Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Protection Challenges”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Biotic countermeasures that rescue Nannochloropsis gaditana from a Bacillus safensis infection

The natural assemblage of a symbiotic bacterial microbiome (bacteriome) with microalgae in marine ecosystems is now being investigated as a means to increase algal productivity for industry. When algae are grown in open pond settings, biological contamination causes an estimated 30% loss of the algal crop. Therefore, new crop protection strategies that do not disrupt the native algal bacteriome are needed to produce reliable, high-yield algal biomass. Bacteriophages offer an unexplored solution to treat bacterial pathogenicity in algal cultures because they can eliminate a single species without affecting the bacteriome. To address this, we identified a highly virulent pathogen of the microalga Nannochloropsis gaditana, the bacterium Bacillus safensis, and demonstrated rescue of the microalgae from the pathogen using phage. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing showed that phage treatment did not alter the composition of the bacteriome. It is widely suspected that the algal bacteriome could play a protective role against bacterial pathogens. To test this, we compared the susceptibility of a bacteriome-attenuated N. gaditana culture challenged with B. safensis to a N. gaditana culture carrying a growth-promoting bacteriome. We showed that the loss of the bacteriome increased the susceptibility of N. gaditana to the pathogen. Transplanting the microalgal bacteriome to the bacteriome-attenuated culture reconstituted the protective effect of the bacteriome. Finally, the success of phage treatment was dependent on the presence of beneficial bacteriome. This study introduces two synergistic countermeasures against bacterial pathogenicity in algal cultures and a tractable model for studying interactions between microalgae, phages, pathogens, and the algae microbiome.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Contamination Control: Challenges and Innovative Design Solutions utilized at Chalk River Laboratories - 19263

CNL has operated research reactors at the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site since 1947, generating a variety of spent nuclear fuel wastes produced by irradiating metallic uranium and other prototype fuels. This legacy waste has been stored in below-grade, vertical cylindrical steel and concrete structures known as Tile Holes. Ongoing monitoring of the legacy waste has identified moisture resulting from incomplete drying prior to emplacement, surface water and humidity. The undesirable storage conditions result in corrosion of both the legacy waste and the storage containers. Continued storage in these conditions may result in further degradation of the storage container and contamination of the surrounding environment. In 2004, the Fuel Packaging and Storage (FPS) Project was initiated, with the objective to develop a complete system to safely retrieve legacy waste from these Tile Holes as well as provide a stable storage environment until a final long-term management plan is established. Contamination control during retrieval, transfer and repackaging operations is critical for personnel and environmental safety. The significant challenges with retrieval of the legacy waste from the Tile Holes includes management of loose collateral liquid and solids that will be brought into the system, with the retrieved waste container. During the retrieval, transfer and repackaging operation, the challenge was to: 1) Prevent an environmental release by potentially transferring these contaminants onto the external surface of the Tile Hole Array; 2) Prevent an environmental release and ensure personnel safety while transporting the legacy waste; 3) Control release of contaminants into the new clean storage container while preventing contamination of the packaging equipment. To address the first source of contamination, a debris guide liner capable of interfacing with multiple Tile Hole configurations was integrated within the Retrieval Flask to limit contamination of the flask interior and to direct collateral liquids and solids back into the Tile Hole. The system uses a multi-function sealed Shield Gate and Drip Tray to retain and prevent the contaminants from escaping while transferring the legacy waste. This gate, along with a thin walled, Disposable Debris Guide Liner (DDGL) is an innovative solution developed to control the flow characteristics of the residual waste and to contain the waste to protect the internal components of the repackaging equipment. The development of the complete solution was further challenged as the DDGL must not tear or rip and must compact inside the new storage containers for a range of legacy waste storage containers. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

DER Inverter Control Fault Ride Through Model in Accordance with IEEE 1547-2018 Std

Distributed Energy Resources (DER) with smart inverters are becoming more prevalent as the need for renewable energy and grid stability increases. An important challenge arises when considering that inverterbased generation methods contribute less current during faults, rendering traditional overcurrent protection unsatisfactory. DERs have fault ride-through requirements when operating in high or low voltage, outlined by IEEE Std. 1547-2018. Faults cause the voltage to reach abnormal steady state magnitudes, depending on the fault resistance and fault type. There are several high voltage and low voltage ride-through zones defined by IEEE Std. 1547-2018. Each zone’s ride through duration decreases as the applicable voltage measurement, i.e., the phase RMS voltage, deviates from its nominal value. This presentation demonstrates the implementation of IEEE Std. 1547-2018 high and low voltage ridethrough grid support functions using a preexisting RSCAD model, discussing the challenges presented during this process. The implemented controls monitor the filtered phase voltages to have a more accurate reading of the applicable voltages. The controls sense the duration that the applicable voltage remains in a specific zone. The breaker trips and ceases energization to the grid when the duration is exceeded. The standard allows the operator to adjust the ride-through times and voltage zones from the default settings. These ranges are implemented into the runtime, which acts as the operator’s SCADA. The results show the accuracy of the voltage measurements, which remain within the IEEE Std. 1547-2018 for all cases.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2011

Solving the software protection problem with intrinsic personal physical unclonable functions.

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) or Physical One Way Functions (P-OWFs) are physical systems whose responses to input stimuli (i.e., challenges) are easy to measure (within reasonable error bounds) but hard to clone. The unclonability property comes from the accepted hardness of replicating the multitude of characteristics introduced during the manufacturing process. This makes PUFs useful for solving problems such as device authentication, software protection, licensing, and certified execution. In this paper, we focus on the effectiveness of PUFs for software protection in offline settings. We first argue that traditional (black-box) PUFs are not useful for protecting software in settings where communication with a vendor's server or third party network device is infeasible or impossible. Instead, we argue that Intrinsic PUFs are needed to solve the above mentioned problems because they are intrinsically involved in processing the information that is to be protected. Finally, we describe how sources of randomness in any computing device can be used for creating intrinsic-personal-PUFs (IP-PUF) and present experimental results in using standard off-the-shelf computers as IP-PUFs.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Bioinspired Artificial Injury Response System Based on a Robust Polymer Memristor to Mimic a Sense of Pain, Sign of Injury, and Healing

Abstract Flexible electronic skin with features that include sensing, processing, and responding to stimuli have transformed human–robot interactions. However, more advanced capabilities, such as human‐like self‐protection modalities with a sense of pain, sign of injury, and healing, are more challenging. Herein, a novel, flexible, and robust diffusive memristor based on a copolymer of chlorotrifluoroethylene and vinylidene fluoride (FK‐800) as an artificial nociceptor (pain sensor) is reported. Devices composed of Ag/FK‐800/Pt have outstanding switching endurance >10 6 cycles, orders of magnitude higher than any other two‐terminal polymer/organic memristors in literature (typically 10 2 –10 3 cycles). In situ conductive atomic force microscopy is employed to dynamically switch individual filaments, which demonstrates that conductive filaments correlate with polymer grain boundaries and FK‐800 has superior morphological stability under repeated switching cycles. It is hypothesized that the high thermal stability and high elasticity of FK‐800 contribute to the stability under local Joule heating associated with electrical switching. To mimic biological nociceptors, four signature nociceptive characteristics are demonstrated: threshold triggering, no adaptation, relaxation, and sensitization. Lastly, by integrating a triboelectric generator (artificial mechanoreceptor), memristor (artificial nociceptor), and light emitting diode (artificial bruise), the first bioinspired injury response system capable of sensing pain, showing signs of injury, and healing, is demonstrated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Recent Advances in Conduction Mechanisms, Synthesis Methods, and Improvement Strategies for Li 1+ x Al x Ti 2-x (PO 4 ) 3 Solid Electrolyte for All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries

With the increasing use of Li batteries for storage, their safety issues and energy densities are attracting considerable attention. Recently, replacing liquid organic electrolytes with solid-state electrolytes (SSE) has been hailed as the key to developing safe and high-energy-density Li batteries. In particular, Li 1+ x Al x Ti 2- x (PO4) 3 (LATP) has been identified as a very attractive SSE for Li batteries due to its excellent electrochemical stability, low production costs, and good chemical compatibility. However, interfacial reactions with electrodes and poor thermal stability at high temperatures severely restrict the practical use of LATP in solid-state batteries (SSB). Herein, a systematic review of recent advances in LATP for SSBs is provided. Here, this review starts with a brief introduction to the development history of LATP and then summarizes its structure, ion transport mechanism, and synthesis methods. Challenges (e.g., intrinsic brittleness, interfacial resistance, and compatibility) and corresponding solutions (ionic substitution, additives, protective layers, composite electrolytes, etc.) that are critical for practical applications are then discussed. Last, an outlook on the future research direction of LATP-based SSB is provided.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Analysis of Integrated Fuselage Composite Seat for Small Aircraft in Crashworthiness Applications

The research paper is addressed to develop and validate an aircraft seat cushion to be used for the passenger seat directly integrated in the fuselage. For very light aircraft, these systems result to be a good choice in terms of weight reduction and space optimization, but can represent a challenging problem for crashworthiness design and a key energy-absorbing function for human protection from injuries so to improve the level of the safety. The first issue was dedicated to investigate the mechanical properties of four commercial foams, diffused in different industrial applications, which present nonlinear and time-dependent viscoelastic behavior, and finally to determine whether typical seat cushion materials are rate sensitive or not. Then, numerical simulations were validated with measurements to simulate the mechanical properties of foams and to evaluate the contact pressures, stress distribution, and the dependence of stress on the strain rate in order to provide adequate levels of both comfort and energy absorption.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Developing Scenario‐Based Strategies for Health, Climate, and Environmental Preparedness: The One Health, One Earth Approach

Climate change amplifies many threats to human health. Despite advances in understanding climate change dynamics and impacts, there remains a critical gap in translating scientific knowledge into equitable, and community-driven health interventions. The inaugural One Earth, One Health workshop sought to explore this gap through human-centered design exercises involving interdisciplinary researchers from climate and Earth sciences, engineering, epidemiology, microbiology, and environmental health. Although participants did not co-develop solutions with affected communities, they used stakeholder role-playing to guide ideation and lay groundwork for actionable plans. Through these methods, participants identified community needs and proposed prototype solutions to alleviate health threats exacerbated by global environmental change. Prototypes were organized around infectious diseases, extreme weather, and air quality, as illustrative themes rather than an exhaustive set of risks. Key solutions included strategies for anticipatory systems and early warning (e.g., integrating environmental signals with health data), inclusive communication and infrastructure needs for responding to extreme weather events, and integrated platforms visualizing air quality trends to support tailored, context-aware guidance beyond one-size-fits-all alerts. The workshop highlighted opportunities such as leveraging machine learning, Earth observation, and real-time surveillance to protect communities, but also noted barriers including data quality, technological redundancy, privacy, and governance challenges. Additionally, participants emphasized the need for interdisciplinary teams capable of collaborating across sectors, breaking down silos and addressing gaps in training and education. Overall, the workshop illustrates how process-driven, human-centered approaches can help surface user needs and generate testable prototype concepts, while underscoring the importance of direct community partnership for implementation.

Abadi, Azar M. [University of Alabama, Birmingham,↗
DOE OSTI2022

Spin-helical detection in a semiconductor quantum device with ferromagnetic contacts

Spin-helical states, which arise in quasi-one-dimensional (1D) channels with spin-orbital (SO) coupling, underpin efforts to realize topologically protected quantum bits based on Majorana modes in semiconductor nanowires. Detecting helical states is challenging due to non-idealities present in real devices. Past efforts have focused on devices with normal contacts. In contrast, here we show by means of tight-binding calculations that by using ferromagnetic contacts it is possible to detect helical modes with high sensitivity even in the presence of realistic device effects, such as quantum interference. We show that by taking advantage of the spin-selective transmission properties of helical states, new transport signatures become possible. In addition, we show that spin-polarized contacts provide a unique path to investigate the spin-texture and spin-momentum locking properties of helical states. Our results are of interest not only for the ongoing development of Majorana qubits, but also for realizing possible spin-based quantum devices, such as quantum spin modulators and interconnects based on spin-helical channels.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Remediation of uranium impacted sediments in a watercourse

In 2009, remediation was initiated for a non-operational fuel cycle facility previously used for government contract work located in Windsor, Connecticut, USA. Radiological contaminants consisted primarily of high enriched uranium (HEU). Other radionuclides encountered in relatively minor amounts in certain areas of the clean-up included Co-60, Cs- 137, Ra-226, Th-232 and low enriched uranium (LEU).Between 2009 and the spring of 2011, remediation efforts were focused on demolition of contaminated buildings and removal of contaminated soil. In the late spring of 2011, the last phase of remediation commenced involving the removal of contaminated sediments from portions of a 1,200 meter long gaining stream. Planning and preparation for remediation of the stream began in 2009 with submittal of permit applications to undertake construction activities in a wetland area. The permitting process was lengthy and involved securing permits from multiple agencies. However, early and frequent communication with stakeholders played an integral role in efficiently obtaining the permit approvals. Frequent communication with stakeholders throughout the planning and remediation process also proved to be a key factor in timely completion of the project. The remediation of the stream involved the use of temporary bladder berms to divert surface water flow, water diversion piping, a sediment vacuum removal system, excavation of sediments using small front-end loaders, sediment dewatering, and waste packaging, transportation and disposal. Many safeguards were employed to protect several species of concern in the work area, water management during project activities, challenges encountered during the project, methods of Final Status Survey, and stream restoration. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nanolipoprotein Particles (NLPs) as Versatile Vaccine Platforms for Co-delivery of Multiple Adjuvants with Subunit Antigens from Burkholderia spp. and F. tularensis - Technical Report

The goal of this proposal is to demonstrate that colocalization of protein subunit antigens and adjuvants on nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs) can increase the protective efficacy of subunit antigens from Burkholderia spp. and Francisella tularensis against an aerosol challenge. In the third quarter of the third year, F344 rats vaccinated with adjuvanted NLP formulations were challenged with F. tularensis SCHU S4 at Battelle. Preliminary data indicate that up to 65% of females vaccinated intranasally with an NLP-based formulation survived this challenge, compared to only 20% survival of naïve animals. In addition, NLPs were successfully formulated with Burkholderia protein antigens. IACUC approval for immunological assessments in BALB/c mice was received and we anticipate that these assessments will begin by March 2015, pending ACURO approval.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

A comprehensive data acquisition and management system for an ecosystem-scale peatland warming and elevated CO 2 experiment

Ecosystem-scale manipulation experiments represent large science investments that require well-designed data acquisition and management systems to provide reliable, accurate information to project participants and third party users. The SPRUCE project (Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, http://mnspruce.ornl.gov ) is such an experiment funded by the Department of Energy's (DOE), Office of Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) Program. The SPRUCE experimental mission is to assess ecosystem-level biological responses of vulnerable, high carbon terrestrial ecosystems to a range of climate warming manipulations and an elevated CO 2 atmosphere. SPRUCE provides a platform for testing mechanisms controlling the vulnerability of organisms, biogeochemical processes, and ecosystems to climatic change (e.g., thresholds for organism decline or mortality, limitations to regeneration, biogeochemical limitations to productivity, and the cycling and release of CO 2 and CH 4 to the atmosphere). The SPRUCE experiment will generate a wide range of continuous and discrete measurements. In order to successfully manage SPRUCE data collection, achieve SPRUCE science objectives, and support broader climate change research, the research staff has designed a flexible data system using proven network technologies and software components. The primary SPRUCE data system components are the following; 1. data acquisition and control system – set of hardware and software to retrieve biological and engineering data from sensors, collect sensor status information, and distribute feedback to control components; 2. data collection system – set of hardware and software to deliver data to a central depository for storage and further processing; and 3. data management plan – set of plans, policies, and practices to control consistency, protect data integrity, and deliver data. This publication presents our approach to meeting the challenges of designing and constructing an efficient data system for managing high volume sources of in situ observations in a remote, harsh environmental location. Finally, the approach covers data flow starting from the sensors and ending at the archival/distribution points, discusses types of hardware and software used, examines design considerations that were used to choose them, and describes the data management practices chosen to control and enhance the value of the data.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Improving the effectiveness of planning EIA (PEIA) in China: Integrating planning and assessment during the preparation of Shenzhen's Master Urban Plan

The enactment and implementation of the 2003 EIA Law in China institutionalised the role of plan environmental impact assessment (PEIA). While the philosophy, methodology and mechanisms of PEIA have gradually permeated through the various levels of government with a positive effect on the process and outcome of urban planning, only a few cities in China have so far carried out PEIA as a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)-type procedure. One such case is the southern city of Shenzhen. During the past three decades, Shenzhen has grown from a small town to a large and booming city as China has successfully and rapidly developed its economy by adopting the 'reform and open door' policy. In response to the challenges arising from the generally divergent processes of rapid urbanisation, economic transformation and environment protection, Shenzhen has incrementally adopted the SEA concept in developing the city's Master Urban Plan. As such, this paper reviews the effectiveness of PEIA in three ways: {center_dot}as a tool and process for achieving more sustainable and strategic planning; {center_dot}to determine the level of integration of SEA within the planning system; and, {center_dot}its effectiveness vis-a-vis implementation. The implementation of PEIA within Shenzhen's Master Urban Plan offers important insights into the emergence of innovative practices in undertaking PEIA as well as theoretical contributions to the field, especially in exploring the relationship between PEIA and SEA and highlighting the central role of local governing institutions in SEA development.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Remediation of Uranium Impacted Sediments in a Watercourse - 12486

In 2009, remediation was initiated for a non-operational fuel cycle facility previously used for government contract work. Between 2009 and the spring of 2011, remediation efforts were focused on demolition of contaminated buildings and removal of contaminated soil. In the late spring of 2011, the last phase of remediation commenced involving the removal of contaminated sediments from portions of a 1,200 meter long gaining stream. Planning and preparation for remediation of the stream began in 2009 with submittal of permit applications to undertake construction activities in a wetland area. The permitting process was lengthy and involved securing permits from multiple agencies. However, early and frequent communication with stakeholders played an integral role in efficiently obtaining the permit approvals. Frequent communication with stakeholders throughout the planning and remediation process also proved to be a key factor in timely completion of the project. The remediation of the stream involved the use of temporary bladder berms to divert surface water flow, water diversion piping, a sediment vacuum removal system, excavation of sediments using small front-end loaders, sediment dewatering, and waste packaging, transportation and disposal. Many safeguards were employed to protect several species of concern in the work area, water management during project activities, challenges encountered during the project, methods of Final Status Survey, and stream restoration. The planning and permitting effort for the Site Brook remediation began in May 2009 and permits were approved and in place by February 2011. The remediation and restoration of the Site Brook began in April 2011 and was completed in November 2011. The remediation of the Site Brook involved the use of temporary bladder berms to divert surface water flow, water diversion piping, a sediment vacuum removal system, excavation of sediments using small front-end loaders, sediment dewatering, and waste packaging, transportation, disposal, FSS, and restoration. Early and frequent communications with stakeholders proved to be a key factor in timely completion of the project. Challenges encountered during the remediation effort were overcome by proper planning and having preparedness procedures in place prior to executing the work. With the remediation and restoration successfully completed, the only remaining task is to monitor/maintain the restoration for 10 years. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Decommissioning of a Historic Waste Storage Facility in Austria - 19059

Nuclear Engineering Seibersdorf Ltd. (NES) performed decommissioning of an old waste storage facility, the so called 'bunker', which was commissioned in 1968 and used until 1978 for the storage of radioactive waste from medical, industrial and research activities, as well as from the operation of the Austrian research reactor ASTRA. Due to the layout of the bunker the initial decommissioning plan was to decontaminate the inner walls of the caverns and afterwards perform clearance measurements on the standing structure. However, throughout the first phase of decommissioning it turned out, that contaminations penetrated deeper into the concrete structure as initially anticipated, which made an adoption of the decommissioning strategy necessary. By changing the workflow and to remove non-contaminated parts of the structure first, also the strategy for the clearance measurements had to be adapted. The selective decommissioning strategy and the demand that measurements shall be performed by an accredited body, required to set up an adequate communication structure to keep the workflow going. Moreover, a fast communication between NES, the competent authority and the authority's (external) experts was necessary to receive clearance licenses on time, and to prevent backlog of dismantled material. The paper reports on the initial and the adapted decommissioning strategy and the challenges within the changed approach. Applied decontamination and decommissioning methods and the implemented radiation protection measures will be discussed. Furthermore, information on the methodologies for clearance measurements, the collaboration of the accredited body with the decommissioning team, as well as on the communication between NES and the competent authority will be given. Finally, a balance of radioactive waste vs. conventionally disposed waste will be shown. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Verification of Adaptive Protection in Hardware in the Loop for Coordination with Solar Variability

As inverter-based resources continue to be installed at all levels of the electric grid, the fixed protection schemes used at the distribution level will continue to be stressed until they no longer ensure the protection of the grid. Adaptive protection has been proposed as a solution with the ability to update the protection schemes in near real-time to ensure reliability and increase the resilience of the grid. However, weather variability poses a significant challenge to the ability of these methods to keep the selectivity and reliability of these schemes coordinated. If the ramp rates, due to solar variability, of the inverter-based resources change faster than the adaptive protection can issue new settings, the protection system could be uncoordinated, with the wrong device responding to a system fault. The proposed adaptive protection method ensures that due to solar variability, communication, and protection calculation latency, it can issu e coordinated protection settings promptly, in one minute or less. The hardware-in-the-loop results show the protection settings being issued and maintaining system coordination in under a minute.

Summers, Adam↗
DOE OSTI2020

Global Security: 5-10 Year Strategy [Slides]

Global Security delivers innovative engineering solutions to protect the nation from strategic threats home and abroad. Global Security programs focus on developing and implementing technical solutions to address global security challenges through three enduring missions: Global Monitoring, Preventing Proliferation, and Nuclear Weapon Security.

42 ENGINEERING↗