this provides suggestive evidence of the utility of this simple intervention, which could be particularly beneficial for households that have children with asthma.

Holm, Stephanie M↗
DOE OSTI2025

Thermomagnetic generators for ultra-low-grade marine thermal energy harvesting

Low-grade thermal gradients in marine environments represent an underexploited energy source for autonomous sensing and monitoring. Converting such small temperature differences into usable electrical power remains a key challenge for ocean-deployed systems. We present a deployable thermomagnetic generator thoroughly characterized for marine-relevant energy harvesting. The device powers an internet-connected sensor and harvests ultra-low temperature differences akin to those at the ocean surface. It draws heat from water and rejects it to ambient air, operating optimally at a temperature difference (ΔT) of ~7.5 °C. Laboratory prototypes generated up to 6.7 mW at ΔT ~ 10 °C with gentle airflow (~1 m s -1 ). A separate controlled wave-tank demonstration validated stable operation and sensor powering under marine-like boundary conditions. Given its voltage and power margins, the generator could sustain multiple sensor nodes. Scalability and material assessments identify modular deployment and non-rare-earth alternatives as pathways toward practical marine energy harvesting and low-grade waste-heat recovery.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement and analysis of clothes dryer air leakage

Each year clothes dryer appliances are sold globally in the tens of millions. Both vented and ventless types are common and are heated by combustion, electric resistance, or electric heat pumps. In the dyer air path, segments can be defined between components such as the drum, blower, filter, screens or grills, and heat exchangers (where applicable). In this work, a technique was developed to experimentally measure air leakage into and from the segments of a clothes dryer. Detailed leakage measurements were taken on two vented and one ventless residential clothes dryer. The measurements were quantified as a leakage flow coefficient for each segment. For two dryers (one vented and one ventless), these flow coefficients were combined with in situ operating pressure measurements to determine leakage flow rates for each segment. For these two units under normal operation with air pressures within 0.5 kPa (50 mm water column) of ambient pressure, volumetric system air leakage was found to be about 20–60% of the blower airflow. Furthermore, a quasi–steady state psychrometric analysis was conducted on vented dryers with negatively pressurized drums. The analysis revealed that leakage quantity, location, and direction are essential to achieving an acceptable energy balance and accurate modeling results for a vented heat pump clothes dryer but are of limited significance for vented electric resistance clothes dryers.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Effect of air path heat losses at different locations in vapor compression-based clothes dryer: Quasi-steady modeling and design implications

Clothes drying is among the most power-intensive household end uses, and vapor compression-based clothes dryers offer substantial energy cost savings compared with conventional electric heater dryers. However, parasitic heat losses along the air path, that is, heat loss at the upstream of the drum, inside the drum, and at downstream of the drum, remain rarely quantified, but can strongly affect overall performance according to experiments. Here, this study enhances a vapor compression simulation model by integrating a validated drum model using a dimensionless heat-and-mass-transfer effectiveness correlation derived from 63 drying tests in the literature to form a quasi-steady dryer simulation model. The model is validated against laboratory measurements of a baseline dryer. The impact of heat losses is simulated at three locations and explored through 16 heat loss cases spanning two loads (2 and 5 kg), two airflow rates, and multiple loss distributions. For a 5 kg wet load, eliminating pre-drum and in-drum losses reduces total energy use by up to 34–35% and shortens drying time by 27–38% compared with the baseline. At a 2 kg wet load, introducing post-drum heat loss lowers energy costs by up to 23% and reduces operation time by up to 57% compared with the baseline. The results demonstrate that the impact of heat loss is location dependent. Vapor compression dryers should minimize pre-drum and in-drum losses while potentially exploiting post-drum heat dissipation to enhance the drying rate and energy cost savings.

Dryer↗
DOE OSTI2024

A computational analysis of effective R-values of buried ducts – the dynamic performance of buried ducts

Here, this paper evaluates the thermal performance of ducts partially or fully buried in loose-fill attic insulation. The overall thermal resistance between the ducts and the attic is referred to as an effective R-value. This paper shows a strong dependency of assumed attic temperature on the effective R-value. Based on the results, the effective R-value can be about twice as much with an attic temperature of 130 °F [54.4 °C], compared to when the attic temperature is 80 °F [26.7 °C]. Thus, this paper provides a polynomial regression equation based on a large set of simulations to determine the effective R-value of buried ducts depending on attic temperature and whether the HVAC system runs in cooling or heating mode. Further, the work presented in this paper investigated the potential impact of convective airflow within the attic insulation, particularly around the ducts. The analysis was based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and indicated that convectional forces are presented around the exterior surface of the ducts, but with negligible impact on the overall heat balance between the duct and the attic space.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Experimental testing of additively manufactured embedded fiber optic smart devices for clean energy applications

Abstract An additively manufactured prototype smart device was created to investigate in-flow temperature distributions using embedded high-definition fiber optic sensors within a component for clean energy systems. The devices were created using Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing to create a unique embedded pathway within a flow conditioner for the high-definition fiber optic sensors to be placed within. The fibers used allowed for temperature measurements to be taken every 0.65 mm along the fiber. The high-resolution fibers were thermally calibrated enable the 2D reconstruction of the temperature profile in the flow path of the structure. This is due to the temperature-related strain response of the material and strain measurements of the fibers. Hot airflow testing of these devices showed the ability to identify localized temperature differences in the flow. The observed strain response within the smart device had higher strain concentrations in the thicker web regions than in the thinner web regions. These higher strain regions resulted in higher uncertainties for the temperature responses. Further calibration is needed to improve the accuracy of the smart devices, specifically within the inner web structures of a flow straightening component. Further investigations of the devices within flow showed the temperature sensing to be independent of the effects of flow velocity. The devices were able to distinguish temperature differences within single and two-phase flow and showed local sensitivity to the temperature changes with the identification of hot and cold spots. The presented results showed the viability of the smart device for obtaining detailed temperature distributions using common industrial components. Eventually, the goal for these smart devices will be to withstand higher temperature and pressure environments such as those experienced in nuclear, fusion, and concentrated solar energy systems.

Donlan, Connor F. (ORCID:0000000223317882)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Numerical simulation of frost formation and heat transfer on fin-and-tube heat exchangers in turbulent cross-flow

Frost formation in fin-and-tube heat exchangers in turbulent cross-flow presents significant challenges in industrial refrigeration applications, affecting heat transfer efficiency and operational reliability. The purpose of this work is to investigate frost deposition and growth on a staggered bank of a fin-and-tube freezer coil under turbulent forced convection conditions. The focus here is on investigating conditions that closely replicate real-world scenarios in large walk-in industrial freezers. Using a direct numerical simulation approach, we examine the flow dynamics and thermal behaviour in the presence of frost, considering turbulent regimes characterized by a Reynolds number in the range 1050 ≤ R e D , avg ≤ 4800 , with the characteristic length being the outer diameter of the tube and the velocity being the bulk fluid velocity between the plates (fins). Computational fluid dynamics simulations are employed to resolve the interactions between turbulent airflow and the frost layer. Our approach incorporates a modified immersed boundary method and a slow-time acceleration technique to address the complex dynamic interface between the continuously evolving frost layer and the flowing air stream. Our findings indicate that frost forms more on the sides of the finned surfaces (plates) and less on the tubes themselves. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Heat and mass transfer in frost and ice’.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Stokes-dependent droplet collection efficiency on a NACA 0012 airfoil from droplet-informed simulations with statistical overloading

Accurate modelling of ice accretion on aircraft wings requires analysing droplet impingement on the surface to optimize the design of ice-protection systems. We perform Euler–Lagrange simulations of a droplet-laden flow impinging on a NACA 0012 airfoil. Our study includes water droplets with eight discrete sizes ranging from 1 to 160 microns. We vary the free-stream velocity of the incoming airflow in the range 60 ≤ U ≤ 240 m s −1 and the chord length of the airfoil in the range 0.5 ≤ c ≤ 2 m. Due to the dilute nature of supercooled clouds, one-way coupling is used in the simulations. The effects of droplet breakup and collision are also neglected. To reduce the computational cost, we employ statistical overloading of droplets, allowing us to simulate millions of impinging droplets in a time span on the order of milliseconds. Our results show that the droplet collection efficiency, which measures the likelihood of droplet impingement on the airfoil surface, increases with droplet size and free-stream velocity but decreases with airfoil size. We demonstrate that collection efficiency, impingement velocity and impingement angle are primarily dictated by a single non-dimensional parameter, the droplet Stokes number. We also identify a critical stagnation-streamline Stokes number below which impingements do not occur and use it to estimate the minimum droplet size for impingement. In addition, we observe droplet behaviour to become Stokes number independent at large values of the Stokes number. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Heat and mass transfer in frost and ice’.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Towards replacing physical testing of granular materials with a Topology-based Model

In the study of packed granular materials, the performance of a sample (e.g., the detonation of a high-energy explosive) often correlates to measurements of a fluid flowing through it. The “effective surface area,” the surface area accessible to the airflow, is typically measured using a permeametry apparatus that relates the flow conductance to the permeable surface area via the Carman-Kozeny equation. This equation allows calculating the flow rate of a fluid flowing through the granules packed in the sample for a given pressure drop. However, Carman-Kozeny makes inherent assumptions about tunnel shapes and flow paths that may not accurately hold in situations where the particles possess a wide distribution in shapes, sizes, and aspect ratios, as is true with many powdered systems of technological and commercial interest. To address this challenge, we replicate these measurements virtually on micro-CT images of the powdered material, introducing a new Pore Network Model based on the skeleton of the Morse-Smale complex. Pores are identified as basins of the complex, their incidence encodes adjacency, and the conductivity of the capillary between them is computed from the cross-section at their interface. We build and solve a resistive network to compute an approximate laminar fluid flow through the pore structure. Here, we provide two means of estimating flow-permeable surface area: (i) by direct computation of conductivity, and (ii) by identifying dead-ends in the flow coupled with isosurface extraction and the application of the Carman-Kozeny equation, with the aim of establishing consistency over a range of particle shapes, sizes, porosity levels, and void distribution patterns.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Indoor air quality in new and renovated low-income apartments with mechanical ventilation and natural gas cooking in California

This work presents pollutant concentrations and performance data for code-required mechanical ventilation equipment in 23 low-income apartments at 4 properties constructed or renovated 2013-2017. All apartments had natural gas cooking burners. Occupants pledged to not use windows for ventilation during the study but several did. Measured airflows of range hoods and bathroom exhaust fans were lower than product specifications. Only eight apartments operationally met all ventilation code requirements. Pollutants measured over one week in each apartment included time-resolved fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), formaldehyde and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and time-integrated formaldehyde, NO 2 and nitrogen oxides (NO X ). Compared to a recent study of California houses with code-compliant ventilation, apartments were smaller, had fewer occupants, higher densities, and higher mechanical ventilation rates. Mean PM 2.5 , formaldehyde, NO 2 , and CO 2 were 7.7 µg/m 3 , 14.1 ppb, 18.8 ppb, and 741 ppm in apartments; these are 4% lower, 25% lower, 165% higher, and 18% higher compared to houses with similar cooking frequency. Four apartments had weekly PM 2.5 above the California annual outdoor standard of 12 µg/m 3 and also discrete days above the World Health Organization 24-h guideline of 25 µg/m 3 . Two apartments had weekly NO 2 above the California annual outdoor standard of 30 ppb.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of Real-Time System Identification to Detect Abnormal Operations in a Gas Turbine Cycle

Here, we present a novel online system identification methodology for monitoring the performance of power systems. This methodology was demonstrated in a gas turbine recuperated power plant designed for a hybrid configuration. A 120-kW Garrett microturbine modified to test dynamic control strategies for hybrid power systems designed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) was used to implement and validate this online system identification methodology. The main component of this methodology consists of an empirical transfer function model implemented in parallel to the turbine speed operation and the fuel control valve, which can monitor the process response of the gas turbine system while it is operating. During fully closed-loop operations or automated control, the output of the controller, fuel valve position, and the turbine speed measurements were fed for a given period of time to a recursive algorithm that determined the transfer function parameters during the nominal condition. After the new parameters were calculated, they were fed into the transfer function model for online prediction. The turbine speed measurement was compared against the transfer function prediction, and a control logic was implemented to capture when the system operated at nominal or abnormal conditions. To validate the ability to detect abnormal conditions during dynamic operations, drifting in the performance of the gas turbine system was evaluated. A leak in the turbomachinery working fluid was emulated by bleeding 10% of the airflow from the compressor discharge to the atmosphere, and electrical load steps were performed before and after the leak. This tool could detect the leak 7 s after it had occurred, which accounted for a fuel flow increase of approximately 15.8% to maintain the same load and constant turbine speed operations.

algorithms↗
DOE OSTI2021

Power Generation and Oxygen Transfer Analyses for Micro Hydro-Turbine Installed in Wastewater Treatment Aeration Tank

This study targets one of the major energy consumers in the U.S. It suggests a new mechanical system that can recover a portion of the energy in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). The proposed system entails a hydro-turbine installed above the air diffuser in the aeration tank to extract the water-bubble current’s kinetic energy and converts it to electricity. Observing the optimum location of the turbine required multiple experiments where turbine height varies between 35% and 95% (water height percentages above the diffuser), while varying the airflow between 1.42 L/s (3 CFM) and 2.12 L/s (4.5 CFM) with a 0.24 L/s (0.5 CFM) increment. Additionally, three water heights of 38.1 cm (15*), 53.4 cm (21*), and 68.6 cm (27*) were considered to study the influence of the water height. It was noticed that the presence of the system has an adverse effect on the standard oxygen transfer efficiency (SOTE). Therefore, a small dual-blade propeller was installed right above the diffuser to directly mix the water in the bottom of the tank with the incoming air to enhance the SOTE. The results showed that the maximum reclaimed power was obtained where the hydro-turbine is installed at 65–80% above the diffuser. A reduction of up to 7.32% in SOTE was observed when the setup was placed inside the tank compared to the tank alone. The addition of the dual-blade propeller showed an increase in SOTE of 7.27% with a power loss of 6.21%, ensuring the aeration process was at its standards.

Energy & Fuels↗
DOE OSTI2022

Experimental Investigation of Gaseous Mixtures of Ethane, Methane, and Carbon Dioxide as an Alternative to Conventional Fuel in Spark Ignition Engines

This study investigates the viability and performance of certain synthetic fuels in spark ignition internal combustion engine based stationary power generation wherein the fuel comprises a mixture of methane and ethane in high dilutions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). The fuel of concern is a byproduct of a novel method for producing ethylene from ethane. The byproduct gas mixture has a concentration of approximately 41% CO 2 , 40% ethane, and 5% methane by weight along with other minor compounds. Varying mixtures of ethane and methane combined with between 42% and 46% by weight CO 2 were used to evaluate the viability and efficiency of this fuel to operate in existing internal combustion engines as a means of reducing emissions and increasing industrial process efficiency. A 13 hp gasoline generator was repurposed as a test stand by incorporating a modified fuel induction system and instrumentation for data collection. A gas metering and mixing system was installed to precisely control the mass flow of gases induced into the engine. Various instrumentations were installed to monitor in-cylinder pressure, temperature at various locations, emissions, and fuel and airflow rates. Varying fuel mixtures and loads were tested and compared to gasoline. It was found that under a high load, the mixed gas was able to generate comparable thermal efficiency and power to gasoline. But under no load or a part load condition the indicated thermal efficiency was found to be about 21% lower than that of gasoline. Further, the mixed gas also resulted in up to 50% reduction in CO and NOx emissions when compared to gasoline.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Use of Multiple Tracer Gases to Quantify Vane Trailing Edge Flow Into Turbine Rim Seals

Abstract Overlapping features are commonly used as rim seals between stationary and rotating components in a turbine stage. These rim seals are used to prevent main gas path ingestion to the wheelspace cavity, which reduces the lifespan of critical engine components such as the turbine disk. In addition to the overlapping features, purge flow, diverted from the compressor, is injected into the rim cavity to act as an airflow sealing mechanism. Previous research identified that in addition to the purge flow in the rim cavity, cooling flow from the vane trailing edge (VTE) is ingested into the rim seal cavity carrying the potential to cool components in the wheelspace. These previous findings, however, were not able to distinctly separate purge from VTE cooling flows, which is the contribution of this paper based on uniquely using two different tracer gases. A one-stage test turbine operating at engine-relevant conditions and consisting of real engine hardware was used to validate and quantify the ingestion of the VTE flow by independently seeding the purge and VTE flows with two different tracer gases. Experimental results show the presence of VTE flow in the rim seal throughout all purge flowrates evaluated. Circumferential variation of VTE flow was also studied both experimentally and computationally using a computational fluid dynamics model. Results showed that ingested VTE flow can reduce the detrimental effect of hot gas ingestion particularly at higher purge flowrates.

Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modeling and Optimal Design of a Desalination System Integrated Between a Glass-Covered Solar Collection Water Chamber and a Heat Dissipating Chimney

Abstract Solar thermal energy is trapped in a glass-covered water chamber/basin to provide the heat for evaporation of brackish water in a novel desalination system. To harvest clean water, a chimney is integrated with the water basin, which draws air into the chamber to be humidified by the vapor and then being ventilated via buoyance force. Uniquely, thermal conductive metal sheet is recommended to make the chimney, which allows the vapor in the humid air condenses easily when flowing up. The condensate at the inner wall of the chimney flows down to be collected as clean water. Mathematical modeling and numerical computation have been carried out to delineate the coupling of the buoyance-force-driven flow with the heat and mass transfer of air and water in the solar collection chamber and the condensation of vapor in the heat-dissipating chimney. The objective of the simulation and optimization of the system is to find the best match of the dimensions of the water chamber with a chimney to maximize the production of clean water and energy efficiency. The model has been used to simulation several cases (of water from 40 °C to 50 °C) with available experimental data from the authors’ previous work, and the agreement was satisfactory. The optimization studies found that there is a maximum air flowrate corresponding to a critical chimney height due to the requirement that the chimney is designated to dissipate heat as much as possible to condense water vapor. With the chimney height greater than the critical height, the airflow rate will have a slight decrease. Nevertheless, higher than a critical height is still needed for a chimney to condense more moisture. Optimized chamber diameters at different chimney heights are provided for reference of optimal system designs.

Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2024

Design and Cooling Performance of Additively Manufactured Ceramic Turbine Vanes

Ceramic materials are of significant interest in aviation and power generation gas turbine engines due to their low density and ability to withstand high temperatures. Increased cycle thermal efficiency and higher specific power output is possible by incorporating ceramic components that enable high turbine inlet temperatures and lower required cooling airflow levels. However, ceramics can be difficult and costly to form into the complex shapes used in gas turbine components, often requiring specialized multi-step processes. Furthermore, ceramic components in the hottest areas of a gas turbine, such as vanes or blade shroud seals, will still likely require cooling which is challenging to implement in conventional ceramic manufacturing approaches. Therefore, this study presents a multidisciplinary approach that investigates the design, fabrication, and overall cooling effectiveness evaluation of additively manufactured (AM), polymer derived ceramic (PDC) turbine vanes. A thermo-mechanically optimized vane design was generated, ceramic additive manufacturing of the complex cooling configuration was developed, and quantification of the increase in overall cooling effectiveness was performed in a 1X scale, high-speed facility using infrared thermography. This study produced a PDC AM process, capable of printing complex internal cooling schemes in 1X scale turbine vanes. Furthermore, it was found that the optimized vane more than doubled the overall cooling effectiveness observed in the baseline design, which reasonably agreed with thermomechanical optimization model predictions. Additionally, the optimized ceramic vane outperformed an identical metal vane, in terms of area averaged cooling effectiveness, suggesting that the ceramic vane could operate at reduced coolant flowrates to achieve comparable levels of cooling performance.

Reynolds number↗