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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 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Improved Fireset Acceptance Using Established Evaluation Measurements

As new insight is gained into the relationship between firesets and detonators, tighter control of the circuit parameters is desired to maintain consistent and optimum system performance. An analysis of the established acceptance method reveals that it has insufficient precision to guarantee a uniform population of units. While the production has been historically very uniform, the uniformity has been primarily due to the quality and consistency of the manufacturing process rather than to the stringency of the acceptance criteria. The established method of evaluating and accepting firesets for the stockpile has been to discharge the units into a representative load and to record the output current waveform. Three characteristics of the output waveform (Peak Current, Rise Time, and Pulse Width) are then analyzed and an acceptance window is applied directly to these measurements. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new approach that incorporates these same established measurements. However, instead of applying acceptance criteria to the three measurements directly, rather these measurements are used to evaluate the circuit values of capacitance, inductance and resistance to provide a more stringent and uniform acceptance criteria.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1992

Electric and hybrid electric vehicle study utilizing a time-stepping simulation

The applicability of NASA's advanced power technologies to electric and hybrid vehicles was assessed using a time-stepping computer simulation to model electric and hybrid vehicles operating over the Federal Urban Driving Schedule (FUDS). Both the energy and power demands of the FUDS were taken into account and vehicle economy, range, and performance were addressed simultaneously. Results indicate that a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) configured with a flywheel buffer energy storage device and a free-piston Stirling convertor fulfills the emissions, fuel economy, range, and performance requirements that would make it acceptable to the consumer. It is noted that an assessment to determine which of the candidate technologies are suited for the HEV application has yet to be made. A proper assessment should take into account the fuel economy and range, along with the driveability and total emissions produced.

Schreiber, Jeffrey G.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Integrated Display and Environmental Awareness System - System Architecture Definition

The Integrated Display and Environmental Awareness System (IDEAS) is an interdisciplinary team project focusing on the development of a wearable computer and Head Mounted Display (HMD) based on Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components for the specific application and needs of NASA technicians, engineers and astronauts. Wearable computers are on the verge of utilization trials in daily life as well as industrial environments. The first civil and COTS wearable head mounted display systems were introduced just a few years ago and they probed not only technology readiness in terms of performance, endurance, miniaturization, operability and usefulness but also maturity of practice in perspective of a socio-technical context. Although the main technical hurdles such as mass and power were addressed as improvements on the technical side, the usefulness, practicality and social acceptance were often noted on the side of a broad variety of humans' operations. In other words, although the technology made a giant leap, its use and efficiency still looks for the sweet spot. The first IDEAS project started in January 2015 and was concluded in January 2017. The project identified current COTS systems' capability at minimum cost and maximum applicability and brought about important strategic concepts that will serve further IDEAS-like system development.

Wearables↗
NASA NTRS2016

TASAR Flight Trial 2: Assessment of Air Traffic Controller Acceptability of TASAR Requests

In support of the Flight Trial (FT-2) of NASA's prototype of the Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) concept, observations were conducted at the air traffic facilities to identify and assess the main factors that affect the acceptability of pilot requests by air traffic controllers. Two observers shadowed air traffic controllers at the Atlanta (ZTL) and Jacksonville (ZJX) air traffic control centers as the test flight pilot made pre-scripted requests to invoke acceptability issues and then they interviewed the observed and other controllers voluntarily. Fifty controllers were interviewed with experience ranging from one to thirty-five years. All interviewed controllers were enthusiastic about the technology and accounting for sector boundaries in pilot requests, particularly if pilots can be made aware of high workload situations. All interviewed controllers accept more than fifty percent of pilot requests; forty percent of them reject less than ten percent of requests. The most common reason for rejecting requests is conflicting with traffic followed by violating letters of agreement (LOAs) and negatively impacting neighboring sector workload, major arrival and departure flows and flow restrictions. Thirty-six requests were made during the test, eight of which were rejected due to: the aircraft already handed off to another sector, violating LOA, opposing traffic, intruding into an active special use airspace (SUA), intruding into another center, weather, and unfamiliarity with the requested waypoint. Nine requests were accepted with delay mostly because the controller needed to locate unfamiliar waypoints or to coordinate with other controllers.

Idris, Husni↗
DOE OSTI2023

A step towards the final frontier: Lessons learned from acceptance testing of the first HPE/Cray EX 3000 system at ORNL

Summary In this article, we summarize the deployment of the Air Force Weather (AFW) HPC11 system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) including the process followed to successfully complete acceptance testing of the system. HPC11 is the first HPE/Cray EX 3000 system that has been successfully released to its user community in a federal facility. HPC11 consists of two identical 800‐node supercomputers, Fawbush and Miller, with access to two independent and identical lustre parallel file systems. HPC11 is equipped with Slingshot 10 interconnect technology and relies on the HPE Performance Cluster Manager software for system configuration. ORNL has a clearly defined acceptance testing process used to ensure that every new system deployed can provide the necessary capabilities to support user workloads. We worked closely with HPE and AFW to develop a set of tests that used the United Kingdom's Meteorological Office's Unified Model and 4‐dimensional variational data assimilation. We also included benchmarks and applications from the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility portfolio to fully exercise the HPE/Cray programming environment and evaluate the functionality and performance of the system. Acceptance testing of HPC11 required parallel execution of each element on Fawbush and Miller. In addition, careful coordination was needed to ensure successful acceptance of the newly deployed lustre file systems alongside the compute resources. In this work, we present test results from specific system components and provide an overview of the issues identified, challenges encountered, and the lessons learned along the way.

Melesse Vergara, Verónica G.↗
DOE OSTI2021

High performance protonic ceramic fuel cell systems for distributed power generation

The technology landscape around distributed generation continues to evolve in response to increasing demand for high-efficiency, low-emission, low-cost power generation. While emerging distributed power technologies, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), continue to advance, they still face challenges due to their high capital costs, and shorter lifetimes that typically arise from electrochemical stack performance degradation at high operating temperatures (>750 °C). Recent advancements in protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) offer the potential to mitigate drawbacks of their higher temperature SOFC counterparts by enabling lower operating temperatures (550 °C–600 °C) with acceptable power densities. Here the present work leverages the recent progress in protonic ceramic cell and stack technology development to generate viable system configurations and evaluate the energetic performance potential of PCFC-based systems for stationary power generation. Process system engineering of two water-neutral system concepts, which provide 25 kW of electric power and process hot water, are presented and evaluated through sensitivity studies. Stack design parameters are altered and used to gauge the effect on system performance characteristics, including fuel cell stack and balance-of-plant sizing requirements, and electric and cogeneration efficiencies. The study finds that the potentially high per-pass fuel utilization capability of PCFC stacks could enable unprecedented electric efficiencies approaching 70% without hybridization with other prime movers.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1988

Physiological assessment of task underload

The ultimate goal of research efforts directed at underload, boredom, or complacency in high-technology work environments is to detect conditions or states of the operator that can be demonstrated to lead to performance degradation, and then to intervene in the environment to restore acceptable system performance. Physiological measures may provide indices of changes in condition or state of the operator that may be of value in high-technology work environments. The focus of the present study was on the use of physiological measures in the assessment of operator condition or state in a task underload scenario. A fault acknowledgement task characterized by simple repetitive responses with minimal novelty, complexity, and uncertainty was employed to place subjects in a task underload situation. Physiological measures (electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG), and pupil diameter) were monitored during task performance over a one-hour test session for 12 subjects. Each of the physiological measures exhibited changes over the test session indicative of decrements in subject arousal level. While high correlations between physiological measures were found across subjects, individual differences between subjects support the use of profiling techniques to establish baselines unique to each subject.

Comstock, J. Raymond, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Automated technologies needed to prevent radioactive materials from reentering the atmosphere

Project SIREN (Search, Intercept, Retrieve, Expulsion Nuclear) was created to identify and evaluate the technologies and operational strategies needed to rendezvous with and capture aerospace radioactive materials (e.g., a distressed or spent space reactor core) before such materials can reenter the terrestrial atmosphere and then to safely move these captured materials to an acceptable space destination for proper disposal. A major component of the current project SIREN effort is the development of an interactive technology model (including a computerized data base) that explores, in building-block fashion, the interaction of the technologies and procedures needed to successfully accomplish a SIREN mission. The SIREN model will include appropriate national and international technology elements--both contemporary and projected into the next century. To obtain maximum flexibility and use, the SIREN technology data base is being programmed for use on 286-class PC's. The major technical elements for a successful SIREN mission include: ground and space-based tracking, launch vehicles of needed payload capacity, telerobotic systems, sensors, capture technologies, and space transport and disposal. However, Project SIREN also will impose specialized requirements including the use of dextrous aerospace systems capable of properly functioning in intense radiation and thermal environments.

Buden, David↗
NASA NTRS1991

Automated technologies needed to prevent radioactive materials from reentering the atmosphere

Project SIREN (Search, Intercept, Retrieve, Expulsion Nuclear) has been created to identify and evaluate the technologies and operational strategies needed to rendezvous with and capture aerospace radioactive materials (e.g., a distressed or spent space reactor core) before such materials can reenter the terrestrial atmosphere and then to safely move these captured materials to an acceptable space destination for proper disposal. A major component of the current Project SIREN effort is the development of an interactive technology model (including a computerized data base) that explores in building block fashion the interaction of the technologies and procedures needed to successfully accomplish a SIREN mission. This SIREN model will include appropriate national and international technology elements-both contemporary and projected into the next century. To permit maximum flexibility and use, the SIREN technology data base is being programmed for use on 386-class PC's.

Buden, David↗
DOE OSTI2023

Innovative Strategies for Long-Term Monitoring of Complex Groundwater Plumes at DOE’s Legacy Sites (Workshop Report)

Most remaining Department of Energy (DOE) sites will require extended periods of institutional control, especially at complex groundwater sites where attenuation-based strategies have been implemented to facilitate closure. The current practice of monitoring—obtaining and analyzing contaminant concentration in groundwater samples at numerous wells—will account for a large portion of the projected life-cycle at these DOE sites unless a new approach is adopted. State-of-the-art technologies are being developed, including in situ sensors, geophysics, radiation mapping, numerical modeling and AI/ML. These technologies can optimize monitoring strategies in space and time, provide spatially extensive information at vulnerable regions and/or provide more continuous monitoring at lower cost. As part of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM’s) efforts to advance long-term monitoring systems, an in-person/virtual hybrid workshop was hosted by Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) on January 24 and 25, 2023, in Augusta, Georgia. Because DOE-EM’s complex sites will eventually be transferred to DOE’s Office of Legacy Management (DOE-LM), representatives of DOE-LM were important participants in the workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to identify challenges and opportunities for deploying advanced technologies for long-term monitoring at DOE sites. The key questions during the workshop were: 1) the regulatory acceptance of replacing a process that traditionally has used laboratory sampling and analysis of groundwater samples, and 2) the application of this strategy to the southwestern arid sites that include many of the remaining DOE-EM and DOE-LM complex groundwater plumes. Characteristics common to most arid sites present both limitations and opportunities for advanced technologies. DOE-EM has funded a National Laboratory team from SRNL, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to establish the overarching framework of long-term monitoring by systematically combining advanced hardware and software technologies. This project is titled “Advanced Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Systems (ALTEMIS)” and is sponsored by the DOE-EM Technology Development Program. The multi-laboratory team is currently developing and testing innovative monitoring strategies, including the use of in situ groundwater sensors, geophysics, drone/satellite-based remote sensing, reactive transport modeling, and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML). The project’s demonstration testbed is at the Savannah River Site (SRS) F-Area Seepage Basins, where a well-characterized complex groundwater plume composed of uranium and other radionuclides is in the latter stages of remediation. The workshop included more than 70 participants, presentations, a field visit to F-Area, breakout working groups, and large group discussion. Participants developed recommendations on five topics: in situ sensors, spatially integrative tools, challenges to regulatory acceptance, AI/ML strategies, and transitioning sites to DOE-LM.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS2018

Why Space Technology Needs More Non-Traditional Chemical Engineers – From the Perspective of a NASA Chemical Engineering Student

Final document is attached. With planetary missions and deep space gateway on the horizon, humankind is entering a new era of space exploration. Manned mission durations will be longer than any previous flight, resupply capabilities are limited, and system robustness is more imperative than ever. Traditional space systems, especially in the realm of carbon dioxide removal and water remediation, are large in size, mass, energy consumption, and number of mechanical moving parts prone to failure. Non-traditional space exploration needs non-traditional technology solutions. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is well-known for his studies on originality and how non-conformists can move the world. In the words of Adam Grant, "to become original, you have to try something new, which means accepting some measure of risk." As chemical engineers, we shouldn't let that measure of risk stop us from considering ingenious technology. As a part of the new generation of engineers at NASA, I believe we need a paradigm shift in space technology for this new era of exploration.

Rogers, Tanya↗
DOE OSTI2022

Science Requirements and Detector Concepts for the Electron-Ion Collider: EIC Yellow Report

Here, this report describes the physics case, the resulting detector requirements, and the evolving detector concepts for the experimental program at the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The EIC will be a powerful new high-luminosity facility in the United States with the capability to collide high-energy electron beams with high-energy proton and ion beams, providing access to those regions in the nucleon and nuclei where their structure is dominated by gluons. Moreover, polarized beams in the EIC will give unprecedented access to the spatial and spin structure of the proton, neutron, and light ions. The studies leading to this document were commissioned and organized by the EIC User Group with the objective of advancing the state and detail of the physics program and developing detector concepts that meet the emerging requirements in preparation for the realization of the EIC. The effort aims to provide the basis for further development of concepts for experimental equipment best suited for the science needs, including the importance of two complementary detectors and interaction regions. This report consists of three volumes. Volume I is an executive summary of our findings and developed concepts. In Volume II we describe studies of a wide range of physics measurements and the emerging requirements on detector acceptance and performance. Volume III discusses general-purpose detector concepts and the underlying technologies to meet the physics requirements. These considerations will form the basis for a world-class experimental program that aims to increase our understanding of the fundamental structure of all visible matter.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

New World Meteorological Organization Certified Megaflash Lightning Extremes for Flash Distance (709 km) and Duration (16.73 s) Recorded From Space

Identification and validation of atmospheric extremes are essential to monitoring climate change, to addressing engineering and safety concerns, and to promoting technological advancement. An international World Meteorological Organization evaluation committee has critically adjudicated and recommended acceptance of two lightning megaflash events (horizontal mesoscale lightning discharges of >100 km in length) as new global extremes using analysis of Geostationary Lightning Mapper data. The world's greatest extent for an individual lightning flash is a single flash that covered a horizontal distance of 709 ± 8 km (441 ± 5 mi) across parts of southern Brazil on 31 October 2018. Furthermore, the greatest duration for a single lightning flash is 16.730 ± 0.002 s from a flash that developed continuously over northern Argentina on 4 March 2019.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1975

Practical applications of low, medium, and high altitude aircraft remote sensing data to land use planning

Remotely sensed data is gaining wider acceptance in land use planning activities because of several inherent advantages offered by the technology. Scope of applications have increased to meet planners broadening responsibilities and needs for more comprehensive and specific information in response to new legislative mandates. Specific data needs associated with the land use planning process are varied. To illustrate how remote sensing surveys can be designed to meet a variety of goals at several planning levels, specific examples of the use of remotely sensed data and analysis techniques in four planning oriented land use surveys are discussed. These examples illustrate the use of aerial photography at the state planning level in Maryland and county level in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Special applications of aerial photography are demonstrated by energy planning in San Bernardino County, California and water management planning in New Castle County, Delaware.

Drackett, K.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Feasibility study on the design of a probe for rectal cancer detection

Rectal examination techniques are considered in terms of detection capability, patient acceptance, and cost reduction. A review of existing clinical techniques are considered in terms of detection capability, patient acceptance, and cost reduction. A review of existing clinical techniques and of relevant aerospace technology included evaluation of the applicability of visual, thermal, ultrasound, and radioisotope modalities of examination. The desired improvements can be obtained by redesigning the proctosigmoidoscope to have reduced size, additional visibility, and the capability of readily providing a color photograph of the entire rectosigmoid mucosa in a single composite view.

Anselm, V. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Summary of NASA QCGAT program

The application of large turbofan engine technology to small general aviation turbofan engines to achieve low noise, low emissions, and acceptable fuel consumption is described.

Sievers, G. K.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Overview of Boeing supersonic transport efforts, 1971 - 1979

Following cancellation of the United States Supersonic Transport program, the status of the technology was assessed carefully and emphasis was put on finding solutions for what were considered the major technical difficulties. In particular, work on the breakthroughs needed to advance the technology was emphasized. Currently, solutions to all major technical problems are identified. Depending on the subject, either the problem is no longer a concern or the steps needed to bring about a solution are mapped out clearly. Throughout the NASA SCR program, important strides were made in the identification of design advances which would greatly improve supersonic airplane fuel efficiency, noise, and other performance and cost affecting parameters. Furthermore, these efforts created an atmosphere in which it was possible for new ideas to flourish and positive inventions to take place such as the variable cycle engine and the blended fuselage. These technical gains show that, given availability of such technology, advanced supersonic transports could be developed that would be economically successful and environmentally acceptable.

Sigalla, A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Spacecraft on-board SAR processing technology

This paper provides an assessment of the on-board SAR processing technology for Eos-type missions. The proposed Eos SAR sensor and flight data system are introduced, and the SAR processing requirements are described. The SAR on-board SAR processor architecture selection is discussed, and a baseline processor architecture using a frequency-domain processor for range correlation and a modular fault-tolerant VLSI time-domain parallel array for azimuth correlation are described. The mass storage and VLSI technologies needed for implementing the proposed SAR processing are assessed. It is shown that acceptable processor power and mass characteristics should be feasible for Eos-type applications. A proposed development strategy for the on-board SAR processor is presented.

Liu, K. Y.↗