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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 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of Tree Age and Anatomical Fraction on Forest Residue Pyrolysis and Hydrotreating

Utilization of cost-advantaged biomass and waste resources to produce clean, domestic biofuels will be a key factor in decarbonizing transportation in the United States. This study investigates how the distribution of anatomical fractions (stem wood, bark, needles, branches) from pine forest residues of different ages impacts pyrolysis and hydrotreating processes, including product composition, carbon efficiency, economics, and overall sustainability. Commercially sourced 13- and 23-year-old loblolly pine residues were chosen to represent available resources; whole tree thinnings, and tops and branches from merchantable timber, respectively. Detailed characterization of the residue samples, product distributions, bio-oil, char, and gas characterization data are presented for 13 experiments, including the individual fractions, blends, and air-classified samples to reduce ash content. Pyrolysis mass balances averaged 97 +/- 3%. As expected, bio-oil yields were lower for the bark, needles, and blends with high proportions of these (53-56% dry basis), and highest for the debarked stem wood (67-71% dry basis). Lower yields were attributed to the high ash content of the needles, but also to the high lignin content in the bark (>50%), which is hypothesized to have led to increased char formation during pyrolysis. Higher-oil yield was generally correlated with total volatiles, hydrogen, oxygen, glucan, and mannan; somewhat correlated with xylan and acetyl content; and negatively correlated with total carbon, fixed carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and extractives. Air classification of the residues was effective in reducing ash content (1.5% to 0.64%), extractives (~7% to 2%), and sulfur (0.04% to 0.02%), resulting in a small increase in yield, a significant increase in the GC-detectable proportion of oil (27% to 34%) and a net economic benefit. These experimental results were used to conduct technoeconomic and life cycle analyses, which are also summarized here.

biofuels↗
DOE OSTI2016

Concentration of trace elements on branded cigarette in Malaysia

Tobacco is a plant that is used as a recreational drug since the beginning of its use by the Native Americans. Now with the development of the tobacco industry, smoking has become a norm for the public in Malaysia. Trace elements in plants are mostly due to the uptake processes from the soils into the roots of the plants. The concentration of the elements may also be influenced by the elements contained in the water and also fertilizers. This paper aim to analyze the concentration of the trace elements contained in the branded cigarettes sold in Malaysia by utilizing the neutron activation analysis. The tobaccos were taken out from the cigarettes. The collected samples were air dried and passed through 2 mm sieve. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has been used for the determination of trace elements. Samples were activated in the Nuclear Malaysia Triga Mark II reactor with a neutron flux of 2.0 x 10{sup 12} n cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. The samples then were analyzed using ORTEC Gamma Spectrometer a co-axial n-type HPGe detector with resolution of 2.0 keV at 1332 keV and relative efficiency of 20%. The data obtained could help in assessing the concentration of the trace elements that complying with the standard limitation dose proposed by World Health Organization (WHO)

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Crystallization to polycrystalline silicon thin film and simultaneous inactivation of electrical defects by underwater laser annealing

We propose a low-temperature laser annealing method of a underwater laser annealing (WLA) for polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films. We performed crystallization to poly-Si films by laser irradiation in flowing deionized-water where KrF excimer laser was used for annealing. We demonstrated that the maximum value of maximum grain size of WLA samples was 1.5 {mu}m, and that of the average grain size was 2.8 times larger than that of conventional laser annealing in air (LA) samples. Moreover, WLA forms poly-Si films which show lower conductivity and larger carrier life time attributed to fewer electrical defects as compared to LA poly-Si films.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Multiphysics Simulations of Thermal Shock Testing of Nanofibrous High Power Targets

Increase of primary beam power for neutrino beam-lines leads to a reduced lifespan for production targets. New concepts for robust targets are emerging from the field of High Power Targetry (HPT); one idea being investigated by the HPT R&D Group at Fermilab is an electrospun nanofiber target. As part of their evaluation, samples with different densities were sent to the HiRadMat facility at CERN for thermal shock tests. The samples with the higher density, irradiated under a high intensity beam pulse, exhibit major damage at the impact site whereas those with the lower density show no apparent damage. The exact cause of this failure was unclear at the time. In this paper, we present the results of multiphysics simulations of the thermal shock experienced by the nanofiber targets that suggest the failure originates from the reduced permeability of the high density sample to air flow. The air present in the porous target expands due to heating from the beam, but is unable to flow freely in the high density sample, resulting in a larger back pressure that blows apart the nanofiber mat. We close with a discussion on how to further validate this hypothesis.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Trace element analysis of soil type collected from the Manjung and central Perak

Trace elements in soils primarily originated from their parent materials. Parents’ material is the underlying geological material that has been undergone different types of chemical weathering and leaching processes. Soil trace elements concentrations may be increases as a result of continuous input from various human activities, including power generation, agriculture, mining and manufacturing. This paper describes the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) method used for the determination of trace elements concentrations in part per million (ppm) present in the terrestrial environment soil in Perak. The data may indicate any contamination of trace elements contributed from human activities in the area. The enrichment factors were used to check if there any contamination due to the human activities (power plants, agricultural, mining, etc.) otherwise the values would serve as a baseline data for future study. The samples were collected from 27 locations of different soil series in the area at two different depths: the top soil (0-15cm) and the sub soil (15-30cm). The collected soil samples were air dried at 60°C and passed through 2 µm sieve. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has been used for the determination of trace elements. Samples were activated in the Nuclear Malaysia TRIGA Mark II reactor followed by gamma spectrometric analysis. By activating the stable elements in the samples, the elements can be determined from the intensities of gamma energies emitted by the respected radionuclides.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Selective growth of Al 2 O 3 on size-selected platinum clusters by atomic layer deposition

In heterogeneous catalysis, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been developed as a tool to stabilize and reduce carbon deposition on supported nanoparticles. Here, we discuss use of high vacuum ALD to deposit alumina films on size-selected, sub-nanometer Pt/SiO 2 model catalysts. Mass-selected Pt 24 clusters were deposited on oxidized Si(100), to form model Pt 24 /SiO 2 catalysts with particles shown to be just under 1 nm, with multilayer three dimensional structure. Alternating exposures to trimethylaluminum and water vapor in an ultra-high vacuum chamber were used to grow alumina on the samples without exposing them to air. Here, the samples were probed in situ using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS), and CO temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Additional samples were prepared for ex situ experiments using grazing incidence small angle xray scattering spectroscopy (GISAXS). Alumina growth is found to initiate at least 60 times more efficiently at the Pt 24 cluster sites, compared to bare SiO 2 /Si, with a single ALD cycle depositing a full alumina layer on top of the clusters, with substantial additional alumina growth initiating on SiO 2 sites surrounding the clusters. As a result, the clusters were completely passivated, with no exposed Pt binding sites.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

2022 Annual Site Environment Report, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

This report provides the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) operations. This report fulfills the annual public reporting requirements of DOE Order 231.1B. The results of PPPL’s 2022 environmental surveillance and monitoring program are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and community involvement programs that were undertaken in 2022. PPPL’s on-site operations started to be restored in 2022, following curtailments in 2020 and 2021 for the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. PPPL has engaged in fusion energy research since 1951 and at its current locations since 1958. The Laboratory’s mission is to develop the scientific knowledge and advanced engineering to enable fusion to power the U.S. and the world, and to develop the understanding of plasmas from the nano- to the astrophysical scale. PPPL’s primary experiment, the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) is a collaboration among national laboratories, universities, and national and international research institutions and is a major element in the US Fusion Energy Sciences Program. Its design tests the physics principles of spherical torus (ST) plasmas, playing an important role in the development of smaller, more economical fusion reactors. Due to previous operational issues, NSTX-U did not operate in 2022. PPPL is engaged in a project to replace key NSTX-U components and systems to enable the operation of this international magnetic fusion user facility. In 2022, PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program measured tritium in the air at onsite sampling stations. Using highly sensitive air monitors, PPPL is capable of detecting small changes in the ambient levels of tritium. The operation of monitors located on D-site is used to demonstrate compliance with the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) regulations. Also included in PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program, are water monitoring – ground, surface, and waste waters. PPPL’s radiological monitoring program characterized the background levels of tritium in the environment and those data are presented in this report. Ground water monitoring continued under New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program regulations. PPPL monitored for non-radiological contaminants, mainly volatile organic compounds (components of common degreasing solvents). In 2022, PPPL complied with permit limits for surface water and sanitary wastewater discharges. PPPL was honored with an award for EPEAT-certified electronics purchasing from the Global Electronics Council.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Annual Site Environment Report for Calendar Year 2023 - Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

This report provides the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) operations. This report fulfills the annual public reporting requirements of DOE Order 231.1B. The results of PPPL’s 2023 environmental surveillance and monitoring program are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and community involvement programs that were undertaken in 2023. This report provides the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) operations. This report fulfills the annual public reporting requirements of DOE Order 231.1B. The results of PPPL’s 2023 environmental surveillance and monitoring program are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and community involvement programs that were undertaken in 2023. In 2023, PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program measured tritium in the air at onsite sampling stations. Using highly sensitive air monitors, PPPL is capable of detecting small changes in the ambient levels of tritium. The operation of monitors located on D-site is used to demonstrate compliance with the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) regulations. Also included in PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program, are water monitoring – ground, surface, and waste waters. PPPL’s radiological monitoring program characterized the background levels of tritium in the environment and those data are presented in this report. Ground water monitoring continued under New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program regulations. PPPL monitored for non-radiological contaminants, mainly volatile organic compounds (components of common degreasing solvents). In 2023, PPPL complied with permit limits for surface water and sanitary wastewater discharges. PPPL was honored with an award for EPEAT-certified electronics purchasing from the Global Electronics Council on July 27, 2023.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Annual Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2024

This report provides the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) operations. This report fulfills the annual public reporting requirements of DOE Order 231.1B. The results of PPPL’s 2024 environmental surveillance and monitoring program are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and community involvement programs that were undertaken in 2024. PPPL has engaged in fusion energy research since 1951 and at its current locations since 1958. The Laboratory’s mission is to develop the scientific knowledge and advanced engineering to enable fusion to power the US and the world, and to develop the understanding of plasmas from the nano- to the astrophysical scale. PPPL’s primary experiment, the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) is a collaboration among national laboratories, universities, and national and international research institutions and is a major element in the US Fusion Energy Sciences Program. Its design tests the physics principles of spherical torus (ST) plasmas, playing an important role in the development of smaller, more economical fusion reactors. Due to previous operational issues, NSTX-U did not operate in 2024. PPPL is engaged in a project to replace key NSTX-U components and systems to enable the operation of this international magnetic fusion user facility. In 2024, PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program measured tritium in the air at onsite sampling stations. Using highly sensitive air monitors, PPPL is capable of detecting small changes in the ambient levels of tritium. The operation of monitors located on D-site is used to demonstrate compliance with the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) regulations. Also included in PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program, are water monitoring – ground, surface, and waste waters. PPPL’s radiological monitoring program characterized the background levels of tritium in the environment and those data are presented in this report. Ground water monitoring continued under New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program regulations. PPPL monitored for nonradiological contaminants, mainly volatile organic compounds (components of common degreasing solvents). In 2024, PPPL complied with permit limits for surface water and sanitary wastewater discharges. PPPL was honored with an award for EPEAT-certified electronics purchasing from the Global Electronics Council on July 25, 2024.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1971

Bearing strength of lunar soil.

Bearing load vs penetration curves have been measured on a 1.3 g sample of lunar soil from the scoop of the Surveyor 3 soil mechanics surface sampler, using a circular indentor 2 mm in diameter. Measurements were made in an Earth laboratory, in air. This sample provided a unique opportunity to evaluate earlier, remotely controlled, in-situ measurements of lunar surface bearing properties. Bearing capacity, measured at a penetration equal to the indentor diameter, varied from 0.02-0.04 N/sq cm at bulk densities of 1.15 g/cu cm to 30-100 N/sq cm at 1.9 g/cu cm. Deformation was by compression directly below the indentor at bulk densities below 1.61 g/cu cm, by outward displacement at bulk densities over 1.62 g/cu cm. Preliminary comparison of in-situ remote measurements with those on returned material indicates good agreement if the lunar regolith at Surveyor 3 has a bulk density of 1.6 g/cu cm at 2.5 cm depth.

Jaffe, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Active Hydrazine Vapor Sampler (AHVS)

The Active Hydrazine Vapor Sampler (AHVS) was developed to detect vapors of hydrazine (HZ) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH) in air at parts-per-billion (ppb) concentration levels. The sampler consists of a commercial personal pump that draws ambient air through paper tape treated with vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde). The paper tape is sandwiched in a thin cardboard housing inserted in one of the two specially designed holders to facilitate sampling. Contaminated air reacts with vanillin to develop a yellow color. The density of the color is proportional to the concentration of HZ or MMH. The AHVS can detect 10 ppb in less than 5 minutes. The sampler is easy to use, low cost, and intrinsically safe and contains no toxic material. It is most beneficial for use in locations with no laboratory capabilities for instrumentation calibration. This paper reviews the development, laboratory test, and field test of the device.

Young, Rebecca C.↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Novel Technology for Complex Rheological Measurements - 16471

As the UK nuclear industry embarks on a second phase of nuclear power generation, the industry is faced with numerous sludge and slurry challenges associated with the decommissioning and clean-up of historical nuclear sites. The remediation of Sellafield, the largest nuclear site in the UK, is anticipated to cost GBP 53 bn over the next 100 years. Substantial cost is associated with the clean-up, transfer and safe storage of legacy particulate wastes encountered in ponds, silos, highly active storage tanks and many more large tanks on site. To develop suitable design strategies for the mobilization and transfer of sludge, the rheology of the sludge should be accurately determined. The current work demonstrates the use of a Quartz Crystal Microbalance to measure sludge rheology, specifically the shear yield stress. The device is simple to operate with no mechanical parts, small and portable enabling deployment into limited access areas, and eliminates the need for operator sampling and laboratory measurement. The measurement principle relates to the resonance frequency and motional resistance of a piezo-electric sensor as the sensor is submerged in the desired test material. The air-to-sample frequency and resistance shifts are shown to correlate with the shear yield stress of the suspension as measured by conventional vane viscometry. As the particle network stiffens (increased yield stress), the sensor motional resistance and its resonant frequency become more positive. These characteristic responses and their correlation to the shear yield stress have been confirmed for a range of particle suspensions. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of sealed sample containers and high resolution micro-tomography

A sample container and a high resolution micro-tomography system have been developed at BL47XU at SPring-8. The container is made of a SiN membrane in a shape of truncated pyramid, which makes it possible to exclude oxygen and moisture in the air. The sample rotation stage for tomography is set downward to keep the sample in the container without any glue. The spatial resolution and field of view are 300 nm and 110 μm using a Fresnel zone plate objective with an outermost zone width of 100 nm at 8 keV, respectively. The scan time is about 20 minutes for 1800 projections. A 3-D image of an asteroid particle was successfully obtained without adhesive and contamination.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Intercalation of Trichloroethene by Sediment-Associated Clay Minerals

The objective of this research was to examine the potential for intercalation of trichloroethene (TCE) by clay minerals associated with aquifer sediments. Sediment samples were collected from a field site inTucson, AZ. Two widely used Montmorillonite specimen clays were employed as controls. X-ray diffraction, conducted with a controlled-environment chamber, was used to characterize smectite interlayer dspacing for three treatments (bulk air-dry sample, sample mixed with synthetic groundwater, sample mixed with TCE-saturated synthetic groundwater). The results show that the d-spacing measured for the samples treated with TCE-saturated synthetic groundwater are larger (*26%) than those of the untreated samples for all field samples as well as the specimen clays. These results indicate that TCE was intercalated by the clay minerals, which may have contributed to the extensive elution tailing observed in prior miscible-displacement experiments conducted with this sediment.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2023

Energy Characterization of the UMD Electron Accelerator

Multiple different groups at Los Alamos National Laboratory have a cited interest in understanding the effects of ionizing radiation in materials. Of especial interest to the ISR division is understanding the effects in materials that are used in the space environment, where radiation is omnipresent and impossible to fully shield from. Development is under way to simulate the effects of radiation damage in detectors and electronics, primarily with particle transport codes such as Geant4 and RAMPART, a code that provides a user friendly interface to Geant4. However, these simulations need benchmarking to experimental tests, some of which have been performed at a variety of small electron accelerator facilities. One of these facilities is the Linear Electron Accelerator at the University of Maryland Radiation Facilities. This facility can provide electron beams on the order of 100 mA delivered in tight macropulse bunches, which allows for experiments where the behavior of electronics is monitored as a function of pulse number. While the beam rates per macropulse of this accelerator is monitored during an experiment via a current pick-off connected to a large graphite beamstop, the energy distribution of this electron beam is not measured during the experiment and has not been well characterized. The energy distribution of the beam is pertinent for these types of experiments, since dose is directly related to energy deposited in a medium. Further, these experiments are performed in open air and sample placement in the room can dictate what dose rate they receive per macropulse. We have created simulated dosemaps for the UMD vault room, but these simulations assume a given energy of the beam, both for calculating the dose and to simulate how much the beam diverges in the air. There have been two attempts now to characterize this accelerator beam energy with a plate type spectrometer, including the most recent experiment earlier this year to quantify the beam energy distribution. These results will also be compared to a dosimetry experiment performed by collaborators at the UMD facility, the details of which are described in Reference. Understanding the electron beam energy is important for future experiments, because the energy directly impacts the dose and radiation damage given to a sample and is important for properly simulating the electron beam when comparing simulation to experiment.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Summertime tropospheric observations related to N(x)O(y) distributions and partitioning over Alaska - Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition 3A

Measurements of NO, NO2, PAN and NO(y) are presented for the summertime middle/lower troposphere over northern high latitudes. Chemical signatures from concurrent measurements of O3, CO, C2H2, C2H6, C3H8, C2Cl4, and H2O are used to characterize factors affecting the budget and distribution of N(x)O(y) in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic tropospheric air masses sampled over Alaska during the NASA Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE 3A). The results implicate biomass burning in Siberia as the probable source of about one-third of the NO(y) abundance within the middle lower troposphere over Alaska and the downward transport of air from altitude in the vicinity of the tropopause as a major contributor to the abundance of NO(y) within the lower 6 km column over Alaska.

Sandholm, S. T.↗