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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 OSTI2015

Flowable conducting particle networks in redox-active electrolytes for grid energy storage

This paper reports a new hybrid approach toward achieving high volumetric energy and power densities in an electrochemical flow capacitor for grid energy storage. The electrochemical flow capacitor suffers from high self-discharge and low energy density because charge storage is limited to the available surface area (electric double layer charge storage). Here, we examine two carbon materials as conducting particles in a flow battery electrolyte containing the VO 2+ /VO 2 + redox couple. Highly porous activated carbon spheres (CSs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are investigated as conducting particle networks that facilitate both faradaic and electric double layer charge storage. Charge storage contributions (electric double layer and faradaic) are distinguished for flow-electrodes composed of MWCNTs and activated CSs. A MWCNT flow-electrode based in a redox-active electrolyte containing the VO 2+ /VO 2 + redox couple demonstrates 18% less self-discharge, 10 X more energy density, and 20 X greater power densities (at 20 mV s -1 ) than one based on a non-redox active electrolyte. Additionally, a MWCNT redox-active flow electrode demonstrates 80% capacitance retention, and >95% coulombic efficiency over 100 cycles, indicating the feasibility of utilizing conducting networks with redox chemistries for grid energy storage.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2016

New Results from the Search for Low-Mass Weakly Interacting Massive Particles with the CDMS low ionization Threshold Experiment

The CDMS low ionization threshold experiment (CDMSlite) uses cryogenic germanium detectors operated at a relatively high bias voltage to amplify the phonon signal in the search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Results are presented from the second CDMSlite run with an exposure of 70 kg day, which reached an energy threshold for electron recoils as low as 56 eV. A fiducialization cut reduces backgrounds below those previously reported by CDMSlite.

New Results, Low-Mass, Mazzive Particles, CDMS Low↗
DOE OSTI2014

One-dimensional particle simulations of Knudsen-layer effects on D-T fusion

Particle simulations are used to solve the fully nonlinear, collisional kinetic equation describing the interaction of a high-temperature, high-density, deuterium-tritium plasma with absorbing boundaries, a plasma source, and the influence of kinetic effects on fusion reaction rates. Both hydrodynamic and kinetic effects influence the end losses, and the simulations show departures of the ion velocity distributions from Maxwellian due to the reduction of the population of the highest energy ions (Knudsen-layer effects). The particle simulations show that the interplay between sources, plasma dynamics, and end losses results in temperature anisotropy, plasma cooling, and concomitant reductions in the fusion reaction rates. However, for the model problems and parameters considered, particle simulations show that Knudsen-layer modifications do not significantly affect the velocity distribution function for velocities most important in determining the fusion reaction rates, i.e., the thermal fusion reaction rates using the local densities and bulk temperatures give good estimates of the kinetic fusion reaction rates.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Correlating inter-particle forces and particle shape to shear-induced aggregation/fragmentation and rheology for dilute anisotropic particle suspensions: A complementary study via capillary rheometry and in-situ small and ultra-small angle X-ray scattering

Predicting the stability of suspensions composed of anisotropic particles is difficult due to the complexity and interplay of hydrodynamic and colloidal forces. For example, it is not well understood how non-spherical particle shapes affect suspension-rheological responses. This study presents evidence showing how the stacking of boehmite platelets dispersed in aqueous solution leads to moderate shear thinning, even at low boehmite mass fractions. Wide angle X-ray, small angle X-ray, and ultra-small angle X-ray scattering were used to simultaneously monitor changes to the size and fractal dimensions of boehmite aggregates from 6 – 10,000 Å as the sample was recirculated through an in situ capillary rheometer. The latter also provided simultaneous measurements of the viscosity of the suspensions. Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the apparatus was used to provide a more rigorous analysis of the fluid flow. In addition to shear-induced aggregation/fragmentation correlated to a complicated balance between hydrodynamic and colloidal forces, the results indicate that orientationally-dependent interactions, arising from non-spherical boehmite aggregate sub-units, may explain the relatively large experimental viscosity when the hydrodynamic force is small compared to colloidal forces. Ultimately, the results from this study can provide a foundation for future work investigating particle shape effects on colloidal and hydrodynamics forces.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Implementation of a hybrid particle code with a PIC description in r–z and a gridless description in ϕ into OSIRIS

For many plasma physics problems, three-dimensional and kinetic effects are very important. However, such simulations are very computationally intensive. Fortunately, there is a class of problems for which there is nearly azimuthal symmetry and the dominant three-dimensional physics is captured by the inclusion of only a few azimuthal harmonics. Recently, it was proposed [1] to model one such problem, laser wakefield acceleration, by expanding the fields and currents in azimuthal harmonics and truncating the expansion. The complex amplitudes of the fundamental and first harmonic for the fields were solved on an r–z grid and a procedure for calculating the complex current amplitudes for each particle based on its motion in Cartesian geometry was presented using a Marder's correction to maintain the validity of Gauss's law. In this paper, we describe an implementation of this algorithm into OSIRIS using a rigorous charge conserving current deposition method to maintain the validity of Gauss's law. We show that this algorithm is a hybrid method which uses a particles-in-cell description in r–z and a gridless description in ϕ. We include the ability to keep an arbitrary number of harmonics and higher order particle shapes. Examples for laser wakefield acceleration, plasma wakefield acceleration, and beam loading are also presented and directions for future work are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1990

Particle astronomy and particle physics from the moon - The particle observatory

Promising experiments from the moon using particle detectors are discussed, noting the advantage of the large flux collecting power Pc offered by the remote, stable environment of a lunar base. An observatory class of particle experiments is presented, based upon proposals at NASA's recent Stanford workshop. They vary from neutrino astronomy, particle astrophysics, and cosmic ray experiments to space physics and fundamental physics experiments such as proton decay and 'table-top' arrays. This research is background-limited on earth, and it is awkward and unrealistic in earth orbit, but is particularly suited for the moon where Pc can be quite large and the instrumentation is not subject to atmospheric erosion as it is (for large t) in low earth orbit.

Wilson, Thomas L.↗
DOE OSTI2015

A frozen Gaussian approximation-based multi-level particle swarm optimization for seismic inversion

In this paper, we propose a frozen Gaussian approximation (FGA)-based multi-level particle swarm optimization (MLPSO) method for seismic inversion of high-frequency wave data. The method addresses two challenges in it: First, the optimization problem is highly non-convex, which makes hard for gradient-based methods to reach global minima. This is tackled by MLPSO which can escape from undesired local minima. Second, the character of high-frequency of seismic waves requires a large number of grid points in direct computational methods, and thus renders an extremely high computational demand on the simulation of each sample in MLPSO. We overcome this difficulty by three steps: First, we use FGA to compute high-frequency wave propagation based on asymptotic analysis on phase plane; Then we design a constrained full waveform inversion problem to prevent the optimization search getting into regions of velocity where FGA is not accurate; Last, we solve the constrained optimization problem by MLPSO that employs FGA solvers with different fidelity. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by a two-dimensional full-waveform inversion example of the smoothed Marmousi model.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Micro-Spectroscopic Imaging and Characterization of Individually Identified Ice Nucleating Particles from a Case Field Study

The effect of anthropogenic and biogenic organic particles on atmospheric glaciation processes is poorly understood. We use an optical microscopy (OM) setup to identify the location of ice nuclei (IN) active in immersion freezing and deposition ice nucleation for temperatures of 200-273 K within a large population of particles sampled from an ambient environment. Applying multi-modal micro-spectroscopy methods we characterize the physicochemical properties of individual IN in particle populations collected in central California. Chemical composition and mixing state analysis of particle populations are performed to identify characteristic particle-type classes. All particle-types contained organic material. Particles in these samples take up water at subsaturated conditions, induce immersion freezing at subsaturated and saturated conditions above 226 K, and act as deposition IN below 226 K. The identified IN belong to the most common particle-type classes observed in the field samples: organic coated sea salt, Na-rich, and secondary and refractory carbonaceous particles. Based on these observations, we suggest that the IN are not always particles with unique chemical composition and exceptional ice nucleation propensity; rather, they are common particles in the ambient particle population. Thus, particle composition and morphology alone are insufficient to assess their potential to act as IN. The results suggest that particle-type abundance is also a crucial factor in determining the ice nucleation efficiency of specific IN types. These findings emphasize that ubiquitous organic particles can induce ice nucleation under atmospherically relevant conditions and that they may play an important role in atmospheric glaciation processes.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2017

Particle Acceleration during Magnetic Reconnection in a Low-beta Plasma

Magnetic reconnection is a primary mechanism for particle energization in space and astrophysical plasmas. By carrying out two-dimensional (2D) fully kinetic simulations, we study particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection in plasmas with different plasma β (the ratio between the thermal pressure and the magnetic pressure). For the high-β cases, we do not observe significant particle acceleration. In the low-β regime (β<0.1), we find that reconnection is efficient at energizing both electrons and ions. While the distribution of accelerated particles integrated over the whole simulation box appears highly non-thermal, it is actually the superposition of a series of distributions in different sectors of a 2D magnetic island. Each of those distributions has only a small non-thermal component compared with its thermal core. By tracking a large number of particles, we show that particles get energized in X-line regions, contracting magnetic islands, and magnetic island coalescence regions. We obtain the particle energization rate j⋅E by averaging over particle drift motions and find that it agrees well with the particle kinetic energy change. We quantify the contribution of curvature drift, gradient drift, polarization drift, magnetization, non-gyrotropic effect, and parallel electric field in different acceleration regions. We find that the major energization is due to particle curvature drift along the motional electric field. The other particle motions contribute less but may become important in different acceleration regions. The highly efficient particle energization in low-β plasmas may help us understand the strong particle energization in solar flares and accretion disk coronae.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Testing of a 40-kWth Counterflow Particle-Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Narrow-Channel, Fluidized Bed Heat Exchanger

Particle-based primary heat exchangers (HXs) must deliver sCO2 fluid temperatures above 700°C to couple particle-based concentrating solar receivers and thermal energy storage (TES) sub-systems with efficient sCO2 power cycles. Particle-sCO2 HX designs have struggled to meet DOE cost targets (≤ $150/kWth) due to the amount of expensive nickel alloys necessary for manufacturing full-scale, particle-sCO2 HXs. Our team has demonstrated that mild bubbling fluidization of falling particles in a counterflow narrow-channel fluidized bed can reduce required HX surface area and thus, costs by increasing particle-wall heat transfer coefficients hT,w > 800 W m-2 K-1. This paper reports on the fabrication and testing of a stainless steel, particle-sCO2 HX with 12 fluidized-bed channels approximately 10.5 mm deep spaced between diffusion-bonded, micro-channel sCO2 plates. The HX with a core length of ≈0.56 m is fed with CARBOBEAD HSP particles through a short, fluidized freeboard zone just above the core. Testing to date in the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) at Sandia National Laboratories has shown that parallel bed fluidization maintains uniform particle inventory across the instrumented channels. Heat transfer thermal duty between the particle and sCO2 flows exceeds 30 kWth with sCO2 inlet temperatures of 200ºC and particle inlet temperatures up to 440ºC and mass flow rates of 0.2 kg s-1 fluidized by counterflowing gas flow rates of 0.005 kg s-1. Tests at higher particle and sCO2 inlet temperatures (600ºC and 400ºC respectively) are targeted to achieve > 40 kWth with model-predicted overall heat transfer coefficients U > 400 W m-2 K-1.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Full particle orbit effects in regular and stochastic magnetic fields

Here we present a numerical study of charged particle motion in a time-independent magnetic field in cylindrical geometry. The magnetic field model consists of an unperturbed reversed-shear (non-monotonic q-profile) helical part and a perturbation consisting of a superposition of modes. Contrary to most of the previous studies, the particle trajectories are computed by directly solving the full Lorentz force equations of motion in a six-dimensional phase space using a sixth-order, implicit, symplectic Gauss-Legendre method. The level of stochasticity in the particle orbits is diagnosed using averaged, effective Poincare sections. It is shown that when only one mode is present, the particle orbits can be stochastic even though the magnetic field line orbits are not stochastic (i.e., fully integrable). The lack of integrability of the particle orbits in this case is related to separatrix crossing and the breakdown of the global conservation of the magnetic moment. Some perturbation consisting of two modes creates resonance overlapping, leading to Hamiltonian chaos in magnetic field lines. Then, the particle orbits exhibit a nontrivial dynamics depending on their energy and pitch angle. It is shown that the regions where the particle motion is stochastic decrease as the energy increases. The non-monotonicity of the q-profile implies the existence of magnetic ITBs (internal transport barriers) which correspond to shearless flux surfaces located in the vicinity of the q-profile minimum. It is shown that depending on the energy, these magnetic ITBs might or might not confine particles. That is, magnetic ITBs act as an energy-dependent particle confinement filter. Magnetic field lines in reversed-shear configurations exhibit topological bifurcations (from homoclinic to heteroclinic) due to separatrix reconnection. Finally, we show that a similar but more complex scenario appears in the case of particle orbits that depend in a non-trivial way on the energy and pitch angle of the particles.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

New Particle Formation and Growth in an Isoprene-Dominated Ozark Forest: From Sub-5 nm to CCN-Active Sizes

Particle Investigations at a Northern Ozarks Tower: NOx, Oxidant, Isoprene Research (PINOT-NOIR) were conducted in a Missouri forest dominated by isoprene emissions, from May to October 2012. This study presents results of new particle formation (NPF) and the growth of new particles to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN)-active sizes (~100 nm) observed from this field campaign. The measured sub-5 nm particles were up to ~20000 cm-3 during a typical NPF event. Nucleation rates J1 were relatively high (11.0±10.6 cm-3s-1), and one order of magnitude higher than formation rates of 5 nm particles (J5). Sub-5 nm particle events were observed on 64% of the measurement days, with a high preference in biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs)- and SO2-poor northwesterly (90%) air masses than in BVOCs-rich southerly air masses (13%). About 80% of sub-5 nm particle events led to the further growth. While high temperatures and high aerosol loadings in the southerly air masses were not favorable for nucleation, high BVOCs in the southerly air masses facilitated the growth of new particles to CCN-active sizes. In overall, 0.4-9.4% of the sub-5 nm particles grew to CCN-active sizes within a NPF event. During a regional NPF event period that took place consecutively over several days, concentrations of CCN size particles increased by a factor of 5 in average. This enhanced production of CCN particles from new particles was commonly observed during all 13 regional NPF events observed during the campaign.

cloud condensation nuclei, isoprene, BVOC↗
DOE OSTI2019

In Situ Study of Particle Precipitation in Metal-Doped CeO2 during Thermal Treatment and Ion Irradiation for Emulation of Irradiating Fuels

Metallic particles formed in oxide fuels (e.g., UO 2 ) during neutron irradiation have an adverse impact on fuel performance. A fundamental investigation of particle precipitation is needed to predict the fuel performance and potentially improve fuel designs and operations. In this study, we report on the precipitation of Mo-dominant β-phase particles in polycrystalline CeO 2 (surrogate for UO 2 ) films doped with Mo, Pd, Rh, Ru, and Re (surrogate for Tc). In situ heating scanning transmission electron microscopy indicates that particle precipitation starts at ~1073 K with a limited particle growth to ~10 nm. While particle concentration increases with increasing temperature, particle size remains largely unchanged up to 1273 K. There is a dramatic change in the microstructure following vacuum annealing at 1373 K, probably due to phase transition of reduced cerium oxide. At the high temperature, particles grow up to 75 nm or larger with distinctive facets. The particles are predominantly composed of Mo with a body-centered cubic structure (β phase). An oxide layer was observed after storage at ambient conditions. In situ heating X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals an increasing reduction of Ce charge state from 4+ to 3+ in the doped CeO 2 film at temperatures from 673 to 1273 K. In situ ion irradiation transmission electron microscopy with 2 MeV Al 2+ ions up to a dose of ~20 displacements per atom at nominally room temperature does not lead to precipitation of visible particles. However, irradiation with 1.7 MeV Au 3+ ions to ~10 dpa at 973 K produces ~2 nm sized pure Pd particles; Au 3+ irradiation at 1173 K appears to result in precipitates of ~6 nm in size. Some of the defects produced by ion irradiation could be nucleation sites for precipitation, leading to generation of smaller particles with a higher concentration.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of particle-particle interactions on the acoustic radiation force in an ultrasonic standing wave

Ultrasonic standing waves are widely used for separation applications. In MEMS applications, a half wavelength standing wave field is generated perpendicular to a laminar flow. The acoustic radiation force exerted on the particle drives the particle to the center of the MEMS channel, where concentrated particles are harvested. In macro-scale applications, the ultrasonic standing wave spans multiple wavelengths. Examples of such applications are oil/water emulsion splitting [1], and blood/lipid separation [2]. In macro-scale applications, particles are typically trapped in the standing wave, resulting in clumping or coalescence of particles/droplets. Subsequent gravitational settling results in separation of the secondary phase. An often used expression for the radiation force on a particle is that derived by Gorkov [3]. The assumptions are that the particle size is small relative to the wavelength, and therefore, only monopole and dipole scattering contributions are used to calculate the radiation force. This framework seems satisfactory for MEMS scale applications where each particle is treated separately by the standing wave, and concentrations are typically low. In macro-scale applications, particle concentration is high, and particle clumping or droplet coalescence results in particle sizes not necessarily small relative to the wavelength. Ilinskii et al. developed a framework for calculation of the acoustic radiation force valid for any size particle [4]. However, this model does not take into account particle to particle effects, which can become important as particle concentration increases. It is known that an acoustic radiation force on a particle or a droplet is determined by the local field. An acoustic radiation force expression is developed that includes the effect of particle to particle interaction. The case of two neighboring particles is considered. The approach is based on sound scattering by the particles. The acoustic field at the location of one particle then consists of two components, the incident sound wave and the scattered field generated by the neighboring particle. The radiation force calculation then includes the contributions of these two fields and incorporates the mutual particle influence. In this investigation the droplet/particle influence on each other has been analyzed theoretically by using the method developed by Gorkov and modified by Ilinskii et al.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Heat Transfer Characteristics of Particle and Air Flow Through Additively Manufactured Lattice Frame Material Based on Octet-Shape Topology

Particle-to-supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) heat exchanger is a critical component in next-generation concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. The inherently low heat transfer between falling particles and sCO 2 imposes a challenge toward economic justification of levelized cost of electricity produced through solar energy. Introduction of integrated porous media with the walls bounding particle flow has the potential to enhance the overall particle-to-sCO 2 heat exchanger performance. Here, this paper presents an experimental study on heat transfer characterization of additively manufactured lattice frame material based on Octet-shaped unit cell with particles and air as working fluids. The lattice structures were additively manufactured in stainless steel (SS) 316L and SS420 (with 40% bronze infiltration) via Binder jetting process, where the lattice porosities were varied between 0.75 and 0.9. The mean particle diameters were varied from 266 μm to 966 μm. The effective thermal conductivity and averaged heat transfer coefficient were determined through steady-state experiments. It was found that the presence of lattice enhances the effective thermal conductivity by 2–4 times when compared to packed bed of particles alone. Furthermore, for gravity-assisted particle flow through lattice panel, significantly high convective heat transfer coefficients ranging from 200 W/m2K to 400 W/m2K were obtained for the range of particle diameters tested. The superior thermal transport properties of Octet-shape-based lattice frame for particle flow makes it a very promising candidate for particle-to-sCO 2 heat exchanger for CSP application.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Airborne soil organic particles generated by precipitation

Airborne organic particles play a critical role in the Earth’s climate1, public health2, air quality3, and hydrological and carbon cycles4. These particles exist in liquid, amorphous semi-solid, or solid (glassy) phase states depending on their composition and ambient conditions5. However, sources and formation mechanisms for semi- solid and solid organic particles are poorly understood and typically neglected in atmospheric models6. Here we report field evidence for airborne solid organic particles generated by a “raindrop” mechanism7 pertinent to atmosphere – land surface interactions (Fig. 1). We find that after rain events at Southern Great Plains, Oklahoma, USA, submicron solid particles, with a composition consistent with soil organic matter, contributed up to 60% of atmospheric particles in number. Subsequent experiments indicate that airborne soil organic particles are ejected from the surface of soils caused by intensive rains or irrigation. Our observations suggest that formation of these particles may be a widespread phenomenon in ecosystems where soils are exposed to strong, episodic precipitation events such as agricultural systems and grasslands8. Chemical imaging and micro-spectroscopy analysis of their physico-chemical properties suggests that airborne soil organic particles may have important impacts on cloud formation and efficiently absorb solar radiation and hence, are an important type of particles.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗