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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 OSTI2020

Performance Simulation and Analysis of Occupancy-Based Control for Office Buildings with Variable-Air-Volume Systems

Variable-air-volume (VAV) systems are used in many office buildings. The minimum airflow rate setting of VAV terminal boxes has a significant impact on both energy consumption and indoor air quality. Conventional controls usually have the terminal’s minimum airflow rate at a constant (e.g., 30% or more of the terminal design airflow rate), irrespective of the occupancy status, which may cause problems, such as excessive simultaneous heating and cooling, under ventilation, and thermal comfort issues. This paper examines the potential of energy savings from occupancy-based controls (OBCs). The sensed occupancy information, either occupant presence or people count, is used to determine the airflow rate of terminal boxes, the thermostat setpoints, and the lighting control. Using EnergyPlus, a whole-building energy modeling software, the energy savings of OBC strategies are evaluated for representative existing medium office buildings in the U.S. The simulation results show that the conventional OBC, based on occupant presence sensing, can save 8% of whole-building energy use in Miami (hot climate) for systems without air-side economizer and about 13% in both Baltimore (mixed climate) and Chicago (cold climate). Comparatively, the advanced OBC, based on people counting, can save 8% in Miami to 23% in Baltimore for systems with economizers. The outdoor-air fraction of the supply air from air-handling units significantly affects the potential energy savings from the advanced OBC strategy. In addition to energy savings, the advanced OBC satisfies the zone ventilation during all occupied hours over the whole year.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Modeling-Based Flammable Risk Treatment of Refrigerant Leakage from a Commercial R-290 Refrigeration Machine

Because of serious concerns about global warming, manufacturers have started phasing out high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants in commercial refrigeration equipment (e.g., R-134a). As a potential replacement, propane (R-290) is an environmentally friendly refrigerant for commercial refrigeration equipment because its GWP is only three. However, propane is flammable and is therefore classified as a Class A3 refrigerant per ASHRAE Standards, so safety is a very important consideration when propane-based equipment is designed and deployed in buildings. In the event of a refrigerant leak, flammability of the refrigerant depends on the refrigerant’s local concentration, which is highly affected by the indoor air environment, including temperature and air flow. In this study, a ventilation system attached to a commercial R-290 refrigeration device was designed to eliminate the flammability risk. Moreover, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to investigate the refrigerant leak, thereby evaluating effects of the ventilation system. The CFD model can visualize the flammable zones owing to the leak.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

WHISPER: Wireless Home Identification and Sensing Platform for Energy Reduction

Many regions of the world benefit from heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to provide productive, comfortable, and healthy indoor environments, which are enabled by automatic building controls. Due to climate change, population growth, and industrialization, HVAC use is globally on the rise. Unfortunately, these systems often operate in a continuous fashion without regard to actual human presence, leading to unnecessary energy consumption. As a result, the heating, ventilation, and cooling of unoccupied building spaces makes a substantial contribution to the harmful environmental impacts associated with carbon-based electric power generation, which is important to remedy. For our modern electric power system, transitioning to low-carbon renewable energy is facilitated by integration with distributed energy resources. Automatic engagement between the grid and consumers will be necessary to enable a clean yet stable electric grid, when integrating these variable and uncertain renewable energy sources. We present the WHISPER (Wireless Home Identification and Sensing Platform for Energy Reduction) system to address the energy and power demand triggered by human presence in homes. The presented system includes a maintenance-free and privacy-preserving human occupancy detection system wherein a local wireless network of battery-free environmental, acoustic energy, and image sensors are deployed to monitor homes, record empirical data for a range of monitored modalities, and transmit it to a base station. Several machine learning algorithms are implemented at the base station to infer human presence based on the received data, harnessing a hierarchical sensor fusion algorithm. Results from the prototype system demonstrate an accuracy in human presence detection in excess of 95%; ongoing commercialization efforts suggest approximately 99% accuracy. Using machine learning, WHISPER enables various applications based on its binary occupancy prediction, allowing situation-specific controls targeted at both personalized smart home and electric grid modernization opportunities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Atmospheric teleconnection processes linking winter air stagnation and haze extremes in China with regional Arctic sea ice decline

Abstract. Recent studies suggested significant impacts of boreal cryosphere changes on wintertime air stagnation and haze pollution extremes in China. However, the underlying mechanisms of such a teleconnection relationship remains unclear. Here we use the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) to investigate dynamic processes leading to atmospheric circulation and air stagnation responses to Arctic sea ice changes. We conduct four climate sensitivity experiments by perturbing sea ice concentrations (SIC) and corresponding sea surface temperature (SST) in autumn and early winter over the whole Arctic and three subregions in the climate model. The results indicate distinct responses in circulation patterns and regional ventilation to the region-specific Arctic changes, with the largest increase of both the probability (by 132 %) and the intensity (by 30 %) of monthly air stagnation extremes being found in the experiment driven by SIC and SST changes over the Pacific sector of the Arctic (the East Siberian and Chukchi seas). The increased air stagnation extremes are mainly driven by an amplified planetary-scale atmospheric teleconnection pattern that resembles the negative phase of the Eurasian (EU) pattern. Dynamical diagnostics suggest that convergence of transient eddy forcing in the vicinity of Scandinavia in winter is largely responsible for the amplification of the teleconnection pattern. Transient eddy vorticity fluxes dominate the transient eddy forcing and produce a barotropic anticyclonic anomaly near Scandinavia and wave train propagation across Eurasia to the downstream regions in East Asia. The piecewise potential vorticity inversion analysis reveals that this long-range atmospheric teleconnection of Arctic origin takes place primarily via the middle and upper troposphere. The anomalous ridge over East Asia in the middle and upper troposphere worsens regional ventilation conditions by weakening monsoon northwesterlies and enhancing temperature inversions near the surface, leading to more and stronger air stagnation and pollution extremes over eastern China in winter. Ensemble projections based on state-of-the-art climate models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) corroborate this teleconnection relationship between high-latitude environmental changes and midlatitude weather extremes, though the tendency and magnitude vary considerably among each participating model.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evolution of oxygen and stratification and their relationship in the North Pacific Ocean in CMIP6 Earth system models

Abstract. This study examines the linkages between the upper-ocean (0–200 m) oxygen (O2) content and stratification in the North Pacific Ocean using four Earth system models (ESMs), an ocean hindcast simulation, and an ocean reanalysis. The trends and variability in oceanic O2 content are driven by the imbalance between physical supply and biological demand. Physical supply is primarily controlled by ocean ventilation, which is responsible for the transport of O2-rich surface waters to the subsurface. Isopycnic potential vorticity (IPV), a quasi-conservative tracer proportional to density stratification that can be evaluated from temperature and salinity measurements, is used herein as a dynamical proxy for ocean ventilation. The predictability potential of the IPV field is evaluated through its information entropy. The results highlight a strong O2–IPV connection and somewhat higher (as compared to the rest of the basin) predictability potential for IPV across the tropical Pacific, where the El Niño–Southern Oscillation occurs. This pattern of higher predictability and strong anticorrelation between O2 and stratification is robust across multiple models and datasets. In contrast, IPV at mid-latitudes has low predictability potential and its center of action differs from that of O2. In addition, the locations of extreme events or hotspots may or may not differ between the two fields, with a strong model dependency, which persists in future projections. On the one hand, these results suggest that it may be possible to monitor ocean O2 in the tropical Pacific based on a few observational sites co-located with the more abundant IPV measurements; on the other, they lead us to question the robustness of the IPV–O2 relationship in the extratropics. The proposed framework helps to characterize and interpret O2 variability in relation to physical variability and may be especially useful in the analysis of new observation-based data products derived from the BGC-Argo float array in combination with the traditional but far more abundant Argo data.

Novi, Lyuba↗
NASA NTRS1972

Experimental system, and its evaluation for the control of surgically inducted infections

The effect is reported to design, fabricate, test and evaluate a prototype experimental system for the control of surgically induced infections. The purpose is to provide the cleanest possible environment within a hospital surgery room and eliminate contamination sources that could cause infections during surgery. The system design is described. The system provides for a portable laminar flow clean room, a full bubble helmet system with associated communications and ventilation subsystems for operating room personnel, and surgical gowns that minimize the migration of bacteria. The development test results consisting of portability, laminar flowrate, air flow pattern, electrostatic buildup, noise level, ventilation, human factors, electrical and material compatibility tests are summarized. The conclusions are that the experimental system is effective in reducing the airborne and wound contamination although the helmets and gowns may not be a significant part of this reduction. Definitive conclusions with regard to the infection rate cannot be made at this time.

Tevebaugh, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Cardiorespiratory responses to exercise in air and underwater.

Respiratory gas exchange, end-tidal gas tensions, alveolar ventilation, respiratory frequency, cardiac output, and pulse rate were measured in four healthy adult males at rest and during mild and moderate exercise in air at 18-22 C and underwater at 35.0-35.5 C. Immersion was associated with a 10% increase in pulse rate and cardiac output at all levels of exercise. There were no changes in end-tidal CO2 tension or alveolar ventilation. It is concluded that horizontal subjects breathing at eupneic pressures and working against mild and moderate loads in warm water show the same responses to exercise as in air.-

Denison, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Development and fabrication of heat-sterilizable inhalation therapy equipment

The development of a completely heat sterilizable intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) ventilator in an effort to reduce the number of hospital acquired infections is reported. After appropriate changes in materials and design were made, six prototype units were fabricated and were successfully field tested in local hospitals. Most components of the modified ventilators are compatible with existing machines. In all but a few instances, such as installation of bacteria-retentive filters and a modified venturi, the change over from non-heat-sterilizable to sterilizable units was accomplished by replacement of heat labile materials with heat stable materials.

Irons, A. S.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A gas flow indicator for portable life support systems

A three-part program was conducted to develop a gas flow indicator (GFI) to monitor ventilation flow in a portable life support system. The first program phase identified concepts which could potentially meet the GFI requirements. In the second phase, a working breadboard GFI, based on the concept of a pressure sensing diaphragm-aneroid assembly connected to a venturi, was constructed and tested. Extensive testing of the breadboard GFI indicated that the design would meet all NASA requirements including eliminating problems experienced with the ventilation flow sensor used in the Apollo program. In the third program phase, an optimized GFI was designed by utilizing test data obtained on the breadboard unit. A prototype unit was constructed using prototype materials and fabrication techniques, and performance tests indicated that the prototype GFI met or exceeded all requirements.

Bass, R. L., III↗
NASA NTRS1976

Fire safety evaluation of aircraft lavatory and cargo compartments

A program of experimental fires has been carried out to assess fire containment and other fire hazards in lavatory and cargo compartments of wide-body jet aircraft by evaluation of ignition time, burn-through time, fire spread rate, smoke density, evolution of selected combustible and toxic gases, heat flux, and detector response. Two tests were conducted: one involving a standard Boeing 747 lavatory and one involving a simulated DC-10 cargo compartment. A production lavatory module was furnished with conventional materials and was installed in an enclosure. The ignition load was four polyethylene bags containing paper and plastic waste materials representive of a maximum flight cabin waste load. Standard aircraft ventilation conditions were utilized and the lavatory door was closed during the test. Lavatory wall and ceiling panels contained the fire spread during the 30-minute test. Smoke was driven into the enclosure primarily through the ventilation grille in the door and through the gaps between the bifold door and the jamb where the door distorted from the heat earlier in the test. The interior of the lavatory was almost completely destroyed by the fire.

Kourtides, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The Shuttle Orbiter Airlock Support Subsystem /ALSS/

The Orbiter Airlock Support Subsystem (ALSS) is designed to provide shirtsleeve intervehicular transfer (IVA) between the orbiter and payload spacelab. Also, the airlock provides for extravehicular transfer (EVA) of two crewman to space and/or unpressurized payload from a pressurized cabin environment. The orbiter airlock design permits three planned EVA's for periods up to 6 hr. The airlock is designed to be interchangeable in three different locations, in the crew cabin, attached to the cabin aft bulkhead or attached to transfer tunnel adapter both which are located in the cargo bay. The Orbiter Airlock Support Subsystem described herein provides ventilation, pressurization, depressurization, prebreathing, personnel oxygen system supply (POS), and Extravehicular Mobility Unit support (EMU). This paper defines the system configuration for each airlock location and the commonality between them. Emphasis is also placed on the design data used to define repressurization and depressurization requirements, ventilation, water cooling, wastewater discharge, flow rates, and valve sizing.

Brown, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Enclosure fire hazard analysis using relative energy release criteria

A method for predicting the probable course of fire development in an enclosure is presented. This fire modeling approach uses a graphic plot of five fire development constraints, the relative energy release criteria (RERC), to bound the heat release rates in an enclosure as a function of time. The five RERC are flame spread rate, fuel surface area, ventilation, enclosure volume, and total fuel load. They may be calculated versus time based on the specified or empirical conditions describing the specific enclosure, the fuel type and load, and the ventilation. The calculation of these five criteria, using the common basis of energy release rates versus time, provides a unifying framework for the utilization of available experimental data from all phases of fire development. The plot of these criteria reveals the probable fire development envelope and indicates which fire constraint will be controlling during a criteria time period. Examples of RERC application to fire characterization and control and to hazard analysis are presented along with recommendations for the further development of the concept.

Coulbert, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Ice crystal growth in a dynamic thermal diffusion chamber

Ice crystals were grown in a supersaturated environment produced by a dynamic thermal diffusion chamber, which employed two horizontal plates separated by a distance of 2.5 cm. Air was circulated between and along the 1.2 m length of the plates past ice crystals which nucleated and grew from a fiber suspended vertically between the two plates. A zoom stereo microscope with a magnification which ranged from 3X to 80X and both 35 mm still photographs and 16 mm time lapse cine films taken through the microscope were used to study the variation of the shape and linear growth rate of ice crystals as a function of the ambient temperature, the ambient supersaturation, and the forced ventilation velocity. The ambient growth conditions were varied over the range of temperature 0 to -40 C, over the range of supersaturation 4% to 50% with respect to ice, and over the range of forced ventilation velocities 0 cm/s to 20 cm/s.

Keller, V. W.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Improved Cattle Hauler

Better aerodynamics and ventilation increases fuel efficiency and decreases shipping losses. Trailer is ventilated and cooled by inlet ports in front of rig and outlet ports in middle and rear. Rounded cab and fairing reduce drag by creating an attached airflow.

Saltzman, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Human respiration at rest in rapid compression and at high pressures and gas densities

The ventilation (V), end-tidal PCO2 (PACO2), and CO2 elimination rate were determined in men at rest breathing CO2-free gas over the pressure range 1-50 ATA and the gas density range 0.4-25 g/l, during slow and rapid compressions, at stable elevated ambient pressures and during slow decompressions. Progressive increase in pulmonary gas flow resistance due to elevation of ambient pressure and inspired gas density to the He-O2 equivalent of 5000 feet of seawater was found to produce a complex pattern of change in PACO2. It was found that as both ambient pressure and pulmonary gas flow resistance were progressively raised, PACO2 at first increased, went through a maximum, and then declined towards values near the 1 ATA level. It is concluded that this pattern of PACO2 change results from the interaction on ventilation of the increase in pulmonary resistance due to the elevation of gas density with the increase in respiratory drive postulated as due to generalized central nervous system excitation associated with exposure to high hydrostatic pressure. It is suggested that a similar interaction exists between increased gas flow resistance and the increase in respiratory drive related to nitrogen partial pressure and the resulting narcosis.

Gelfand, R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Effect of water immersion on cardiopulmonary physiology at high gravity (+Gz)

The cardiopulmonary responses of eight male subject between 21-31 years exposed to 1, 2, and 3 Gz during immersion at 35 + or - 0.5 C to heart level and during control dry rides are studied. Ventilation, O2 consumption, the end-tidal pressure of CO2, heart frequency, cardiac output, functional residual capacity, and the arterial pressure of CO2 were measured. It is observed that as Gz increases ventilation, heart frequency, and O2 consumption increase, and the end-tidal and arterial pressures of CO2 decrease during dry rides, but are not altered during immersion. It is detected that the functional residual capacity is lower during immersion and decreases in both the dry and immersed state as Gz increases, and cardiac output decreases as Gz increases in dry rides. It is noted that changes produced by acceleration in a Gz direction are due to the effect on the systemic circulation rather than to the effect on the lungs.

Arieli, R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Streamlining algorithms for complete adaptation

For purposes of the adaptive-wall algorithms to be described, the modern era is considered to have begun with the simultaneous, independent recognition of the concept of matching an experimental inner flow across an interface to a computed outer flow by Chevallier, Ferri, Goodyer, Lissaman, Rubbert, and Sears. Fundamental investigations of the adaptive-wall matching concept by means of numerical simulations and theoretical considerations are described. An overview of the development and operation of 2D adaptive-wall facilities from about 1970 until the present is given, followed by similar material for 3D adaptive-wall facilities from approximately 1978 until the present. A general formulation of adaptation strategy is presented, with a theoretical basis for adaptation followed by 2D flexible, impermeable-wall applications; 2D ventilated-wall applications; 3D flexible, impermeable-wall applications; and 3D ventilated-wall applications. Representative experimental and 3D results are given, with 2D, followed by a discussion of limitations and open questions.

Erickson, J. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Limits of adaptation, residual interferences

Methods of determining linear residual wall interference appear to be well established theoretically; however they need to be validated, for example by comparative studies of test data on the same model in different adaptive-wall wind tunnels as well as in passive, ventilated-wall tunnels. The GARTEur CAST 7 and the CAST 10/DOA 2 investigations are excellent examples of such comparative studies. Results to date in both one-variable and two-variable methods for nonlinear wall interference indicate that a great deal more research and validation are required. The status in 2D flow is advanced over that in 3D flow as is the case generally with adaptive-wall development. Nevertheless, it is now well established that for transonic testing with extensive supercritical flow present, significant wall interference is likely to exist in conventional ventilated test sections. Consequently, residual correction procedures require further development hand-in-hand with further adaptive-wall development.

Mokry, Miroslav↗