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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 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Mesoscopic structural phase progression in photo-excited VO 2 revealed by time-resolved x-ray diffraction microscopy

Dynamical phase separation during a solid-solid phase transition poses a challenge for understanding the fundamental processes in correlated materials. Critical information underlying a phase transition, such as localized phase competition, is difficult to reveal by measurements that are spatially averaged over many phase seperated regions. The ability to simultanousely track the spatial and temporal evolution of such systems is essential to understanding mesoscopic processes during a phase transition. Using state-of- the-art time-resolved hard x-ray diffraction microscopy, we directly visualize the structural phase progression in a VO 2 film upon photoexcitation. Following a homogenous in-plane optical excitation, the phase transformation is initiated at discrete sites and completed by the growth of one lattice structure into the other, instead of a simultaneous isotropic lattice symmetry change. The time-dependent x-ray diffraction spatial maps show that the in-plane phase progression in laser-superheated VO 2 is via a displacive lattice transformation as a result of relaxation from an excited monoclinic phase into a rutile phase. The speed of the phase front progression is quantitatively measured, which is faster than the process driven by in-plane thermal diffusion but slower than the sound speed in VO 2 . Lastly, the direct visualization of localized structural changes in the time domain opens a new avenue to study mesoscopic processes in driven systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1984

An upper ocean current jet and internal waves in a Gulf Stream warm core ring

On June 22, 1982, the R/V Endeavor, while participating in a multi-ship study of a warm core ring 82B, encountered a strong front in the core of the ring. The vessel was headed on a radial section outward from ring center while a CTD was repeatedly raised and lowered between 10 and 300 m. Current profiles in the upper 100 m were obtained continuously with a Doppler acoustic profiling system. Above the shallow 45 m seasonal thermocline, a current jet of 4 km width was encountered having a central core of relatively light water and a maximum current of 1.1 m/s. This jet was both highly nonlinear and totally unexpected. A high frequency packet of directional internal waves was acoustically observed in the seasonal thermocline at the outer edge of the jet. Vertical velocities were large enough (6 cm/s) as to be directly observable in the Doppler returns. The waves were propagating from the northeast, parallel to the ship track, and orthogonal to the jet toward the center of the warm core ring. While a nonlinear, centrifugal term was required for the force balance of the jet, the high-frequency internal wave packet could be explained with linear, gravest-mode wave dynamics.

Joyce, T. M.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Analysis of the Effect of Vehicle Platooning on the Optimal Control of a Heavy Duty Engine Thermal System

One promising method for reducing fuel consumption and emissions, particularly in heavy duty trucks, is platooning. As the distance between vehicles decreases, the following vehicles will experience less aerodynamic drag on the front of the vehicle. However, reducing the velocity of the air contacting the front of the vehicle could have adverse effects on the temperature of the engine. To compensate for this effect, the energy consumption of the engine cooling system might increase, ultimately limiting the overall improvements obtained with platooning. Understanding the coupling between drag reduction and engine cooling load requirement is key for successfully implementing platooning strategies. Additionally, in a Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) environment, where information of the future engine load becomes available, the operation of the cooling system can be optimized in order to achieve the maximum fuel consumption reduction. In this paper, a control-oriented physics-based model for the engine cooling loop of a Volvo engine is developed and validated against road data. Starting from the validated model, an optimal control problem for the coolant system is formulated considering the tradeoff between the tracking of the engine temperature setpoint and the corresponding fuel consumption under different trailing distances. To compare the coolant system performance, Dynamic Programming (DP) is used to determine the global optimal solution for the coolant system actuator. The coupling between optimal cooling system operation and reduction in ram air are evaluated by comparing the results obtained from the DP under different platooning conditions against the unrestricted scenario. In addition, the paper analyzes the changes in the tradeoff between fuel consumption and setpoint tracking for different vehicle distances. This analysis will provide useful insight on the sensitivity of the coolant system controller calibration to the platoon distance.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA Tech Briefs, October 2010

Topics covered include: Hybrid Architecture Active Wavefront Sensing and Control; Carbon-Nanotube-Based Chemical Gas Sensor; Aerogel-Positronium Technology for the Detection of Small Quantities of Organic and/or Toxic Materials; Graphene-Based Reversible Nano-Switch/Sensor Schottky Diode; Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor; High-Temperature Surface-Acoustic-Wave Transducer; Grid-Sphere Electrodes for Contact with Ionospheric Plasma; Enabling IP Header Compression in COTS Routers via Frame Relay on a Simplex Link; Ka-Band SiGe Receiver Front-End MMIC for Transponder Applications; Robust Optimization Design Algorithm for High-Frequency TWTs; Optimal and Local Connectivity Between Neuron and Synapse Array in the Quantum Dot/Silicon Brain; Method and Circuit for In-Situ Health Monitoring of Solar Cells in Space; BGen: A UML Behavior Network Generator Tool; Platform for Post-Processing Waveform-Based NDE; Electrochemical Hydrogen Peroxide Generator; Fabrication of Single, Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes in 3D Nanoscale Architectures; Process to Create High-Fidelity Lunar Dust Simulants; Lithium-Ion Electrolytes Containing Phosphorous-Based, Flame-Retardant Additives; InGaP Heterojunction Barrier Solar Cells; Straight-Pore Microfilter with Efficient Regeneration; Determining Shear Stress Distribution in a Laminate; Self-Adjusting Liquid Injectors for Combustors; Handling Qualities Prediction of an F-16XL-Based Reduced Sonic Boom Aircraft; Tele-Robotic ATHLETE Controller for Kinematics - TRACK; Three-Wheel Brush-Wheel Sampler; Heterodyne Interferometer Angle Metrology; Aligning Astronomical Telescopes via Identification of Stars; Generation of Optical Combs in a WGM Resonator from a Bichromatic Pump; Large-Format AlGaN PIN Photodiode Arrays for UV Images; Fiber-Coupled Planar Light-Wave Circuit for Seed Laser Control in High Spectral Resolution Lidar Systems; On Calculating the Zero-Gravity Surface Figure of a Mirror; Optical Modification of Casimir Forces for Improved Function of Micro- and Nano-Scale Devices; Analysis, Simulation, and Verification of Knowledge-Based, Rule-Based, and Expert Systems; Core and Off-Core Processes in Systems Engineering; Digital Reconstruction Supporting Investigation of Mishaps; and Template Matching Approach to Signal Prediction.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2016

Image Correlation Pattern Optimization for Micro-Scale In-Situ Strain Measurements

The accuracy and precision of digital image correlation (DIC) is a function of three primary ingredients: image acquisition, image analysis, and the subject of the image. Development of the first two (i.e. image acquisition techniques and image correlation algorithms) has led to widespread use of DIC; however, fewer developments have been focused on the third ingredient. Typically, subjects of DIC images are mechanical specimens with either a natural surface pattern or a pattern applied to the surface. Research in the area of DIC patterns has primarily been aimed at identifying which surface patterns are best suited for DIC, by comparing patterns to each other. Because the easiest and most widespread methods of applying patterns have a high degree of randomness associated with them (e.g., airbrush, spray paint, particle decoration, etc.), less effort has been spent on exact construction of ideal patterns. With the development of patterning techniques such as microstamping and lithography, patterns can be applied to a specimen pixel by pixel from a patterned image. In these cases, especially because the patterns are reused many times, an optimal pattern is sought such that error introduced into DIC from the pattern is minimized. DIC consists of tracking the motion of an array of nodes from a reference image to a deformed image. Every pixel in the images has an associated intensity (grayscale) value, with discretization depending on the bit depth of the image. Because individual pixel matching by intensity value yields a non-unique scale-dependent problem, subsets around each node are used for identification. A correlation criteria is used to find the best match of a particular subset of a reference image within a deformed image. The reader is referred to references for enumerations of typical correlation criteria. As illustrated by Schreier and Sutton and Lu and Cary systematic errors can be introduced by representing the underlying deformation with under-matched shape functions. An important implication, as discussed by Sutton et al., is that in the presence of highly localized deformations (e.g., crack fronts), error can be reduced by minimizing the subset size. In other words, smaller subsets allow the more accurate resolution of localized deformations. Contrarily, the choice of optimal subset size has been widely studied and a general consensus is that larger subsets with more information content are less prone to random error. Thus, an optimal subset size balances the systematic error from under matched deformations with random error from measurement noise. The alternative approach pursued in the current work is to choose a small subset size and optimize the information content within (i.e., optimizing an applied DIC pattern), rather than finding an optimal subset size. In the literature, many pattern quality metrics have been proposed, e.g., sum of square intensity gradient (SSSIG), mean subset fluctuation, gray level co-occurrence, autocorrelation-based metrics, and speckle-based metrics. The majority of these metrics were developed to quantify the quality of common pseudo-random patterns after they have been applied, and were not created with the intent of pattern generation. As such, it is found that none of the metrics examined in this study are fit to be the objective function of a pattern generation optimization. In some cases, such as with speckle-based metrics, application to pixel by pixel patterns is ill-conditioned and requires somewhat arbitrary extensions. In other cases, such as with the SSSIG, it is shown that trivial solutions exist for the optimum of the metric which are ill-suited for DIC (such as a checkerboard pattern). In the current work, a multi-metric optimization method is proposed whereby quality is viewed as a combination of individual quality metrics. Specifically, SSSIG and two auto-correlation metrics are used which have generally competitive objectives. Thus, each metric could be viewed as a constraint imposed upon the others, thereby precluding the achievement of their trivial solutions. In this way, optimization produces a pattern which balances the benefits of multiple quality metrics. The resulting pattern, along with randomly generated patterns, is subjected to numerical deformations and analyzed with DIC software. The optimal pattern is shown to outperform randomly generated patterns.

Bomarito, G. F.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Computations of drop collision and coalescence

Computations of drops collision and coalescence are presented. The computations are made possible by a recently developed finite difference/front tracking technique that allows direct solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for a multi-fluid system with complex, unsteady internal boundaries. This method has been used to examine the boundaries between the various collision modes for drops of equal size and two examples, one of a 'reflective' collision and another of a 'grazing' collision is shown. From drops of unequal size, coalescence can result in considerable mixing between the fluid from the small and the large drop. This problem is discussed and one example showed. In many cases it is necessary to account also for heat transfer along with the fluid mechanics. We show two preliminary results where we are using extensions of the method to simulate such a problem. One example shows pattern formation among many drops moving due to thermal migration, the other shows unstable evolution of a solidification front.

Tryggvason, Gretar↗
NASA NTRS1993

Proposed framework for thermomechanical life modeling of metal matrix composites

The framework of a mechanics of materials model is proposed for thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) life prediction of unidirectional, continuous-fiber metal matrix composites (MMC's). Axially loaded MMC test samples are analyzed as structural components whose fatigue lives are governed by local stress-strain conditions resulting from combined interactions of the matrix, interfacial layer, and fiber constituents. The metallic matrix is identified as the vehicle for tracking fatigue crack initiation and propagation. The proposed framework has three major elements. First, TMF flow and failure characteristics of in situ matrix material are approximated from tests of unreinforced matrix material, and matrix TMF life prediction equations are numerically calibrated. The macrocrack initiation fatigue life of the matrix material is divided into microcrack initiation and microcrack propagation phases. Second, the influencing factors created by the presence of fibers and interfaces are analyzed, characterized, and documented in equation form. Some of the influences act on the microcrack initiation portion of the matrix fatigue life, others on the microcrack propagation life, while some affect both. Influencing factors include coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch strains, residual (mean) stresses, multiaxial stress states, off-axis fibers, internal stress concentrations, multiple initiation sites, nonuniform fiber spacing, fiber debonding, interfacial layers and cracking, fractured fibers, fiber deflections of crack fronts, fiber bridging of matrix cracks, and internal oxidation along internal interfaces. Equations exist for some, but not all, of the currently identified influencing factors. The third element is the inclusion of overriding influences such as maximum tensile strain limits of brittle fibers that could cause local fractures and ensuing catastrophic failure of surrounding matrix material. Some experimental data exist for assessing the plausibility of the proposed framework.

Halford, Gary R.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Study of the performance of the Micromegas chambers for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Upgrade

The ATLAS collaboration at LHC has chosen the Micromegas (Micro Mesh Gaseous Structure) technology along with the small-strip Thin Gap Chambers (sTGC) for the high luminosity upgrade of the inner muon station in the high-rapidity region, the so called New Small Wheel (NSW). It employs eight layers of Micromegas detectors and eight layers of sTGC. The NSW project requires fully efficient Micromegas chambers with spatial resolution down to 100 μm in the precision coordinate for momentum reconstruction, and at mm level in the azimuthal (second) coordinate, over a total active area of 1200 m{sup 2}, with a rate capability up to about 15 kHz/cm{sup 2} and operation in a moderate magnetic field up to B = 0.4 T. The required tracking capability is provided by the intrinsic space resolution combined with a mechanical precision at the level of 30 μm along the precision coordinate. Together with the precise tracking capability the Micromegas chambers should provide a trigger signal. Several tests have been performed on small (10x10 cm{sup 2}) and large (1 x 1 m{sup 2}) size single gap chambers prototypes using high energy hadron beams at CERN, low and intermediate energy (0.5-5 GeV) electron beams at Frascati and DESY, neutron beams at Demokritos (Athens) and Garching (Munich) and cosmic rays. More recently two quadruplets with dimensions 1.2 x 0.5 m{sup 2} and the same configuration and structure foreseen for the NSW upgrade have been built at CERN and tested with high energy pions/muons beam. Results obtained in the most recent tests, in different configurations and operating conditions, in dependence with the magnetic field, will be presented, along with a comparison between different read-out electronics, either based on the APV25 chips, or based on a new digital front-end ASIC developed in its second version (VMM2) as a new prototype of the final chip that will be employed in the NSW upgrade. (authors)

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS2009

Spacecraft Internal Acoustic Environment Modeling

Acoustic modeling can be used to identify key noise sources, determine/analyze sub-allocated requirements, keep track of the accumulation of minor noise sources, and to predict vehicle noise levels at various stages in vehicle development, first with estimates of noise sources, later with experimental data. In FY09, the physical mockup developed in FY08, with interior geometric shape similar to Orion CM (Crew Module) IML (Interior Mode Line), was used to validate SEA (Statistical Energy Analysis) acoustic model development with realistic ventilation fan sources. The sound power levels of these sources were unknown a priori, as opposed to previous studies that RSS (Reference Sound Source) with known sound power level was used. The modeling results were evaluated based on comparisons to measurements of sound pressure levels over a wide frequency range, including the frequency range where SEA gives good results. Sound intensity measurement was performed over a rectangular-shaped grid system enclosing the ventilation fan source. Sound intensities were measured at the top, front, back, right, and left surfaces of the and system. Sound intensity at the bottom surface was not measured, but sound blocking material was placed tinder the bottom surface to reflect most of the incident sound energy back to the remaining measured surfaces. Integrating measured sound intensities over measured surfaces renders estimated sound power of the source. The reverberation time T6o of the mockup interior had been modified to match reverberation levels of ISS US Lab interior for speech frequency bands, i.e., 0.5k, 1k, 2k, 4 kHz, by attaching appropriately sized Thinsulate sound absorption material to the interior wall of the mockup. Sound absorption of Thinsulate was modeled in three methods: Sabine equation with measured mockup interior reverberation time T60, layup model based on past impedance tube testing, and layup model plus air absorption correction. The evaluation/validation was carried out by acquiring octave band microphone data simultaneously at ten fixed locations throughout the mockup. SPLs (Sound Pressure Levels) predicted by our SEA model match well with measurements for our CM mockup, with a more complicated shape. Additionally in FY09, background NC noise (Noise Criterion) simulation and MRT (Modified Rhyme Test) were developed and performed in the mockup to determine the maximum noise level in CM habitable volume for fair crew voice communications. Numerous demonstrations of simulated noise environment in the mockup and associated SIL (Speech Interference Level) via MRT were performed for various communities, including members from NASA and Orion prime-/sub-contractors. Also, a new HSIR (Human-Systems Integration Requirement) for limiting pre- and post-landing SIL was proposed.

Chu, SShao-sheng R.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Blocking Losses With a Photon Counter

It was not known how to assess accurately losses in a communications link due to photodetector blocking, a phenomenon wherein a detector is rendered inactive for a short time after the detection of a photon. When used to detect a communications signal, blocking leads to losses relative to an ideal detector, which may be measured as a reduction in the communications rate for a given received signal power, or an increase in the signal power required to support the same communications rate. This work involved characterizing blocking losses for single detectors and arrays of detectors. Blocking may be mitigated by spreading the signal intensity over an array of detectors, reducing the count rate on any one detector. A simple approximation was made to the blocking loss as a function of the probability that a detector is unblocked at a given time, essentially treating the blocking probability as a scaling of the detection efficiency. An exact statistical characterization was derived for a single detector, and an approximation for multiple detectors. This allowed derivation of several accurate approximations to the loss. Methods were also derived to account for a rise time in recovery, and non-uniform illumination due to diffraction and atmospheric distortion of the phase front. It was assumed that the communications signal is intensity modulated and received by an array of photon-counting photodetectors. For the purpose of this analysis, it was assumed that the detectors are ideal, in that they produce a signal that allows one to reproduce the arrival times of electrons, produced either as photoelectrons or from dark noise, exactly. For single detectors, the performance of the maximum-likelihood (ML) receiver in blocking is illustrated, as well as a maximum-count (MC) receiver, that, when receiving a pulse-position-modulated (PPM) signal, selects the symbol corresponding to the slot with the largest electron count. Whereas the MC receiver saturates at high count rates, the ML receiver may not. The loss in capacity, symbol-error-rate (SER), and count-rate were numerically computed. It was shown that the capacity and symbol-error-rate losses track, whereas the count-rate loss does not generally reflect the SER or capacity loss, as the slot-statistics at the detector output are no longer Poisson. It is also shown that the MC receiver loss may be accurately predicted for dead times on the order of a slot.

Moision, Burce E.↗
DOE OSTI2016

ALICE inner tracking system readout electronics prototype testing with the CERN "Giga Bit Transceiver''

The ALICE Collaboration is preparing a major detector upgrade for the LHC Run 3, which includes the construction of a new silicon pixel based Inner Tracking System (ITS). The ITS readout system consists of 192 readout boards to control the sensors and their power system, receive triggers, and deliver sensor data to the DAQ. To prototype various aspects of this readout system, an FPGA based carrier board and an associated FMC daughter card containing the CERN Gigabit Transceiver (GBT) chipset have been developed. Furthermore, this contribution describes laboratory and radiation testing results with this prototype board set.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS2018

Understanding the Water Cycle Above the North Polar Cap on Mars Using MRO CRISM Retrievals of Water Vapor

The north polar cap (NPC) on Mars is the major reservoir of atmospheric water (H2O) currently on Mars. The retrieval and monitoring of atmospheric water vapor abundance are crucial for tracking the cycle of water above the NPC. The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has provided a wealth of data that extend over 5 + Martian years, covering the time period between 2006 and 2016. CRISM is ideally suited for spring and summer observations of the north polar region (latitudes poleward of 60 °N). The retrievals of water vapor column abundances over this extended period of time were performed over both ice-free and water ice covered surfaces, extending the coverage of the water vapor maps to include the permanent cap, where a maximum value of 90 precipitable micrometers (pr–µm) is retrieved, as compared to 60 pr–µm over ice-free regions in the North Polar Region. Away from summertime maximum, modest interannual variability in the water vapor abundance is observed. Zonal averages over all the observed Martian years combined show a developing water front that shifts northward towards summer, before dissipating over the permanent cap during mid-summer. A prominent feature at latitudes around 75 °N shows large abundances of water vapor, indicating a water vapor annulus encircling the retreating edge of the seasonal polar cap during late spring. Meridional transport of water modeled here show that the annulus may be a result of the convergence of water vapor from both south and north along the retreating edge of the NPC.

Khayat, Alain S. J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multiwell Fiber Optic Sensing Reveals Effects of CO2 Flow on Triggered Seismicity

Induced seismicity is one of the main risks for gigaton-scale geological storage of carbon dioxide (⁠CO 2 ⁠). Thus, passive seismic monitoring is often recommended as a necessary component of the monitoring systems for CO 2 storage projects, with a particular forcus on risk mitigation. We present the first field study, CO2CRC Otway Project Stage 3 (Victoria, Australia), where distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) enabled high-precision tracking of the induced seismicity triggered by a small CO 2 injection and also informed the reservoir models. In 610 days of passive seismic monitoring of the Stage 3 injection, we detected 17 microseismic events (maximum moment magnitude Mw 0.1) using five deep boreholes equipped with enhanced-sensitivity optical fiber. The DAS array has sensitivity sufficient for detection and location of induced events with M w ~ ₋2 in a monitoring borehole located up to 1500 m away. Thanks to the dense spatial sampling by the DAS, we were able to estimate the focal mechanisms for events with M w > ₋1.5; although the monitoring boreholes provided very limited angular coverage. The main cluster of the events has the same location and source mechanism as the one triggered by the previous CO 2 injection at the Otway Project site, Stage 2C. Surprizingly, the Stage 2C and Stage 3 events closely followed the actual movement of the CO 2 saturation plume front (not the pressure front), as observed using controlled-source reflection seismic images. The nature of the plume-fault interaction remains unclear, but some alteration of the fault gouge by CO 2 might be responsible for the faults’ reactivation by the pressure perturbation. Importantly, the seismogenic fault could not be identified in the seismic images and was only revealed by DAS observations, which also demonstrated the signature of fluid–rock interaction, that may control the CO 2 flow.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Piezoelectric transducer design for a miniaturized injectable acoustic transmitter

Acoustic telemetry has been an important tool in the last 20 years for studying fish survival and migration behaviors during and after dam passage. This technology uses implantable acoustic transmitters as tags to three-dimensionally track the movement of fish. However, the relatively large weights and sizes of commercially available transmitters limit the populations of fish that could be studied. The surgical implantation procedures required may also injure fish and also incur a significant amount of labor. Therefore, a smaller, lighter, and injectable tag was needed, and similar or better acoustic performance and service life over that provided by existing commercial tags was desired. To develop such a small transmitter, a number of technical challenges, including design optimization of the piezoelectric transducer, needed to be overcome. The goal of our efforts to optimize the transducer focused on improving the average source level in the 180° range in which the transmitter was facing the receiving hydrophone, so as to increase the transmitter’s detection probability. This paper reports the techniques that were explored and developed to achieve this goal. We found that a novel off-center tube transducer improved the average source level of the front half of the transducer by 1.5 dB. An acoustic reflector attached to the back of the transducer also improved the source level by 3 dB when the transducer was pointed toward the receiving hydrophone, although the source level on the sides of the transducer was reduced. We found that too small a gap between the transducer and the component placed behind it resulted in distortion of the beam pattern. To overcome that issue, we connected a tuning inductor in series with the transducer to help optimize the source level. Furthermore, the findings and techniques developed in this work contributed to the successful development and implementation of a new injectable transmitter.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Tests of innovative photon detectors and integrated electronics for the large-area CLAS12 ring-imaging Cherenkov detector

A large area ring-imaging Cherenkov detector has been designed to provide clean hadron identification capability in the momentum range from 3 GeV/c to 8 GeV/c for the CLAS12 experiments at the upgraded 12 GeV continuous electron beam accelerator facility of Jefferson Lab. Its aim is to study the 3D nucleon structure in the yet poorly explored valence region by deep-inelastic scattering, and to perform precision measurements in hadron spectroscopy. The adopted solution foresees a novel hybrid optics design based on an aerogel radiator, composite mirrors and a densely packed and highly segmented photon detector. Cherenkov light will either be imaged directly (forward tracks) or after two mirror reflections (large angle tracks). Extensive tests have been performed on Hamamatsu H8500 and novel flat multi-anode photomultipliers under development and on various types of silicon photomultipliers. A large scale prototype based on 28 H8500 MA-PMTs has been realized and tested with few GeV/c hadron beams at the T9 test-beam facility of CERN. In addition a small prototype was used to study the response of customized SiPM matrices within a temperature interval ranging from 25 down to –25 °C. The preliminary results of the individual photon detector tests and of the prototype performance at the test-beams are here reported.

Cherenkov radiation↗
DOE OSTI2023

The New Small Wheel electronics

The increase in luminosity, and consequent higher backgrounds, of the LHC upgrades require improved rejection of fake tracks in the forward region of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer. The New Small Wheel upgrade of the Muon Spectrometer aims to reduce the large background of fake triggers from track segments that don't originate from the interaction point. The New Small Wheel employs two detector technologies, the resistive strip Micromegas detectors and the “small” Thin Gap Chambers, with a total of 2.45 million electrodes to be sensed. The two technologies require the design of a complex electronics system given that it consists of two different detector technologies and is required to provide both precision readout and a fast trigger. It will operate in a high background radiation region up to about 20 kHz/cm 2 at the expected HL-LHC luminosity of $\mathcal{L}$= 7.5 × 10 34 cm -2 s -1 . The architecture of the system is strongly defined by the GBTx data aggregation ASIC, the newly-introduced FELIX data router and the software based data handler of the ATLAS detector. The electronics complex of this new detector was designed and developed in the last ten years and consists of multiple radiation tolerant Application Specific Integrated Circuits, multiple front-end boards, dense boards with FPGA's and purpose-built Trigger Processor boards within the ATCA standard. The New Small Wheel has been installed in 2021 and is undergoing integration within ATLAS for LHC Run 3. It should operate through the end of Run 4 (December 2032). In this manuscript, the overall design of the New Small Wheel electronics is presented.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Development of FELIX based readout system for HV-CMOS sensor testbeam

The High Voltage CMOS (HV-CMOS) sensors are extensively investigated by the ATLAS collaboration for the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrade of the Inner Tracker (ITk) detector. The HV-CMOS technology is a commercial integrated circuit process with the advantages of monolithic readout and fast charge collection. A front-end test platform of CaRIBOu (Control and Readout Itk BOard) and a testbeam Telescope based on the ATLAS IBL (Insertable B-Layer) silicon pixel modules, have been developed for the HV-CMOS sensor study and characterization in testbeam experiments. The Front-End LInk eXchange (FELIX) system is a newapproach to function as the gateway between detector front-end electronics and the commodity switched network in the ATLAS upgrade. A FELIX based readout system has been developed for both the CaRIBOu and the testbeam Telescope. It has been deployed successfully in the testbeam at theCERNSPS H8 beamline in August 2017. The test results show that the readout system is capable of sensor calibration and readout of a high-density pixel detector with high trigger rate in testbeam experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Laboratory-Scale Coal-Derived Graphene Process (Final Report)

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) conducted a laboratory-scale coal-derived graphene (CDG) project focused on developing a technological process for making graphene from four U.S. domestic coal or coal wastes, including lignite from North Dakota, subbituminous coal from Wyoming, bituminous coal from Utah, and anthracite from Pennsylvania. The project was divided into two performance or budget periods (BPs), with BP1 comprising the up-front laboratory experiments to make graphene materials from coal beginning on May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2022. BP2 was conducted from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023, and was focused on analyzing the CDG process economic feasibility and the technical gaps for technological scale-up and commercialization. During this project, a few different coal-derived high-value products have been demonstrated, including graphite, graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and graphene quantum dots (GQDs). A new graphite microstructure was discovered and named “croissant graphite” because of the exterior morphological and textural resemblance to croissant food items sold in commercial groceries stores. The new graphite structure and the associated preparation from coal or coal waste feedstocks has been the subject of a U.S. patent application. The systematic experimental processes involving coal cleaning, upgrading, and conversion to high-value carbon products culminated into a developed upgraded coal-to-products (UCP) technology that is being pursued for potential fast-track commercialization, if funding is available. It is envisioned that commercialization of the UCP technology would increase consumption of U.S. domestic coals or coal wastes to make environmentally sustainable high-value products for the electronics industry, high-energy-storage applications, and clean energy technologies such as electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), for which graphite has become a critical mineral commodity. Croissant graphite microstructures, when observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), display wavy surface morphology and often grow from a base that is made of graphitized particles with honeycomb-like layers, which are believed to be graphene layers. While more studies are needed to fully ascertain the mechanisms of the croissant graphite microstructure formation, it is postulated that their growth may begin from curling of the graphene sheets into ribbon-like structures, and continuous growth and densification of the ribbon-like structures forms croissant microstructures. Additional studies are ongoing to evaluate the electrochemical performance of croissant graphite for LIB applications and to determine the experimental conditions necessary to tune on/off croissant formation so that it can be either optimized or suppressed depending on performance evaluation results. In addition to the discovery of croissant graphite, the graphitization process from the four coal ranks in general was successful. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the degree of graphitization (DoG) ranged from 12% to 80% in an early sample set, and further optimization on lignite coal produces a DoG of about 92%, which was spectacular to see as lignite is the lowest-rank coal. Thus, it is expected that the graphitization performance for higher-rank coals will be similar or better when optimized as well. The coal-derived graphite was used to make GO and rGO. Analytical characterization, e.g., by methods such as Raman spectroscopy, XRD, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and FESEM, showed that the sequence of converting the coal to graphite, exfoliating it to GO, and then chemically reducing the GO to rGO was successful. Although coal naturally contains aromatic compounds and some relatively small-sized condensed aromatic units, it does not contain graphene sheets. In the UCP process, the aromatic domains in the coals, particularly low-rank coals, are concentrated and condensed further into graphene sheets, which are ordered into a 3D stack during graphitization. The synthesized graphite is then unpacked by methods such as exfoliation to various graphene products. GQDs were synthesized from all four coal types, and their optical properties were demonstrated to be tunable by the coal precursor preprocessing treatments. In all four coal types, enhanced optical properties were observed for the produced GDQs with incremental improvements made to the coal precursors. GQDs produced from raw coal samples displayed lower ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy absorbance intensity compared to those obtained from cleaned and upgraded coal residues. The photoluminescence (PL) intensities also varied with pretreatment conditions and with the concentration of GQDs in aqueous solutions. GQDs obtained from anthracite show longer emission wavelengths and can be excited by visible light as opposed to GQDs derived from the other coal ranks. UV fluorescence 3D maps and spectra revealed that the emission wavelength at which the GQDs solutions display the highest intensity was slightly redshifted based on the coal precursor pretreatments. In low-rank coal (lignite and subbituminous) samples, two clusters were observed in the maps for GQDs, which may suggest that there are potentially two types of fluorophores in solution or two main size populations. The ability to tune the properties of GQDs based on processing methods can be exploited to make GQDs for various optical display or optoelectronics applications. The results also highlight the importance of removing coal-borne impurities to improve the quality of the coal precursor for preparation of graphene products. Coal and/or coal wastes preprocessing methods were developed and applied to clean and upgrade the coal precursors prior to graphitization and subsequent conversion to graphene products. The preprocessing methods involve high specific-gravity separations, mineral acid cleaning (no hydrofluoric acid), and subsequent upgrading by reducing the coal-borne heteroatom (nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen) content using proprietary chemical agents. Analytical characterization revealed that the preprocessing steps were successful, with ash reductions that range from 38% to 80% and residual ash content that was below the 5 wt% initial target. Based on proximate and ultimate analysis, the heteroatom reduction reactions produced upgraded coal residues with the oxygen content reduced by 8% to 24%, with additional reductions in the nitrogen and sulfur contents. An initial assessment of the waste streams from the UCP process shows very small to negligible environmental impact due to CO 2 , NO x , and SO x because most process steps are performed under inert atmosphere with argon. Consequently, reactive oxygen environments that tend to create these species are avoided. The inorganic and potentially hazardous species are released into aqueous waste streams that are easy to handle for proper disposal. The liquid waste streams were found to contain low-level concentrations of rare-earth elements (REEs), which could be concentrated and recovered as value-added by-products. Additionally, the volatile and gaseous fractions from carbonization and heat treatment contain useful organic compounds that can also be recovered as potential valuable by-products. Thus, the UCP technology is considered an environmentally sustainable and promising emerging technology for making high-value products from coal and coal wastes, with potential additional value-added by-products. Analysis of potential markets for the coal-derived carbon products shows a strong demand in both niche market sectors and across a wide variety of other industrial sectors. Graphite is currently considered a critical mineral commodity that has a large and growing demand in the LIB industry for EV applications. Based on data from Fortune Business Insights (2022) and Marketwatch (2023) reports, the average global graphite market is projected to reach about 33 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 7%, with much of this growth expected to be in the LIB industry. GO and rGO have strong market potentials in various application areas, such as coatings for anticorrosion, anti-icing, and antimicrobial protection, thermal barriers, wear resistance, sensors, additive manufacturing such as 3D inks, and others. GQDs are the emerging key player in the bioimaging, photovoltaics, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) applications, with the potential to replace traditional semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs), which are based on metallic systems that are more toxic and more expensive. Biomedical applications of GQDs are becoming more attractive because of low to no toxicity and extremely low cost compared to SQDs. The major challenges for scale-up and commercialization of coal-derived carbon products such as graphene vary from the inherent attributes of graphene itself to reluctance to accept graphene in new manufacturing processes because of the uncertainty of the unknown. The 2D nature of graphene materials with a thickness of one atom presents significant challenges to proper handling/processing, and process scale-up becomes difficult because it requires high-end, expensive equipment, even for routine handling and analysis for quality assurance and control. Pristine graphene can also be extremely difficult to work into other matrices, thus hindering downstream processibility, especially at large scale. Currently, the cost of graphene and graphene products is still high and presents an economic risk that tends to slow down investment in scaling up emerging technologies. The lack of a standard for graphene materials for quality assurance and quality control poses a great challenge not only for the markets but also for commercialization efforts. A first-look economic feasibility analysis of the UCP technology provided valuable information that suggests the UCP process would be feasible, especially when it is scaled to a pilot scale and could be more competitive at the full scale. Graphitization was found to be the most energy-consuming and most capital-intensive step in the overall process. In small laboratory- and bench-scale experiments, labor is a significant contributor to the total process costs. Although these energy, capital, and labor constraints contribute to a higher selling price for the product, a preliminary economic model suggests that the process would be feasible at large scale when the process is fully integrated, optimized, and automated.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗