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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 505 records · Page 28

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2024

Technology Development and Integration for Volume Production of High Purity Rare Earth Metals from Phosphate Processing

Under this project and in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Florida International University (FIU), and Mosaic, the FIPR Institute successfully developed and demonstrated on laboratory batch scale a complete processing technology for production of high-purity rare earth elements (REE) in the form of mixed rare earth oxides (MREO) and rare earth metals (REM) using phosphoric acid sludge (a byproduct from phosphate mining) as the REE feedstock. Based on the research results, a technical research plan has been developed with expanded team members to elevate the technology readiness level (TRL) of the subject technology from 4 to 6 by conducting continuous testing of the processing flowsheet with the ultimate goal of producing about 900 tons per year of REM using the phosphate mining byproduct. Those 900 tons of REM would contain approximately 180 tons of Y, 120 tons of Nd, 50 tons of Gd, 37 tons of Dy, 33 tons of Sm, and 31 tons of Pr, meeting the US demand of roughly 39%, 6%, 42%, 48%, 101% and 7% for these elements, respectively. The advanced technologies for REE separation and purification involves three technology companies: K-Technologies, Inc. would test their continuous-ion-exchange/continuous-ion chromatography technologies on both the REE leachate and solvent extraction concentrate for 4 production of high-purity individual or binary REM. Rare Earth Salts would test their innovative electrochemical technology on the REE leachate or re-dissolved MREO in dilute acid for production of high-purity individual or binary REM. Rare Earth Technologies, Inc. would evaluate their advanced chromatographic separation technology on the dissolved MREO product for production of high-purity individual or binary REM.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS2000

Lidar Wind Measurements with the Goddard Lidar Observatory for Winds (GLOW)

We report on the development of GLOW (Goddard Lidar Observatory for Winds), a mobile Doppler lidar system which uses direct detection Doppler lidar techniques to measure wind profiles from the surface into the lower stratosphere. The system employs a Nd:YAG laser transmitter to measure winds using either aerosol backscatter at a wavelength of 1064 run or molecular backscatter at 355 nm. The system is modular in design to allow the incorporation of new technologies as they become available. GLOW is intended to be used as a deployable field system for studying atmospheric dynamics and transport and can also serve as a testbed to evaluate candidate technologies developed for use in future spaceborne systems. Finally it can be used for calibration/validation activities following launch of spaceborne wind lidar systems. A description of the mobile system is presented along with the first validated lidar wind profiles obtained with the system using a new molecular 'double edge' receiver.

Gentry, Bruce M.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Environmental Program

NASA's White Sands Test Facility has six core environmental compliance capabilities: remote hazardous testing of reactive, explosive and toxic materials and fluids; hypergolic fluids materials and systems testing; oxygen materials and system testing; hypervelocity impact testing; flight hardware processing; and, propulsion testing. The facility's permit status and challenges are reviewed. Historic operations and practices dating from the 1960s through the early 1980s resulted in contamination of the facility's groundwater. An environmental restoration effort has been employed to protect public health and the health of the workforce. The restoration seeks to properly handle hazardous materials and waste processes; determine the nature and extent of the contamination; stop the migration of contaminated groundwater; stabilize the plume front which has been assessed as the greatest risk to public health; and, clean-up the environment to restore it to preexisting conditions. The Plume Front Treatment System is operational and seeks to stop the westward movement of the plume to protect drinking water and irrigation well. Specifically, the treatment system will extract contaminated water from the aquifer, remove chemical using the best available technology, and return (inject) the treated water back to the aquifer. The Mid-Plume Interception Treatment System also seeks to stop the migration of containment, as well as to evaluate new technologies to accelerate cleanup, such as bioremediation.

Fischer, Holger↗

NASA NTRS2010

Testing and Results of Human Metabolic Simulation Utilizing Ultrasonic Nebulizer Technology for Water Vapor Generation

Life support technology must be evaluated thoroughly before ever being implemented into a functioning design. A major concern during that evaluation is safety. The ability to mimic human metabolic loads allows test engineers to evaluate the effectiveness of new technologies without risking injury to any actual humans. The main function of most life support technologies is the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) vapor. As such any good human metabolic simulator (HMS) will mimic the human body s ability to produce these items. Introducing CO2 into a test chamber is a very straightforward process with few unknowns so the focus of this particular new HMS design was on the much more complicated process of introducing known quantities of H2O vapor on command. Past iterations of the HMS have utilized steam which is very hard to keep in vapor phase while transporting and injecting into a test chamber. Also steam adds large quantities of heat to any test chamber, well beyond what an actual human does. For the new HMS an alternative approach to water vapor generation was designed utilizing ultrasonic nebulizers as a method for creating water vapor. Ultrasonic technology allows water to be vibrated into extremely tiny pieces (2-5 microns) and evaporate without requiring additional heating. Doing this process inside the test chamber itself allows H2O vapor generation without the unwanted heat and the challenging process of transporting water vapor. This paper presents the design details as well as results of all initial and final acceptance system testing. Testing of the system was performed at a range of known human metabolic rates in both sea-level and reduced pressure environments. This multitude of test points fully defines the systems capabilities as they relate to actual environmental systems testing.

Stubbe, Matthew↗

DOE OSTI2025

The Technical, Economic, Risk, and Adoption Assessment for Evaluating Work Reduction Opportunities in the Nuclear Industry

Automation and cost-saving initiatives, such as process automation with advances in artificial intelligence, are gaining traction in modernization efforts across the nuclear industry. As these innovations are increasingly adopted, it becomes crucial to evaluate their impacts comprehensively. Various technical and economic attributes, along with risk and human readiness factors, must be achieved to ensure that innovative projects enabling automation and modernization are successful. However, no systematic or integrated framework exists that allows plants to evaluate these innovative projects. To address this gap, the Technical, Economic, Risk, and Adoption (TERA) assessment offers a structured method to evaluate innovative technologies, ensuring solutions meet both operational and safety standards. The TERA framework integrates the disparate perspectives to assess modernization opportunities in nuclear operations. It combines qualitative and quantitative models to evaluate the relationship between performance and business impacts, while also enabling continuous re-evaluation during project development. This approach helps plant owners identify high-priority opportunities, optimize cost savings, and minimize risks, ensuring projects remain on track to achieve desired returns. By providing a comprehensive, systematic methodology, TERA enables informed, data-driven decisions that support successful modernization efforts, enhancing efficiency, safety, and cost savings across nuclear operations. This paper explains the TERA framework and its benefits for the nuclear industry.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA NTRS2011

Trajectory Guidance for Mars Robotic Precursors: Aerocapture, Entry, Descent, and Landing

Future crewed missions to Mars require improvements in landed mass capability beyond that which is possible using state-of-the-art Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems. Current systems are capable of an estimated maximum landed mass of 1-1.5 metric tons (MT), while human Mars studies require 20-40 MT. A set of technologies were investigated by the EDL Systems Analysis (SA) project to assess the performance of candidate EDL architectures. A single architecture was selected for the design of a robotic precursor mission, entitled Exploration Feed Forward (EFF), whose objective is to demonstrate these technologies. In particular, inflatable aerodynamic decelerators (IADs) and supersonic retro-propulsion (SRP) have been shown to have the greatest mass benefit and extensibility to future exploration missions. In order to evaluate these technologies and develop the mission, candidate guidance algorithms have been coded into the simulation for the purposes of studying system performance. These guidance algorithms include aerocapture, entry, and powered descent. The performance of the algorithms for each of these phases in the presence of dispersions has been assessed using a Monte Carlo technique.

Sostaric, Ronald R.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Development of Constellation-X Optics Technologies at MSFC

One of the major technological challenges for the Constellation X-ray Mission is the development of light-weight, high-resolution, grazing-incidence optics. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is developing and evaluating candidate technologies, based upon full-shell replication off precision mandrels. Here we report on recent progress in meeting the weight and imaging-performance requirements, using very thin, high-strength electroformed nickel alloys. In addition, we briefly describe MSFC's optics fabrication, metrology, and x-ray test facilities.

Odell, S. L.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Development of Constellation-X Optics Technologies at MSFC

One of the major technological challenges for the Constellation X-ray Mission is the development of light-weight, high-resolution, grazing-incidence optics. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is developing and evaluating candidate technologies, based upon full-shell replication off precision mandrels. Here we report on recent progress in meeting the weight and imaging-performance requirements, using very thin, high- strength electroformed nickel alloys, In addition, we briefly describe MSFC's optics fabrication, metrology, and x-ray test facilities.

Ramsey, B. D.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Development of Constellation-X Optics Technologies at MSFC

ODell, S. L.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Reliability history of the Apollo guidance computer

The Apollo guidance computer was designed to provide the computation necessary for guidance, navigation and control of the command module and the lunar landing module of the Apollo spacecraft. The computer was designed using the technology of the early 1960's and the production was completed by 1969. During the development, production, and operational phase of the program, the computer has accumulated a very interesting history which is valuable for evaluating the technology, production methods, system integration, and the reliability of the hardware. The operational experience in the Apollo guidance systems includes 17 computers which flew missions and another 26 flight type computers which are still in various phases of prelaunch activity including storage, system checkout, prelaunch spacecraft checkout, etc. These computers were manufactured and maintained under very strict quality control procedures with requirements for reporting and analyzing all indications of failure. Probably no other computer or electronic equipment with equivalent complexity has been as well documented and monitored. Since it has demonstrated a unique reliability history, it is important to evaluate the techniques and methods which have contributed to the high reliability of this computer.

Hall, E. C.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Identification and Analysis of Future Aeronautical Communications Candidates: A Study of Concepts and Technologies to Support the Aeronautical Communications Needs in the NextGen and Beyond National Airspace System

This report describes the results of future aeronautical communications research conducted by Rockwell Collins employees under NRA contract to NASA. The overall goal of this research was to identify and begin to evaluate communication technology candidates expected to meet the long-term aircraft-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-ground data communications needs of Air Traffic Management in the NextGen and beyond National Airspace System (NAS), considering how the NAS and communications technologies will evolve during a 50-year modernization time horizon.

Wichgers, Joel M.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Technology Transfer External Metrics, Research, Success Stories, and Participation on Evaluation Team for the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)

This research report is divided into four sections. The first section is related to participation on the team that evaluated the proposals for the X-33 project and the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) during mid-May; prior to beginning the 1996 Summer Faculty Fellowship. The second section discusses the various meetings attended related to the technology evaluation process. The third section is related to various research and evaluation activities engaged in by this researcher. The final section discusses several success stories this researcher aided in preparing. Despite the fact that this researcher is not an engineer or science faculty, invaluable knowledge and experience have been gained at MSFC. Although related to the previous summer's research, the research has been new, varied, and challenging. This researcher was fortunate to have had maximum interaction with NASA colleague, David Cockrell. It would be a privilege and honor to continue a relationship with the Technology Transfer Office. In addition, we will attempt to aid in the establishment of a continuous formalized relationship between MSFC and Jacksonville State University. Dr. David Watts, Vice President for Academic Affairs, J.S.U., is interested in having the Technology Division cooperating with MSFC in sharing information and working tech transfer inquiries. The principal benefits gained by this researcher include the opportunity to conduct research in a non-academic, real world environment. In addition, the opportunity to be involved in aiding with the decision process for the choice of the next generation of space transportation system was a once in a lifetime experience. This researcher has gained enhanced respect and understanding of MSFC/NASA staff and facilities.

Trivoli, George W.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Technology Validation of Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure

NREL presented results from hydrogen refueling infrastructure evaluations by the National Fuel Cell Technology Evaluation Center, including current status of hydrogen fueling stations, what fuel cell electric vehicle owners can expect when using stations, cost to station operators and customers, and reliability of hydrogen stations.

39 EE - Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies (EE-3F↗

DOE OSTI2022

Novel Approaches to the Isolation of Glucaric Acid from Fermentation Broth. Final report

Kalion has successfully demonstrated a fermentation route using glucose as the feedstock. This game-changing technology allows Kalion to economically produce large-scale quantities of high-purity glucaric acid products. Kalion has also developed a novel downstream processing strategy for isolating and purifying glucaric acid forms, including the free acid, monoammonium glucarate, and monopotassium glucarate. Despite the low solubility of these products, significant water removal is needed prior to crystallization, requiring energy intensive evaporation or reverse osmosis. Here, we work in collaboration with the Separations Consortium to develop novel, low-cost means of water removal in Kalion’s glucarate/glucaric acid purification process. This proposed CRADA project with national labs (ORNL, ANL, and NREL) evaluated various technologies developed by the Separations Consortium as applied to glucaric acid purification, intended to generate a scalable, cost-effective, energy-efficient process. Four approaches were evaluated with mock aqueous solutions of glucaric acid or glucarate, and the results analyzed with respect to separation effectiveness and potential cost savings. The leading technology will then be further developed and tested with actual clarified or non-clarified broth (depending on the approach) obtained from 20L fermentations provided by Kalion, that will contain inorganic ions, byproducts, and residual sugars in addition to the product.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

NASA NTRS1983

Current research in the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL)

The basic goal of software engineering is to produce the best possible software at the lowest possible cost. Many practices, tools, and techniques (collectively referred to as technologies) were developed that purport to help do this, some of which have become widely accepted in the software industry. However, few of these technologies were effectively evaluated experimentally. This is due in large part to an insufficient understanding of the software development process, a lack of recognized standards for measurement, and the prohibitive cost of large-scale controlled experiments. The analysis described addresses some of these issues. The specific objectives of this study were to: measure technology use in a production environment; develop a model for evaluating software engineering technologies; and evaluate the effects of productivity and reliability of some specific technologies.

Card, D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

OTVE combustor wall condition monitoring

Conventional ultrasonics, eddy current, and electromagnetic acoustic transduction (EMAT) technologies were evaluated to determine their capability of measuring wall thickness/wear of individual cooling channels in test specimens simulating conditions in the throat region of an OTVE combustion chamber liner. Quantitative results are presented for the eddy current technology, which was shown to measure up to the optimum 20-mil wall thickness with near single channel resolution. Additional results demonstrate the capability of the conventional ultrasonics and EMAT technologies to detect a thinning or cracked wall. Recommendations for additional eddy current and EMAT development tests are presented.

Szemenyei, Brian↗

NASA NTRS2013

Evaluation of Ceramic Matrix Composite Technology for Aircraft Turbine Engine Applications

The goals of the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project are to reduce the NO(x) emissions, fuel burn, and noise from turbine engines. In order to help meet these goals, commercially-produced ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components and environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) are being evaluated as parts and panels. The components include a CMC combustor liner, a CMC high pressure turbine vane, and a CMC exhaust nozzle as well as advanced EBCs that are tailored to the operating conditions of the CMC combustor and vane. The CMC combustor (w/EBC) could provide 2700 F temperature capability with less component cooling requirements to allow for more efficient combustion and reductions in NOx emissions. The CMC vane (w/EBC) will also have temperature capability up to 2700 F and allow for reduced fuel burn. The CMC mixer nozzle will offer reduced weight and improved mixing efficiency to provide reduced fuel burn. The main objectives are to evaluate the manufacturability of the complex-shaped components and to evaluate their performance under simulated engine operating conditions. Progress in CMC component fabrication, evaluation, and testing is presented in which the goal is to advance from the proof of concept validation (TRL 3) to a system/subsystem or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment (TRL 6).

Halbig, Michael C.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Design, development and testing of an ambient lighting simulator for external illumination of a transport simulator cockpit

Researchers at the NASA-Langley Research Center several years ago began to examine concepts for a facility which could simulate the full range of lighting conditions encountered in flight. The purpose of this facility was to evaluate advanced technology display devices in a cockpit environment. The Aircraft Cockpit Ambient Lighting Simulation System (ACALSS) has been developed to meet that need. The ACALSS surrounds a wide-body part-task simulator cockpit, the Advanced Display Evaluation Cockpit, and interfaces with a VAX 11/780 computer, which is used to host both a math model of a modern transport aircraft and a solar motion model (which animates a servoed sun simulator). Several concepts were evaluated and an efficient design using an ellipsoid reflector and Fresnel luminaires was selected for implementation.

Batson, Vernon M.↗