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At least 469 records · Page 26

A Novel Ion Exchange System to Purify Mixed ISS Waste Water Brines for Chemical Production and Enhanced Water Recovery

Current International Space Station water recovery regimes produce a sizable portion of waste water brine. This brine is highly toxic and water recovery is poor: a highly wasteful proposition. With new biological techniques that do not require waste water chemical pretreatment, the resulting brine would be chromium-free and nitrate rich which can allow possible fertilizer recovery for future plant systems. Using a system of ion exchange resins we can remove hardness, sulfate, phosphate and nitrate from these brines to leave only sodium and potassium chloride. At this point modern chlor-alkali cells can be utilized to produce a low salt stream as well as an acid and base stream. The first stream can be used to gain higher water recovery through recycle to the water separation stage while the last two streams can be used to regenerate the ion exchange beds used here, as well as other ion exchange beds in the ISS. Conveniently these waste products from ion exchange regeneration would be suitable as plant fertilizer. In this report we go over the performance of state of the art resins designed for high selectivity of target ions under brine conditions. Using ersatz ISS waste water we can evaluate the performance of specific resins and calculate mass balances to determine resin effectiveness and process viability. If this system is feasible then we will be one step closer to closed loop environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) for current or future applications.

brine↗

A Novel Ion Exchange System to Purify Mixed ISS Waste Water Brines for Chemical Production and Enhanced Water Recovery

Current International Space Station water recovery regimes produce a sizable portion of waste water brine. This brine is highly toxic and water recovery is poor: a highly wasteful proposition. With new biological techniques that do not require waste water chemical pretreatment, the resulting brine would be chromium-free and nitrate rich which can allow possible fertilizer recovery for future plant systems. Using a system of ion exchange resins we can remove hardness, sulfate, phosphate and nitrate from these brines to leave only sodium and potassium chloride. At this point modern chlor-alkali cells can be utilized to produce a low salt stream as well as an acid and base stream. The first stream can be used to gain higher water recovery through recycle to the water separation stage while the last two streams can be used to regenerate the ion exchange beds used here, as well as other ion exchange beds in the ISS. Conveniently these waste products from ion exchange regeneration would be suitable as plant fertilizer. In this report we go over the performance of state of the art resins designed for high selectivity of target ions under brine conditions. Using ersatz ISS waste water we can evaluate the performance of specific resins and calculate mass balances to determine resin effectiveness and process viability. If this system is feasible then we will be one step closer to closed loop environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) for current or future applications.

Water Brines↗

Survey of Quantitative Research Metrics to Assess Pilot Performance in Upset Recovery

Accidents attributable to in-flight loss of control are the primary cause for fatal commercial jet accidents worldwide. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted a literature review to determine and identify the quantitative standards for assessing upset recovery performance. This review contains current recovery procedures for both military and commercial aviation and includes the metrics researchers use to assess aircraft recovery performance. Metrics include time to first input, recognition time and recovery time and whether that input was correct or incorrect. Other metrics included are: the state of the autopilot and autothrottle, control wheel/sidestick movement resulting in pitch and roll, and inputs to the throttle and rudder. In addition, airplane state measures, such as roll reversals, altitude loss/gain, maximum vertical speed, maximum/minimum air speed, maximum bank angle and maximum g loading are reviewed as well.

Le Vie, Lisa R.↗

Evaluation of Synthetic Vision Display Concepts for Improved Awareness in Unusual Attitude Recovery Scenarios

A recent study conducted by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) determined 40 percent of all fixed-wing fatal accidents, between 2001 and 2011, were caused by Loss-of-Control (LOC) in flight (National Transportation Safety Board, 2015). Based on their findings, CAST recommended manufacturers develop and implement virtual day-visual meteorological conditions (VMC) display systems, such as synthetic vision or equivalent systems (CAST, 2016). In a 2015 simulation study conducted at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), researchers gathered to test and evaluate virtual day-VMC displays under realistic flight operation scenarios capable of inducing reduced attention states in pilots. Each display concept was evaluated to determine its efficacy to improve attitude awareness. During the experiment, Evaluation Pilots (EPs) were shown the following three display concepts on the Primary Flight Display (PFD): Baseline, Synthetic Vision (SV) with color gradient, and SV with texture. The baseline configuration was a standard, conventional 'blue over brown' display. Experiment scenarios were simulated over water to evaluate Unusual Attitude (UA) recovery over 'featureless terrain' environments. Thus, the SV with color gradient configuration presented a 'blue over blue' display with a linear blue color progression, to differentiate attitude changes between sky and ocean. The SV with texture configuration presented a 'blue over blue' display with a black checkerboard texture atop a synthetic ocean. These displays were paired with a Background Attitude Indicator (BAI) concept. The BAI was presented across all four Head-Down Displays (HDDs), displaying a wide field-of-view blue-over-blue attitude indicator. The BAI aligned with the PFD and showed through the background of the navigation displays with opaque transparency. Each EP participated in a two-part experiment series with a total seventy-five trial runs: Part I included a set of twenty-five Unusual Attitude Recovery (UAR) scenarios; Part II included a set of fifty Attitude Memory Recall Tasks (AMRT). At the conclusion of each trial, EPs were asked to complete a set post-run questionnaires. Quantitative results showed that there were no significant statistical effects on UA recovery times when utilizing SV with or without the presence of a BAI. Qualitative results show the SV displays (color, texture) with BAI On are most preferred for both UA recognition and recovery when compared with the baseline display. When only comparing SV display concepts, EPs performed better when using the SV with texture, BAI On, than any other display configuration. This is an interesting find considering most EPs noted their preference towards the SV with color gradient when the BAI was on.

Nicholas, Stephanie↗

A Discussion of Oxygen Recovery Definitions and Key Performance Parameters for Closed-Loop Atmosphere Revitalization Life Support Technology Development

Over the last 55 years, NASA has evolved life support for crewed space exploration vehicles from simple resupply during Project Mercury to the complex and highly integrated system of systems aboard the International Space Station. As NASA targets exploration destinations farther from low Earth orbit and mission durations of 500 to 1000 days, life support systems must evolve to meet new requirements. In addition to having more robust, reliable, and maintainable hardware, limiting resupply becomes critical for managing mission logistics and cost. Supplying a crew with the basics of food, water, and oxygen become more challenging as the destination ventures further from Earth. Aboard ISS the Atmosphere Revitalization Subsystem (ARS) supplies the crew's oxygen demand by electrolyzing water. This approach makes water a primary logistics commodity that must be managed carefully. Chemical reduction of metabolic carbon dioxide (CO2) provides a method of recycling oxygen thereby reducing the net ARS water demand and therefore minimizing logistics needs. Multiple methods have been proposed to achieve this recovery and have been reported in the literature. However, depending on the architecture and the technology approach, "oxygen recovery" can be defined in various ways. This discontinuity makes it difficult to compare technologies directly. In an effort to clarify community discussions of Oxygen Recovery, we propose specific definitions and describe the methodology used to arrive at those definitions. Additionally, we discuss key performance parameters for Oxygen Recovery technology development including challenges with comparisons to state-of-the-art.

Abney, Morgan B.↗

Review of Research On Guidance for Recovery from Pitch Axis Upsets

A literature review was conducted to identify past efforts in providing control guidance for aircraft upset recovery including stall recovery. Because guidance is integrally linked to the intended function of aircraft attitude awareness and upset recognition, it is difficult, if not impossible, to consider these issues separately. This literature review covered the aspects of instrumentation and display symbologies for attitude awareness, aircraft upset recognition, upset and stall alerting, and control guidance. Many different forms of symbology have been investigated including, but not limited to, pitch scale depictions, attitude indicator icons, horizon symbology, attitude recovery arrows, and pitch trim indicators. Past research on different visual and alerting strategies that provide advisories, cautions, and warnings to pilots before entering an unusual attitude (UA) are also discussed. Finally, potential control guidance for recovery from upset or unusual attitudes, including approach-to-stall and stall conditions, are reviewed. Recommendations for future research are made.

Harrison, Stephanie J.↗

UAS Well Clear Recovery Against Non-Cooperative Intruders Using Vertical Maneuvers

This paper documents a study that drove the development of a mathematical expression in the detect-and-avoid (DAA) minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This equation describes the conditions under which vertical maneuver guidance should be provided during recovery of DAA well clear separation with a non-cooperative VFR aircraft. Although the original hypothesis was that vertical maneuvers for DAA well clear recovery should only be offered when sensor vertical rate errors are small, this paper suggests that UAS climb and descent performance should be considered-in addition to sensor errors for vertical position and vertical rate-when determining whether to offer vertical guidance. A fast-time simulation study involving 108,000 encounters between a UAS and a non-cooperative visual-flight-rules aircraft was conducted. Results are presented showing that, when vertical maneuver guidance for DAA well clear recovery was suppressed, the minimum vertical separation increased by roughly 50 feet (or horizontal separation by 500 to 800 feet). However, the percentage of encounters that had a risk of collision when performing vertical well clear recovery maneuvers was reduced as UAS vertical rate performance increased and sensor vertical rate errors decreased. A class of encounter is identified for which vertical-rate error had a large effect on the efficacy of horizontal maneuvers due to the difficulty of making the correct left/right turn decision: crossing conflict with intruder changing altitude. Overall, these results support logic that would allow vertical maneuvers when UAS vertical performance is sufficient to avoid the intruder, based on the intruder's estimated vertical position and vertical rate, as well as the vertical rate error of the UAS' sensor.

UAS in the NAS↗

Lightweight Broadcloth Recovery Parachute Testing and Reconstruction

Early in the Orion CPAS (Capsule Parachute Assembly System) project a main parachute was fabricated with lighter weight broadcloth in the lower part of the parachute skirt in order to look into different options for reducing the mass of the CPAS. At the end of Orion CPAS airdrop testing this parachute was used as a test equipment recovery parachute in order to gather data on the performance of this parachute. The parachute was the single recovery parachute in order to achieve the proper load under the parachute. It was flown on the final CPAS qualification test CQT 4-8 in September 2018.This paper will include imagery analysis, performance analysis based on all the gathered data, a full description of the configuration of the recovery parachute, as well as a comparison between this parachute and other CPAS recovery parachutes and other CPAS Main parachutes.

Ray, Eric S.↗

Recovery Timescales of the Dayside Martian Magnetosphere to IMF Variability

In this work we revisit an event observed by Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution MissioNin the solar wind where the interplanetary magneticfield (IMF) rotates around the Mars‐Sun axis during∼6 min. Based on a time‐dependent LATMOS Hybrid Simulation, we determine recovery timescales of thedayside Martian magnetosphere normalized by the IMF variability timescale. Particularly, wefind thatsuch recovery timescales range between 8 s and 11 min for an∼90° IMF rotation that lasted 50 s (observed aspart of the 6‐min time interval), depending on the considered magnetospheric region. We alsofind thatthe O+plume recovery timescales range between 40 and 120 s, taking greater values for further downstreamdistances (at least up to 1RMdownstream from the terminator plane). This range is on the order of themagnetosheath O+gyroperiod, showing the kinetic nature of the plume recovery process.

Romanelli, N.↗

Design and testing of high-performance mini-channel graphite heat exchangers in thermoelectric energy recovery systems

Recent national energy usage studies by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2015 [1] show that there is approximately 59 Quads (1015 Btu’s) of waste thermal energy throughout various industrial, residential, power generation, and transportation sectors of the U.S. economy. Thermoelectric energy recovery is one important technology for recovering this waste thermal energy in high-temperature industrial, transportation and military energy systems. Thermoelectric generator (TEG) systems in these applications require high performance hot-side and cold-side heat exchangers to provide the critical temperature differential and transfer the required thermal energy. High performance hot-side heat exchangers in these systems are often metal-based due to requirements for high-temperature operation, strength at temperature, corrosion resistance, and chemical stability. However, the generally selected metal-based hot-side heat exchangers (i.e., Inconels, Stainless Steels) suffer from low thermal conductivity, high thermal expansion, and high density, which degrades their thermal performance, leads to high thermal-expansion-driven stresses, and creates relatively high mass/high volume (i.e., low power density) TEG systems that are then difficult to fabricate and integrate into viable energy recovery systems. This paper describes the design and testing of a new, high-temperature minichannel graphite heat exchanger designed for operation up to 500C that is a critical element of a high-power-density TEG power system for aircraft energy recovery. This high-performance graphite heat exchanger represents a new state-of-the-art standard in high-temperature heat exchangers for TEG systems, which provides higher thermal transport, less thermal expansion at operation, lower system level stresses on TE components, and a lighter weight TEG system. This new heat exchanger creates a new design paradigm in TEG system design for terrestrial energy recovery and potential NASA technology infusion into terrestrial energy system applications. This paper will present and discuss the key heat transfer, pressure drop, pumping power analyses and design tradeoffs that created this unique design. Heat transfer and pressure drop modeling was performed with both empirical models based on known heat transfer and friction factor correlations and COMSOL thermal/fluid dynamic modeling of the graphite heat exchanger structure. We will also discuss resulting thermal transport and heat fluxes predicted at the TEG interface level. Heat exchanger performance testing was performed under simulated operating conditions and correlation with test data at the anticipated operating temperature conditions will be presented and discussed.

Shevade, Abhijit↗

Fixed-Bed Columns for Adsorption of C2H2 in Metal Organic Frameworks for Hydrogen Recovery in Long-Duration Human Space Flight

To live and work in space, astronauts must have a breathable atmosphere. Current life support system technology utilizes the electrolysis of water to recover O2 as the main method of Oxygen recovery. In addition, the Sabatier Reaction is used to recover H2O from the CO2 produced by human respiration. The current atmosphere revitalization architecture onboard the International Space Station (ISS) has an efficiency of approximately 54% oxygen recovery. Therefore, these systems require substantial resupplies of water to sustain this environment, which make long-duration space flight missions, such as Martian transit, expensive and difficult. In order to support these missions, oxygen recovery must exceed 75-90% efficiency. Additional research has shown that with the addition of a Plasma Pyrolysis system, CH4 produced by the Sabatier reaction may be broken down into H2 and C2H2 and the H2 may be recycled. However, the Hydrogen must be separated from the highly volatile C2H2. There are many potential separation methods. A promising method includes the adsorption of the C2H2 into Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) using Vacuum Swing Adsorption. Due to the fragile nature of the MOFs and hazards present in producing C2H2, the columns must have a design that is compatible to both materials and that has the potential to operate in extraterrestrial environments. Successful design and testing of this Hydrogen separation system would allow the PPA to be fully integrated into the current oxygen regeneration system, resulting in a theoretical O2 recovery of 91.3%.

Hannah K Davis↗

Mixing and Recovery Performance of Triplet Impinging Injectors with Varying Flow Areas for Detonative Combustion

Detonation combustion devices such as rotating detonation rocket engines (RDREs) have been proposed as an alternative to traditional deflagration engines as detonative combustion has a higher theoretical thermodynamic efficiency. Improved performance of an RDRE depends heavily on the propellant injection and mixing. Impingement type injectors have been shown to achieve higher characteristic velocity or combustion efficiency for both detonative and deflagrative engines. This work is exploratory in nature and focuses on unlike triplet impinging injectors to study how the flow area of the injector affects the mixing of propellants and recovery under the transient, high-peak pressure conditions unique to RDREs. A ratio of fuel flow area to oxidizer flow area is set to achieve a given mass flow rate and thus propellant mixture ratio. Four different fluid flow areas are studies while keeping the fuel/oxidizer ratio constant. This work has found that, while maintaining a fixed ratio fuel to oxidizer flow area, the injectors with smaller orifice areas show better resistance to backflow in steady state tests and have shorter recovery times in backflow experiments. Even with the shorter recovery times, it is found that the shortest recovery time is still an order of magnitude slower than the frequency of a single detonation wave traversing a 3” RDRE.

Michaela R. Hemming↗

Development of an Efficient Alternative to Recovery O2 From Metabolic CO2 Via Electrolysis Operated at Ambient Temperature and Driven By A Highly Selective Catalysis

The current State of Art (SOA) on oxygen recovery onboard the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) at the International Space Station (ISS) is complex, heavy, and power consuming system that recovers approximately 50% of the oxygen (O 2 ) from metabolic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). For future long duration beyond low earth orbit missions (LEO), O 2 recovery systems will need to be highly reliable, efficient, and recover a minimum of 75% O 2 from metabolic CO 2 . An alternative technology development effort currently underway at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has the potential to significantly increase O 2 recovery currently limited to 50% (Sabatier) and reduce the complexity of ECLSS O 2 recovery. MSFC and University of Texas in Arlington (UTA) have jointly designed and fabricated a microfluid electrochemical reactor (MFECR) that operates at ambient conditions and utilizes a proprietary catalysis highly selective on reducing CO 2 to ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) at the cathode while O 2 is generated at the anode. The MFECR would replace three pieces of hardware for future ECLSS architectures: the current CO 2 Reduction Assembly (CRA) (Sabatier reactor), the Plasma Pyrolysis Assembly (PPA), and the Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA). It is designed to interface directly with the CO 2 Removal Assembly (CDRA) and the Water Processing Assembly (WPA) to supply CO 2 reactant and water replenish respectively. This is expected to substantially improve sustainability of the ISS ECLSS and reduce requirement on power and weight. Here, we discuss the current development and evaluation efforts on different alternatives on not only the configuration and setup of the MFECR at an Engineering Design Unit (EDU) scale but also the selection of component materials.

Jesus A Dominguez↗

Impacts of Stratospheric Ozone Recovery on Southern Ocean Temperature and Heat Budget

The impacts of stratospheric ozone recovery on Southern Ocean surface and interior temperature, heat content, heat uptake, and heat transport are investigated by contrasting two ensemble chemistry-climate model simulations in 2005–2099: one with fixed ozone depleting substances (ODSs) and another with decreasing ODSs. In our simulations ozone recovery significantly affects Southern Ocean temperature, with large latitudinal and vertical variations. Ozone recovery causes a dipole change of the full-depth ocean heat content (OHC) with an increase south of 60°S and a decrease between 45°S and 60°S. Integrated over latitudes south of 40°S, OHC decreases in response to ozone recovery. This ocean heat loss is shown to be driven by weakened poleward ocean heat transport (OHT) across 40°S, which is partly canceled by enhanced heat uptake. The weakening of poleward OHT into the Southern Ocean is caused by the ozone-induced equatorward shift of the meridional overturning circulation.

stratospheric ozone↗

Bypass valve and coolant flow controls for optimum temperatures in waste heat recovery systems

Implementing an optimized waste heat recovery system includes calculating a temperature and a rate of change in temperature of a heat exchanger of a waste heat recovery system, and predicting a temperature and a rate of change in temperature of a material flowing through a channel of the waste heat recovery system. Upon determining the rate of change in the temperature of the material is predicted to be higher than the rate of change in the temperature of the heat exchanger, the optimized waste heat recovery system calculates a valve position and timing for the channel that is configurable for achieving a rate of material flow that is determined to produce and maintain a defined threshold temperature of the heat exchanger, and actuates the valve according to the calculated valve position and calculated timing.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Case Study in Corporate Memory Recovery: Hanford Tank Farms Miscellaneous Underground Waste Storage Tanks - 15344

In addition to managing the 177 underground waste storage tanks containing 212,000 m3 (56 million gal) of radioactive waste at the U. S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site 200 Area Tank Farms, Washington River Protection Solutions LLC is responsible for managing numerous small catch tanks and special surveillance facilities. These are collectively known as “MUSTs” - Miscellaneous Underground Storage Tanks. The MUSTs typically collected drainage and flushes during waste transfer system piping changes; special surveillance facilities supported Tank Farm processes including post-World War II uranium recovery and later fission product recovery from tank wastes. Most were removed from service following deactivation of the single-shell tank system in 1980 and stabilized by pumping the remaining liquids from them. The MUSTs were isolated by blanking connecting transfer lines and adding weatherproofing to prevent rainwater entry. Over the next 30 years MUST operating records were dispersed into large electronic databases or transferred to the National Archives Regional Center in Seattle, Washington. During 2014 an effort to reacquire the historical bases for the MUSTs’ published waste volumes was undertaken. Corporate Memory Recovery from a variety of record sources allowed waste volumes to be initially determined for 21 MUSTs, and waste volumes to be adjusted for 37 others. Precursors and symptoms of Corporate Memory Loss were identified in the context of MUST records recovery.

Washenfelder, D. J.↗

Register file soft error recovery

Register file soft error recovery including a system that includes a first register file and a second register file that mirrors the first register file. The system also includes an arithmetic pipeline for receiving data read from the first register file, and error detection circuitry to detect whether the data read from the first register file includes corrupted data. The system further includes error recovery circuitry to insert an error recovery instruction into the arithmetic pipeline in response to detecting the corrupted data. The inserted error recovery instruction replaces the corrupted data in the first register file with a copy of the data from the second register file.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Process for recovery of values from a fermentation mass obtained in producing ethanol and products thereof

The present invention generally relates to processes for recovery of values from a fermentation mass obtained in producing ethanol. Further, the present invention relates to processes for the recovery of values from an inorganic- and lignin-containing mass. The present invention also relates to processes for the recovery of a fraction having enhanced silica content from a silica-containing mass. Still further, the present invention relates to processes for the recovery of crude ethanol from a fermentation mass. The present invention relates to various lignin-containing products and solutions and mineral-rich products.

Ahmed, Aziz↗