Steady-state performance of a modified Rankine cycle system using water
Steady state Rankine cycle system power source for space adaptation
RANKINE CYCLE↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “Water System”
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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NASA X-HAB Water Delivery System
As part of the eXploration Systems and Habitation (X-HAB) Academic Innovation Challenge program of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The Ohio State University was selected to improve the performance of NASA’s existing Vegetable Production System (VEGGIE), which is a deployable plant growth unit for International Space Station (ISS). During the academic year 2015-2016, The Ohio State University student team developed a passive water delivery system using capillary water transport principle (Jenson et al. 2016). The major design improvement made was directly connecting the water reservoir to the plant-rooting pillows using a single-interface capillary cord design. Harvestable plants were successfully grown from seeds using the single interface system. In addition, Nomex®, a fabric material composed of short nylon based fibers, was identified as the material for wicks. Finally, the water reservoir was modeled as a propellant management device (PMD) to ensure consistent and long term watering of the VEGGIE system. The PMDs are made of materials that utilize surface tension and adhesive forces to improve stability and fluid delivery. The team recommended using a sponge PMD in order to mitigate bubble obstruction, decrease system weight, and ensure reliable water delivery to the capillary interface.
Peter Ling↗
Design and construction of a water target system for harvesting radioisotopes at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
In this paper, a liquid water target system for harvesting radioisotopes at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) was designed and constructed as the initial step in proof-of-principle experiments to harvest useful radioisotopes from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). FRIB will be a new national user facility for nuclear science, to be completed in 2020, at which radioisotopes will be collected synergistically from the water in cooling-loops for the primary beam dump that cycle the water at flow rates in excess of hundreds of gallons per minute. As part of the development of radiochemical expertise required to harvest long-lived radioisotopes of interest in this environment, the water target system described here was constructed and successfully used to collect a test beam of relativistic 24 Na ions produced at the NSCL. Finally, future studies will involve collecting interesting transition metal isotopes such as 67 Cu from less purified secondary projectile fragment beams.
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
Catalyst-Based Nonchemical Water Treatment System Frank E. Moss US Courthouse Salt Lake City, Utah
In 2012 and 2013, the US General Services Administration (GSA) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted an evaluation of a novel nonchemical water treatment (NCWT) system at the Frank E. Moss US Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah. This system purports to use a proprietary metallic catalyst to change the water’s chemistry such that hard calcite does not form on surfaces that are in contact with the water. The catalyst-based NCWT system was installed on an electric domestic water heater in the courthouse. 1 This water heater had been experiencing severe calcite buildup on the heating elements. The calcite buildup impeded heat transfer from the heating elements into the domestic water, leading to the thermostat being set excessively high in an attempt to maintain the water temperature. This caused excess heat to build up on the elements, resulting in their premature failure which required frequent replacement. The buildup also required the elements to stay energized constantly to produce enough heat to maintain temperature in the domestic hot water system. After installing the catalyst-based NCWT system, calcite buildup was dramatically reduced and failure of the elements ceased. Labor and material savings from not having to replace the elements ($\$$1,060/year) allow for less than a two-year simple payback when compared to the installed cost of the system ($\$$1,692) plus minimal annual maintenance ($\$$100/year). The catalyst-based NCWT system should be considered for deployment in any heating system that is subject to calcification, including hydronic heating systems and boilers, condensing boilers, gas water heaters, and electric water heaters. Had the catalyst-based NCWT technology not been installed on the water heater, a conventional salt-based calcite prevention system would have provided the same prevention of calcite buildup. The budget installed cost of such a system would have been $\$$3,200 plus $\$$350/year in chemicals and $\$$1,500/year labor to service the chemicals. Comparing the conventional to the catalyst-based system, the latter has both a lower installed cost and annual operating cost. The original test plan was to install the technology on both the domestic water heating system and on the site’s cooling tower, which had faced calcite issues in its history. This tower has had a calcite buildup problem that is currently being addressed with a salt-based treatment system. The project’s timeline did not allow for installing a system and testing it on the tower during the initial phase of this project in 2012 and 2013. A preliminary economic analysis was performed to estimate the installed cost and potential savings on the cooling tower. If installed on the site’s cooling tower, the installed cost of the catalyst-based system would be more expensive than the salt-based system ($\$$32,380 vs. $\$$2,700 for the salt-based). However, the salt-based system requires $\$$900/year in chemicals and $\$$3,900/year in labor, neither of which is needed by the catalyst based system. This would give a simple payback of less than seven years using the technology on a cooling tower.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Multi-Element Water Content System Instrument Handbook
The SEA Model WCM-2000 multi-element water content system was designed to provide aircraft and wind tunnel users with a single, rugged sensor to simultaneously measure liquid water content (LWC), total water content (TWC), and ice water content (IWC). The instrument consists of four heated stainless steel elements, each with a different shape or size. Each element is directly heated by low-voltage DC current flowing through the element. These elements are maintained at a constant temperature, typically 140°C, by a digital closed-loop control system. Three of the heated elements are exposed directly to the airstream and incoming cloud water. A fourth element, the reference/comp element, is arranged to be exposed to the airflow but not to incoming cloud water. This element is used to establish the “dry power term” that is subtracted from the other three elements’ power readings to establish the measured water content.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Resilience Analytics for Interdependent Power and Water Distribution Systems
The occurrence of large-scale outages in power distribution systems (PDSs) caused, for instance, by extreme weather events has raised concerns on the cascading impact of the power outages on the resilience of other critical infrastructures, including water distribution systems (WDSs), whose healthy operation highly relies on the availability of power from PDSs. Here, this paper proposes an analytics model for quantifying the interdependence between the resilience of power and water distribution systems. The proposed model first performs spatio-temporal outage analysis on the PDS and WDS to determine the PDS power serving capability and the resulting cascading impact on the WDS water serving capability during the occurrence of disruptions. The resilience interdependence is then determined by a proposed set of six metrics calculated using the power and water serving capability profiles, which trace and quantify the cascading impacts of power outages in the operation of WDSs during the degradation and recovery stages. The proposed analytics model is implemented on the IEEE 33-bus power distribution system supplying power for pumping stations of a 15-node test WDS, considering multiple cases of water storage capacity, single and multiple outage scenarios, and availability of distributed generation. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed metrics track the temporal and spatial interdependence between the resilience of power and water distribution systems, providing a mechanism to identify weak spots, and assess options to enhance the resilience of the critical water infrastructure.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Investigating the solid-liquid phase transition of water nanofilms using the generalized replica exchange method
The generalized Replica Exchange Method (gREM) was applied to study a solid-liquid phase transition in a nanoconfined bilayer water system using the monatomic water (mW) model. Exploiting optimally designed non-Boltzmann sampling weights with replica exchanges, gREM enables an effective sampling of configurations that are metastable or unstable in the canonical ensemble via successive unimodal energy distributions across phase transition regions, often characterized by S-loop or backbending in the statistical temperature. Extensive gREM simulations combined with Statistical Temperature Weighted Histogram Analysis Method (ST-WHAM) for nanoconfined mW water at various densities provide a comprehensive characterization of diverse thermodynamic and structural properties intrinsic to phase transitions. Graph representation of minimized structures of bilayer water systems determined by the basin-hopping global optimization revealed heterogeneous ice structures composed of pentagons, hexagons, and heptagons, consistent with an increasingly ordered solid phase with decreasing density. Apparent crossover from a first-order solid-liquid transition to a continuous one in nanoconfined mW water with increasing density of the system was observed in terms of a diminishing S-loop in the statistical temperature, smooth variation of internal energies and heat capacities, and a characteristic variation of lateral radial distribution functions, and transverse density profiles across transition regions.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Airborne water vapor DIAL system and measurements of water and aerosol profiles
The Lidar Applications Group at NASA Langley Research Center has developed a differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system for the remote measurement of atmospheric water vapor (H2O) and aerosols from an aircraft. The airborne H2O DIAL system is designed for extended flights to perform mesoscale investigations of H2O and aerosol distributions. This DIAL system utilizes a Nd:YAG-laser-pumped dye laser as the off-line transmitter and a narrowband, tunable Alexandrite laser as the on-line transmitter. The dye laser has an oscillator/amplifier configuration which incorporates a grating and prism in the oscillator cavity to narrow the output linewidth to approximately 15 pm. This linewidth can be maintained over the wavelength range of 725 to 730 nm, and it is sufficiently narrow to satisfy the off-line spectral requirements. In the Alexandrite laser, three intracavity tuning elements combine to produce an output linewidth of 1.1 pm. These spectral devices include a five-plate birefringent tuner, a 1-mm thick solid etalon and a 1-cm air-spaced etalon. A wavelength stability of +/- 0.35 pm is achieved by active feedback control of the two Fabry-Perot etalons using a frequency stabilized He-Ne laser as a wavelength reference. The three tuning elements can be synchronously scanned over a 150 pm range with microprocessor-based scanning electronics. Other aspects of the DIAL system are discussed.
Higdon, Noah S.↗
Hot Water Recirculation Systems: Designing for Success [Slides]
This presentation will focus on on-demand hot water recirculation systems and how they contribute to energy and water conservation in residential buildings. This work illustrates best practices for designing, installing, and operating these systems, drawing from research and field testing to provide practical recommendations. The ultimate goal is to reduce wait times for hot water, comply with current energy codes, and lower both energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, while improving user satisfaction. In the upcoming slides, we'll dive into case studies and explore the latest technological advancements that help achieve these objectives.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Modeling Contact Angle vs. Temperature for the Quartz-Water-Decane System
Innovative approaches are needed to improve the efficiency of oil recovery technologies to meet the growing demands of fossil-fuel based energy consumption. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods such as low-salinity waterflooding and chemically tuned waterflooding aim to optimize the reservoir’s wetting properties, detaching oil globules from rock surfaces and allowing easier oil flow through pore throats. This wetting behavior is commonly quantified by contact angle measurements of the rock-oil-brine interface, which have been thoroughly investigated and theorized for many systems at ambient temperatures and pressures. However, few studies exist for extending contact angle theories away from ambient conditions. In this paper, we model the contact angles of a quartz-water-decane system at elevated temperatures using the surface tension component (STC) approach. Temperature-dependent van der Waals [Lifshitz-van der Waals (LW)] interactions and hydrogen-bonding (acid-base) interactions were calculated and are incorporated into the model for the quartz-water-decane interface. Additionally, the Hough and White procedure was used to create temperature-dependent dielectric functions of quartz, water, and normal decane for calculations of Hamaker coefficients. Hamaker coefficients calculated this way are highly linear with temperature and agree well with Israelachvili’s approximation. The acid-base interactions likely contribute the most to system wettability changes. Resulting contact angles of the quartz-water-decane system shift from water-wet (16°) to slightly water-wet (57.4°) as temperature increases. The model was also successfully verified for the quartz-air-water system. Our results can be used in future studies to determine optimal injected water compositions for specific rock-oil-brine and other systems with consideration of reservoir temperature.
02 PETROLEUM↗
Chapter 12: High-Efficiency Water Splitting Systems
In this chapter, we discuss the prerequisites for high-efficiency water splitting and their implementation with tandem cells based on absorbers of the III-V semiconductor material class. A brief outline of efficiency-limiting factors shows that at a given set of boundary conditions, such as catalyst performance, the optimum tandem absorbers require a very precise control of opto-electronic properties, as facilitated by the III-V compounds. After a short history of high efficiency solar energy conversion, we present recent implementations of highly efficient water splitting systems with solar-to-hydrogen efficiencies of 14-16% together with an outlook on further improvements. Even if other absorber systems turn out to be more cost-competitive, the III-V systems currently serve as a testbed for high-efficiency water splitting in general, with lessons to be learned for catalyst requirements, cell design, and efficiency validation. We conclude with a discussion of appropriate efficiency benchmarking routines, outlining potential pitfalls for multi-junction absorbers and how to avoid them.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Effect of a water displacement system for gravity counteraction upon skeletal status in the dog.
Water displacement system for gravity counteraction effect upon skeletal status in dog
Smith, A. W.↗
Water Network Tool for Resilience (WNTR) User Manual
Drinking water systems face multiple challenges, including aging infrastructure, water quality concerns, uncertainty in supply and demand, natural disasters, environmental emergencies, and cyber and terrorist attacks. All of these have the potential to disrupt a large portion of a water system causing damage to infrastructure and outages to customers. Increasing resilience to these types of hazards is essential to improving water security. As one of the United States (US) sixteen critical infrastructure sectors, drinking water is a national priority. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council defined infrastructure resilience as “the ability to reduce the magnitude and/or duration of disruptive events. The effectiveness of a resilient infrastructure or enterprise depends upon its ability to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and/or rapidly recover from a potentially disruptive event”. Being able to predict how drinking water systems will perform during disruptive incidents and understanding how to best absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to such incidents can help enhance resilience.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
The development and potential uses of an Adsorption Water Collection System for the Trash Compaction Processing System designed for operation in the International Space Station Express Rack
The use of adsorption as an alternative to current state of the art water collection and phase separation methods for human space flight is being investigated at NASA Ames Research Center. A system called the Adsorption Water Recovery System was designed to work with the Trash Compaction Processing System. The system uses modular adsorption columns that can be combined both in parallel and series and allow for relatively easy system sizing. The system is intended to be a standalone system that may also be adapted for other applications that involve adsorption. This paper describes the design and potential operating parameters and configurations of the Adsorption Water Recovery System.
trash↗
Method Development for In Situ Microbiome Profiling of the Water Recovery System’s Wastewater Tank Onboard the International Space Station
A distinctive microbial community has inhabited the wastewater tank within the International Space Station Water Recovery System (WRS) for over 14 years and experienced the stressors associated with the microgravity environment. The WRS generates potable water for the crew from urine distillate, humidity condensate, Sabatier product water, and the occasional off-loading of ground-supplied water. The reservoir for these products, the wastewater tank, does not have a means of microbial control. While samples are occasionally collected for analysis, the time between sample collection and the return to Earth, as well as the lack of preservation, results in a skewed depiction of the microbiome. Routinely observed from these returned samples are high counts (105 – 106 colony forming units per mL) and two prevailing genera, Burkholderia and Ralstonia. The wastewater tank likely contains a more diverse microbiome, as a higher diversity of bacteria and fungus has been noted upstream and downstream of the tank. To characterize the microbial profile of the tank, analysis needs to occur at the time of sample collection. Toward this goal, a method for in situ analysis based on nanopore sequencing was developed. The filter-to-sequencer method evolved from previous work that has been validated onboard the ISS (BEST payload and the BioMole Crew Health Care Systems Facility). The method, including filtration, DNA extraction, purification, amplification, library preparation, and nanopore sequencing will be described. Additionally, data collected with this method from both ISS and terrestrial samples will be detailed. The consumables needed to support in situ analysis of the tank are set to the launch to the ISS in the spring of 2023. This investigation will allow for the first accurate characterization of the microbiome of the tank providing insight for crew health, planetary protection, and has the potential to enable engineering controls for future space station water systems.
Sarah Stahl-Rommel↗
Model-based Extracted Water Desalination System for Carbon Sequestration
The focus of this research effort centered around water recovery from high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) extracted waters (180,000 mg/L) using a combination of water recovery (partial desalination) technologies. The research goals of this project were as follows: 1. Define the scope and test location for pilot-scale implementation of the desalination system, 2.Define a scalable, multi-stage extracted water desalination system that yields clean water, concentrated brine, and, salt from saline brines, and 3. Validate overall system performance with field-sourced water using GE pre-pilot lab facilities. Conventional falling film-mechanical vapor recompression (FF-MVR) technology was established as a baseline desalination process. A quality function deployment (QFD) method was used to compare alternate high TDS desalination technologies to the base case FF-MVR technology, including but not limited to: membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO), and high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO). Technoeconomic analysis of high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO) was performed comparing the following two cases: 1. a hybrid seawater RO (SWRO) plus HPRO system and 2. 2x standard seawater RO system, to achieve the same total pure water recovery rate. Pre-pilot-scale tests were conducted using field production water to validate key process steps for extracted water pretreatment. Approximately 5,000 gallons of field produced water was processed through, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and steam regenerable sorbent operations. Improvements in membrane materials of construction were considered as necessary next steps to achieving further improvement in element performance at high pressure. Several modifications showed promising results in their ability to withstand close to 5,000 PSI without gross failure.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Development of a Planetary Water Treatment System
As NASA prepares for human missions beyond the International Space Station (ISS), NASA personnel have begun development of a water treatment system that is optimized for operation on the Moon and Mars. This system will take advantage of the partial gravity of surface-based habitats while minimizing resupply mass and ensuring optimum reliability. An overview of expected water uses, waste streams, and architectures for a partial gravity water recovery system (WRS) is presented and compared to the WRS on ISS. This paper summarizes the current progress of evaluating various technologies and architectures for the potential mission profiles currently being considered.
Dean Leslie Muirhead↗
A novel reverse-osmosis wash water recycle system for manned space stations
The preliminary development of a wash water recycle system utilizing an inside-skinned hollow-fiber membrane is described. This module configuration is based on tube-side feed and is highly resistant to fouling with a minimum of pretreatment. During an ongoing research program for NASA, these modules were operated on actual wash waters with no significant fouling for a period of 40 days. Due to the tube-side-feed flow in these hollow-fiber membranes, the fibers themselves become the pressure vessels, allowing the development of extremely lightweight membrane modules. During the NASA research program, a pre-prototype membrane module capable of processing 6 gallons per day of wash water at 97 percent recovery was developed that can be dry-stored and that weighs 120 g.
Ray, R. J.↗