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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Experimental Validation of a Modular All-Electric Power Take-Off Topology for Wave Energy Converter Enabling Marine Renewable Energy Interconnection

Power electronic converters are an enabling technology for the emerging marine energy applications, such as using ocean waves to produce electricity. This paper outlines the power take-off system and its key components used in a wave energy converter offering modularity and scalability to generate power efficiently. The proposed power take-off system was implemented based on a modular multilevel converter and could be deployed to convert any alternating current electrical energy to a different alternating current for interconnection to grid or non-grid applications. Examples of widespread deployment are supplying electricity to coastal communities or producing clean drinking water. The analysis using both the simulation tests and laboratory experiments verified the design objectives and basic functionality of the developed power take-off system. An acceptable response using a field programmable gate array-based controlled laboratory testbench was achieved, complying with guidelines specified in the prevalent industry standards. Seamless operation during steady-state and transients for the studied wave energy converter was achieved as supported by the obtained results. The key findings of this work were experimentally examined under different load conditions, direct current bus voltage fluctuations, and generator speed–torque regulation. The ability of the power take-off system to generate high-power quality of the waveforms, e.g., against adhering to the IEEE 519-2022 standard for total harmonic distortion limits, is also confirmed.

Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2025

Physical model and experimental validation of a high temperature proton exchange membrane electrochemical hydrogen pump cell for efficient single-stage extraction of low concentration hydrogen gas

There is interest in valorization of existing natural gas infrastructure to facilitate the co-transportation of hydrogen via blending of hydrogen gas initially at limited concentrations of 1–20 vol% H2 and to subsequently extract hydrogen at fuel cell quality standards (SAE J2719/ISO14687-2). High temperature proton exchange membrane electrochemical hydrogen pump (HT-PEM EHP) based on phosphoric acid doped polybenzimidazole (PA-PBI) exhibits good performance at elevated temperatures (>120 °C), which provides desirable tolerance to non-methane natural gas constituents that are problematic for lower temperature based EHP. To better understand the suitability of the HT-PEM EHP for such gas separation processes, a two-dimensional model of EHP based on PA-PBI was developed. The model is validated for several relevant operating conditions and across cells with differing amounts of phosphoric acid content in the electrodes. Operando micro x-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging of an HT-PEM EHP was used to further validate physical parameters and assumptions of the model. The impacts of pressure, relative humidity of the anode feed, and concentration of feed gases on separation performance are investigated. This study shows that a specific energy of separation of 5.1 kWh/kg H2 at a hydrogen recovery factor (HRF) of 50 vol% can be achieved in a single stage with the EHP, producing fuel cell quality hydrogen purity of 99.99 vol% H2 from a 2 vol% H2/CH4 feed blend, while pressurizing the product H2 at a pressure ratio of 1.3 relative to feed pressure.

Stansberry, John M↗
DOE OSTI2026

Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Direct-Contact Counter-Flow Fluidized Bed Heat Exchanger for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Applications

Particle-based thermal energy storage (TES) systems are an emerging energy storage technology. The technological advances have reduced costs, making TES more competitive and reliable in the marketplace but an efficient and reliable operation is heavily dependent on coherent heat transfer between air to particles or vice versa. The particle-based TES technologies provide an intermediate system that can store energy for short (0-10 h), long (10-200 h) and seasonal (> 200 h) timescales. The TES systems store energy by converting electricity to thermal energy; electricity can be directly sourced intermittent generation technologies and/or the grid, helping manage peak loads and other mismatches in supply and demand. The overall efficiency of the TES system depends on the performance of system components (particle storage silos and particle transfer mechanism etc.). The particle heat exchanger is one of the key system components that affects the system efficiency. The pressurized fluidized bed heat exchanger (PFB HX) performance is challenging to predict due to the chaotic behavior of particle and fluid interaction. This research presents a computational study of a novel direct-contact, counter-flow and air-to-particles PFB HX, that contributes in advancing the particle-based long-duration TES technologies. For the current analysis an unsteady Eulerian-Eulerian CFD model was developed and validated against experiments performed at the National Laboratory of the Rockies for two particle sizes (600 ..mu..m and 825 ..mu..m ). Following validation, parametric simulations were conducted to evaluate the effects of interphase drag models (Syamlal-O'Brien and Gidaspow), particle size, bed height and the influence of a frictional-viscosity term on hydrodynamics and heat transfer between the air & particles. The key findings from the analysis are: (1) for the studied operating window Syamlal-O'Brien provides superior agreement with measured gas temperatures (errors generally < 10%) while Gidaspow shows large deviations for the coarse particle case; (2) model predictions are most sensitive in the lower 0.2 m above the air distributor where bubble initiation and local mixing dominate interphase heat transfer; (3) representation of the distributor (number of inlet ports) materially affects predicted local mixing and temperature stratification; and (4) the Eulerian-Eulerian framework reproduces bulk thermal trends but shows regime dependent limitations for coarse particles, motivating mesoscale informed closures for scale-up analysis for future studies. These results provide validated guidance for drag selection and distributor design in particle-based thermal energy storage applications. Collectively, the validated model and parametric results quantify key drivers of PHB-HX performance and provide practical guidance for design and optimization. The results provide confidence in the model predictability and provide a step forward to improve on heat exchange performance. The demonstrated performance and modeling approach support the deployment and further development of this novel PHB-HX concept for robust, particle-based long-duration thermal energy storage systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Complete coverage fouling model for constant flux crossflow ultrafiltration and experimental validation

A complete coverage model is proposed to describe fouling in constant flux crossflow ultrafiltration. Constant flux crossflow fouling experiments were conducted using dilute latex bead suspensions and commercial poly(ether sulfone) flat sheet ultrafiltration membranes to investigate the influence of operating conditions on evolution of transmembrane pressure (ΔP, TMP) with time. Changes in permeate flux or crossflow rate had little influence on the normalized TMP profile at high latex bead concentration (i.e., above 25 ppm) because the membrane surface was covered with latex beads. At low concentration (i.e., below 25 ppm), increases in permeate flux or foulant concentration increased normalized ΔP. However, this increase in normalized ΔP with permeate flux or foulant concentration diminishes when the permeate flux/concentration is high enough to overwhelm particle removal due to crossflow. Furthermore, these results are in good agreement with the new complete coverage model which describes the influence of operating parameters on fouling better than the previous model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Circuit Modeling, Simulation, and Experimental Validation of a 100-kW Polyphase Wireless Power Transfer System for EV Applications

Polyphase wireless power transfer (WPT) systems can achieve much higher surface power densities (kW/m2) and specific power levels (kW/kg) compared to the conventional circular single phase WPT systems. Therefore, polyphase WPT systems can reduce the size, weight, volume, and cost of the WPT systems and can simplify the electric vehicle integration with less demand for space. This study presents the high-performance and compact 100-kW WPT development using polyphase electromagnetic coupling coils with rotating magnetic fields.

Onar, Omer [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000292028857)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experimental Validation of Exact Burst Pressure Solutions for Thick-Walled Cylindrical Pressure Vessels

Burst pressure is one of the critical strength parameters used in the design and operation of pressure vessels because it represents the maximum pressure that a vessel can withstand before failing. Historically, the Barlow formula was used as a design base for estimating burst pressure. However, it does not consider the plastic flow response for ductile steels and is applicable only to thin-walled cylinders (i.e., the diameter to thickness ratio D/t ≥ 20). A new multiaxial plastic yield theory was developed to consider the plastic flow response, and the associated theoretical (i.e., Zhu–Leis) solution of burst pressure was obtained and has gained extensive applications in the pipeline industry because it was validated by different full-scale burst test datasets for large-diameter, thin-walled pipelines in a variety of steel grades from Grade B to X120. The Zhu–Leis flow theory of plasticity was recently extended to thick-walled pressure vessels, and the associated exact flow solution of burst pressure was obtained and is applicable to both thin and thick-walled cylindrical shells. Many full-scale burst tests are available for thin-walled line pipes in the pipeline industry, but limited pressure burst tests exist for thick-walled vessels. To validate the newly developed exact solutions of burst pressure for thick-walled cylinders, this paper conducts a series of burst pressure tests on small-diameter, thick-walled pipes. In particular, six burst tests are carried out for three thick-walled pipes in Grade B carbon steel. These pipes have a nominal diameter of 2.375 inches (60.33 mm) and three nominal wall thicknesses of 0.154, 0.218, and 0.344 inches (3.91, 5.54, and 8.74 mm), leading to D/t = 15.4, 10.9, and 6.9, respectively. With the burst test data, comparisons show that the Zhu–Leis flow solution of burst pressure matches well the burst test data for thick-walled pipes. Thus, these burst tests validate the accuracy of the Zhu–Leis flow solution of burst pressure for thick-walled cylindrical vessels.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1980

Controlled supercritical crossflow on supersonic wings - An experimental validation

Leading edges of wings with high lift at supersonic speeds are discussed. Under these conditions, the leading edge must generate a controlled supercritical crossflow such that high lift is obtained without boundary layer separation. The leading edge concept that accomplishes this is the supersonic counterpart of the leading edge of the 2-D supercritical airfoil at transonic speeds. Wind tunnel test results on a cambered wing with a controlled supercritical crossflow leading edge successfully validated the concept. The main results are presented at the M = 1.62 design point, with off-design results given for the range of Mach numbers from 1.60 to 2.00. Surface pressure, oil flow photographs, and force data are presented and analyzed. A flat wing with the same thickness distribution was also tested and the results were used both for comparison with the designed wing and to illustrate the development of the supercritical crossflow region which, for the flat wing, is terminated by a distinct crossflow shock wave.

Mason, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Experimental validation of a millimeter wave radar technique to remotely sense atmospheric pressure at the Earth's surface

Experiments with a millimeter wave radar operating on the NASA CV-990 aircraft which validate the technique for remotely sensing atmospheric pressure at the Earth's surface are described. Measurements show that the precise millimeter wave observations needed to deduce pressure from space with an accuracy of 1 mb are possible, that sea surface reflection properties agree with theory and that the measured variation of differential absorption with altitude corresponds to that expected from spectroscopic models.

Flower, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Experimental validation of a two-dimensional shear-flow model for determining acoustic impedance

Tests were conducted to validate a two-dimensional shear-flow analytical model for determining the acoustic impedance of a liner test specimen in a grazing-incidence, grazing-flow environment. The tests were limited to a test specimen chosen to exhibit minimal effects of grazing flow so that the results obtained by using the shear-flow analytical model would be expected to match those obtained from normal-incidence impedance measurements. Impedances for both downstream and upstream sound propagation were generally consistent with those from normal-incidence measurements. However, sensitivity of the grazing-incidence impedance to small measurement or systematic errors in propagation constant varied dramatically over the range of test frequencies.

Parrott, Tony L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A finite element model for wave propagation in an inhomogeneous material including experimental validation

A finite element model was developed to solve for the acoustic pressure field in a nonhomogeneous region. The derivations from the governing equations assumed that the material properties could vary with position resulting in a nonhomogeneous variable property two-dimensional wave equation. This eliminated the necessity of finding the boundary conditions between the different materials. For a two media region consisting of part air (in the duct) and part bulk absorber (in the wall), a model was used to describe the bulk absorber properties in two directions. An experiment to verify the numerical theory was conducted in a rectangular duct with no flow and absorbing material mounted on one wall. Changes in the sound field, consisting of planar waves was measured on the wall opposite the absorbing material. As a function of distance along the duct, fairly good agreement was found in the standing wave pattern upstream of the absorber and in the decay of pressure level opposite the absorber.

Baumeister, Kenneth J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A finite element model for wave propagation in an inhomogeneous material including experimental validation

A finite element model was developed to solve for the acoustic pressure field in a nonhomogeneous region. The derivations from the governing equations assumed that the material properties could vary with position resulting in a nonhomogeneous variable property two-dimensional wave equation. This eliminated the necessity of finding the boundary conditions between the different materials. For a two media region consisting of part air (in the duct) and part bulk absorber (in the wall), a model was used to describe the bulk absorber properties in two directions. An experiment to verify the numerical theory was conducted in a rectangular duct with no flow and absorbing material mounted on one wall. Changes in the sound field, consisting of planar waves, was measured on the wall opposite the absorbing material. As a function of distance along the duct, fairly good agreement was found in the standing wave pattern upstream of the absorber and in the decay of pressure level opposite the absorber.

Baumeister, Kenneth J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Comments on the 'early experimental validation' session of the Second International Conference on Tethers in Space

The paper summarizes the 'early experiment aspects' of the session which focused on the need for low cost, simple flight experiments to verify tether concepts, analysis methods and simulations and to build a data base for future application of tethers. The papers discussed six well thoughtout new space experiments, a modest start toward obtaining the data needed before tether concepts can be realistically expected to be adopted in real designs. Of the ninety-five papers included in the Venice conference, only six new small experiments were discussed. In-space verification of the data base needed to design operational tethers continues to be a step in the future.

Harris, Leonard A.↗