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At least 55 records · Page 3

The Benefits of Incorporating Shipping Containers into the Climate Change Adaption Plans at NASA Wallops Flight Facility

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has several centers and facilities located near the coast that are undoubtedly susceptible to climate change. One of those facilities is Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia which is separated into three areas: Main Base, Mainland, and the Island. Wallops Island has numerous buildings and assets that are vulnerable to flood inundation, intense storms, and storm surge. The shoreline of Wallops Island is prone to beach erosion and is slated for another beach replenishment project in 2019. In addition, current climate projections for NASAs centers and facilities, conducted by the Climate Adaptation Science Investigators, warn of inevitable increases in annual temperature, precipitation, sea level rise, and extreme events such as heat waves. The aforementioned vulnerabilities Wallops Island faces in addition to the projections of future climate change reveal an urgency for NASA to adjust how new buildings at its centers and facilities near the coast are built to adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change. Although the agency has made strides to mitigate the effects of climate change by incorporating L.E.E.D. into new buildings that produce less greenhouse gas, the strides for the agency to institute clear climate adaptation policies for the buildings at its centers and facilities near the coast seem to lag behind. As NASA continues to formulate formidable climate change adaptation plans for its centers and facilities, an architectural trend that should be examined for its potential to replace several old buildings at Wallops Island is shipping containers buildings. Shipping containers or Intermodal Steel Building Units offer an array of benefits such as strength, durability, versatility, modular, and since they can be upcycled, they are also eco-friendly. Some disadvantages of shipping containers are they contain harmful chemicals, insulation must be added, fossil fuels must be used to transport them to the site, and multiple ISBUs are needed. However, the benefits of shipping container buildings could be utilized at NASA centers or facilities near the coast such as Wallops Island on new buildings that are designed to adapt to the impending effects of climate change. Thus, this Masters Research Project will explore how those benefits can be incorporated into the climate change adaptation plans at Wallops Island and make recommendations for policy guidelines and shipping container buildings specific to Wallops Island.

Sustainable Design↗

Toward data assimilation of ship-induced aerosol–cloud interactions

Satellite imagery can detect temporary cloud trails or ship tracks formed from aerosols emitted from large ships traversing our oceans, a phenomenon that global climate models cannot directly reproduce. Ship tracks are observable examples of marine cloud brightening, a potential solar climate intervention that shows promise in helping combat climate change. In this paper, we demonstrate a simulation-based approach in learning the behavior of ship tracks based upon a novel stochastic emulation mechanism. Our method uses wind fields to determine the movement of aerosol–cloud tracks and uses a stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) to model their persistence behavior. This SPDE incorporates both a drift and diffusion term which describes the movement of aerosol particles via wind and their diffusivity through the atmosphere, respectively. We first present our proposed approach with examples using simulated wind fields and ship paths. We then successfully demonstrate our tool by applying the approximate Bayesian computation method-sequential Monte Carlo for data assimilation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Locally Enhanced Aerosols Over a Shipping Lane Produce Convective Invigoration but Weak Overall Indirect Effects in Cloud-Resolving Simulations

The effect of aerosol emissions from an active shipping lane in the Indian Ocean is simulated using an idealized framework in a cloud-resolving model. Increased aerosol concentrations over the modeled shipping lane lead to increased cloud droplet number, cloud liquid mass, ice hydrometeor mass, and simulated radar reflectivity. The invigoration of deep convection induces mesoscale uplift and increased precipitation over the shipping lane. A predicted increase in the prevalence of both strong updrafts and radar echoes aloft is suggestive of enhanced lightning activity over the shipping lane, as observed in a recent study. Cloud radiative effects, both shortwave and longwave, are intensified over the shipping lane, but the change in the net radiative flux at top of atmosphere is not significantly different from zero.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Testing a Hazmatpac Can with Locking Ring as a Secondary Shipping Container for Radium-224/Lead-212 Generators

A Hazmatpac can, paint can style shipping container with locking ring, was tested for use as an alternative shipping configuration for shipment of radium- 224 /lead- 212 generators. 224 Ra ( t 1/2 = 3.63 d) decays by alpha emission to radon-220 ( t 1/2 = 55.6 s). The potential for the radioactive radon gas to escape the generator column and the shipping container is of particular concern for the safe delivery of 224 Ra/ 212 Pb generators to customers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Hazmatpac can is a suitable shipping configuration, capable of containing the radon gas that may escape the generator column during transit. A 17.3 mCi 224 Ra/ 212 Pb generator was built and packaged into a Hazmatpac can. The can was smeared by a Radiological Control Technician (RCT) every day for seven days to analyze for radioactive contamination on the outside of the can. Over the course of the study, no radioactive contamination was found on the outside of the can. Therefore, the Hazmatpac can was approved as an alternative shipping configuration for shipment of 224 Ra/ 212 Pb generators.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Ship-based measurements of ice nuclei concentrations over the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Southern oceans

Ambient concentrations of ice-forming particles measured during ship expeditions are collected and summarised with the aim of determining the spatial distribution and variability in ice nuclei in oceanic regions. The presented data from literature and previously unpublished data from over 23 months of ship-based measurements stretch from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean and include a circumnavigation of Antarctica. In comparison to continental observations, ship-based measurements of ambient ice nuclei show 1 to 2 orders of magnitude lower mean concentrations. To quantify the geographical variability in oceanic areas, the concentration range of potential ice nuclei in different climate zones is analysed by meridionally dividing the expedition tracks into tropical, temperate and polar climate zones. We find that concentrations of ice nuclei in these meridional zones follow temperature spectra with similar slopes but vary in absolute concentration. Typically, the frequency with which specific concentrations of ice nuclei are observed at a certain temperature follows a log-normal distribution. A consequence of the log-normal distribution is that the mean concentration is higher than the most frequently measured concentration. Finally, the potential contribution of ship exhaust to the measured ice nuclei concentration on board research vessels is analysed as function of temperature. We find a sharp onset of the influence at approximately -36 °C but none at warmer temperatures that could bias ship-based measurements.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Optical properties of marine stratocumulus clouds modified by ship track effluents

The angular distribution of scattered radiation deep within a cloud layer was measured in marine stratocumulus clouds modified by the emissions from ships. These observations, obtained at thirteen discrete wavelengths between 0.5 and 2.3 microns, were obtained as the University of Washington Convair C-131A aircraft flew through a pair of roughly parallel ship tracks off the coast of southern California on 10 July 1987. In the first of these ship tracks, the cloud droplet concentration increased from 40 to 107/cu cm (125/cu cm in the second ship track). Simultaneous to this spectacular change, the aircraft measured interstitial aerosol (Aitken nucleus) concentration that increased from 400 to 1000/cu cm and cloud liquid water content that increased from 0.03 to 0.75 g/cu m. Broadband pyranometer measurements showed that the upwelling flux density increased from 150 to 280 W/sq m. These in-situ microphysics and broadband pyranometer results, together with AVHRR satellite images obtained with the NOAA-10 satellite, are described in detail by Radke et al., (1989). Internal scattered radiation measurements at selected wavelengths obtained with the cloud absorption radiometer (King et al., 1986) for a 100 km section of marine stratocumulus clouds containing these two ship track features are presented.

King, Michael D.↗

In situ measurements of ship tracks

It has long been known that cloud droplet concentrations are strongly influenced by cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and that anthropogenic sources of pollution can affect CCN concentrations. More recently it has been suggested that CCN may play an important role in climate through their effect on cloud albedo. A interesting example of the effect of anthropogenic CCN on cloud albedo is the so-called 'ship track' phenomenon. Ship tracks were first observed in satellite imagery when the ship's emissions were evidently needed for the formation of a visible cloud. However, they appear more frequently in satellite imagery as modifications to existing stratus and stratocumulus clouds. The tracks are seen most clearly in satellite imagery by comparing the radiance at 3.7 microns with that at 0.63 and 11 microns. To account for the observed change in radiance, droplet concentrations must be high, and the mean size of the droplets small, in ship tracks. Researchers describe what they believe to be the first in situ measurements in what appears to have been a ship track.

Radke, Lawrence F.↗

Impact of Ship Emissions on Marine Boundary Layer NO(x) and SO2 Distributions over the Pacific Basin

The impact of ship emissions on marine boundary layer (MBL) NO(x) and SO2 levels over the Pacific Ocean has been explored by comparing predictions (with and without ships) from a global chemical transport model (GCTM) against compiled airborne observations of MBL NO(x) and SO2. For latitudes above 15 N, which define that part of the Pacific having the heaviest shipping, this analysis revealed significant model over prediction for NOx and a modest under prediction for SO2 when ship emissions were considered. Possible reasons for the difference in NO(x) and SO2 were explored using a full-chemistry box model. These results revealed that for an actual plume setting the NO(x) lifetime could be greatly shortened by chemical processes promoted by ship plume emissions themselves. Similar chemical behavior was not found for SO2.

Davis, D. D.↗

Satellite Ocean Color Validation Using Merchant Ships

A collaborative measurement program for evaluating satellite-derived ocean color has been developed based on ships of opportunity (merchant, oceanographic) and specific instrumentation, the SIMBAD radiometer. The purpose of the measurement program is to complement, in a cost-effective way, dedicated evaluation experiments at sea, which are expensive, cannot be carried out over the full range of expected oceanic and atmospheric conditions, and generally provide a few match-ups. Ships participate in the program on a volunteer basis or at a very small cost, and measurement procedures do not interfere with other ship activities. The SIMBAD radiometer is a portable, easy-to-operate instrument that measures the basic ocean color variables, namely aerosol optical thickness and water-leaving radiance, in typical spectral bands of ocean-color sensors, i.e., 443, 490, 560, 670, and 870 nm. Measuring these variables at the time of satellite overpass is usually sufficient to verify satellite-derived ocean color and to evaluate atmospheric correction algorithms. Any ordinary crew can learn quickly how to make measurements. Importantly, the ship is not required to stop, making it possible to collect data along regular routes traveled by merchant ships in the world's oceans.

Frouin, Robert↗

Wallops Ship Surveillance System

Approved as a Wallops control center backup system, the Wallops Ship Surveillance Software is a day-of-launch risk analysis tool for spaceport activities. The system calculates impact probabilities and displays ship locations relative to boundary lines. It enables rapid analysis of possible flight paths to preclude the need to cancel launches and allow execution of launches in a timely manner. Its design is based on low-cost, large-customer- base elements including personal computers, the Windows operating system, C/C++ object-oriented software, and network interfaces. In conformance with the NASA software safety standard, the system is designed to ensure that it does not falsely report a safe-for-launch condition. To improve the current ship surveillance method, the system is designed to prevent delay of launch under a safe-for-launch condition. A single workstation is designated the controller of the official ship information and the official risk analysis. Copies of this information are shared with other networked workstations. The program design is divided into five subsystems areas: 1. Communication Link -- threads that control the networking of workstations; 2. Contact List -- a thread that controls a list of protected item (ocean vessel) information; 3. Hazard List -- threads that control a list of hazardous item (debris) information and associated risk calculation information; 4. Display -- threads that control operator inputs and screen display outputs; and 5. Archive -- a thread that controls archive file read and write access. Currently, most of the hazard list thread and parts of other threads are being reused as part of a new ship surveillance system, under the SureTrak project.

Smith, Donna C.↗

Modifying Ship Air-Wake Vortices for Aircraft Operations

Columnar-vortex generators (CVG) have been proposed as means to increase the safety of takeoffs and landings of aircraft on aircraft or helicopter carriers and other ships at sea. According to the proposal, CVGs would be installed at critical edge locations on ships to modify the vortices in the air wakes of the ships. The desired effects of modifications are to smooth airflows over takeoff and landing deck areas and divert vortices from takeoff and landing flight paths. With respect to aircraft operations, the wake flows of primary interest are those associated with the bow and side edges of aircraft-carrier decks and with superstructures of ships in general (see Figure 1). The bow and deck-edge vortices can adversely affect airplane and helicopter operations on carriers, while the superstructure wakes can primarily affect operations of helicopters. The concept of the CVG is not new; what is new is the proposed addition of CVGs to ship structures to effect favorable modifications of air wakes. Figure 2 depicts a basic CVG, vertical and horizontal CVGs installed on a simple superstructure, and horizontal CVGs installed on the bow and deck edges. The vertical CVGs would be closed at the deck but open at the top. Each horizontal CVG would be open at both ends. The dimensions of the CVGs installed on the aft edges of the superstructure would be chosen so that the portion of the flow modified by the vertical CVGs would interact synergistically with the portion of the flow modified by the horizontal CVG to move the air wake away from the takeoff-and-landing zone behind the superstructure. The deck-edge CVGs would be mounted flush with, and would extend slightly ahead of the bow of, the flight deck. The overall length of each tube would exceed that of the flight deck. Each deck-edge CVG would capture that portion of the airflow that generates a deck-edge vortex and would generate a columnar vortex of opposite sense to that of the unmodified vortex. The vortex generated by the CVG could be dispersed at its base, thereby removing unwanted turbulence in the path of an approaching airplane. The deck-edge CVGs would promote smooth flow over the entire flight deck. In the case of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier like that of Figure 1, there would be a CVG on each of the outer edges of the two left portions of the flight deck and a single CVG on the right side of the flight deck. The forward-most CVG on the left side would take the generated vortex underneath the angled flight deck. A CVG could also be installed on the bow of the flight deck to smooth the flow of air onto the flight deck. In the case of wind incident on the deck from an azimuth other than straight ahead, the vortex generated by the bow CVG could, perhaps, be used to feed the CVG(s) of the leeward side edge of the flight deck.

Lamar, John E.↗

Radiative Forcing Over Ocean by Ship Wakes

Changes in surface albedo represent one of the main forcing agents that can counteract, to some extent, the positive forcing from increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Here, we report on enhanced ocean reflectance from ship wakes over the Pacific Ocean near the California coast, where we determined, based on airborne radiation measurements that ship wakes can increase reflected sunlight by more than 100%. We assessed the importance of this increase to climate forcing, where we estimated the global radiative forcing of ship wakes to be -0.00014 plus or minus 53% Watts per square meter assuming a global distribution of 32331 ships of size of greater than or equal to 100000 gross tonnage. The forcing is smaller than the forcing of aircraft contrails (-0.007 to +0.02 Watts per square meter), but considering that the global shipping fleet has rapidly grown in the last five decades and this trend is likely to continue because of the need of more inter-continental transportation as a result of economic globalization, we argue that the radiative forcing of wakes is expected to be increasingly important especially in harbors and coastal regions.

Gatebe, Charles K.↗

Adoption of Biofuels for the Marine Shipping Industry: A Long-Term Price and Scalability Assessment

One of the biggest challenges in the 21st Century is transforming the transportation sector into a low carbon-based sustainable industry, including maritime shipping. Bioenergy has an essential role in the transition to move maritime shipping toward carbon neutrality. Biomass-derived fuels can undoubtedly play a crucial role in the future of marine propulsion that as renewable alternatives can offer potential synergistic benefits when blended with petroleum fuels. With inherently zero- or low-sulfur and renewable carbon sources, biofuels will help mitigate marine shipping sulfur emissions, improve overall emission profiles, and enable the decarbonization transition. As biofuel for marine propulsion is still at its nascent stage, knowledge gaps exist, including the life cycle environmental impacts, compatibility of biofuel blending with conventional marine fuels, scalability, and cost. This study assessed the biofuel availability and cost aspects for marine use and was supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) Office of Environment to project the long-term price and annual biofuel production capacity potential for marine propulsion in the United States. The study will shed light on the prospect of biofuel adoption for the maritime shipping industry.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Aircraft Ship Operations

The interest in the use of shipborne aircraft is widespread among NATO countries. Major weapons systems like aircraft carriers with conventional fixed-wing aircraft, VSTOL aircraft or helicopters embarked, are operated by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain. Nearly all NATO countries employ various classes of smaller ships as helicopter platforms for amphibious assault, anti-submarine warfare or search and rescue. The deployment of aircraft on board ships presents unusual and difficult technical and operational problems. Considering the multi-national interest in aircraft/ship operations it was considered meaningful and timely for the Flight Mechanics Panel to sponsor a symposium on this topic. This symposium considered problems of mutual interest connected with fixed and rotary wing aircraft operations from ships, and the application of new technology to enhance such operations. The Symposium reviewed and assessed the current problems and possible future progress in: - The ship environment in terms of wind, temperature, precipitation, turbulence and deck motion. - Guidance, Controls and Displays, primarily in the approach and landing phase. - Flight Test and Simulation Techniques. - Launch, Recovery and Handling Systems Developments. - Operational/Pilot Views. - Future Developments.

Aircraft carriers↗

Ship Motion Testing Needs Evaluation

The American Bureau of Shipping performed an evaluation of national maritime nuclear testing capabilities and determined there currently is an inability to test maritime nuclear power plants in a ship motion environment. A Ship Motion Test Facility (SMTF) is proposed to fill this gap. To inform design of this facility, this report documents an evaluation performed by a panel of technical experts that identifies key physical phenomena associated with maritime nuclear power plant operation that are important to safety and reliability and have a low state of knowledge. This evaluation concluded that all of the major test needs to understand a nuclear plant's behavior in a ship motion environment are for thermal-hydraulics related phenomena. Based on this finding, the evaluation panel concluded that the SMTF would not be required to use nuclear fuel to provide a heat source for the fluids. This would significantly decrease the cost, timeline, and complexity for this test facility to enable the advancement of maritime nuclear technology.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Design of Muon Campus full flow purifier for varying operational conditions and horizontal shipping

Constant ingress of impurities in Muon Campus g-2 experiment at Fermilab has resulted in reduction of efficiency of cryogenic expanders and occasional undesired downtime to flush the impurities. Due to insufficiency of current 0.06 kg/s mobile purifier, a full flow purifier is designed to be used in Muon Campus which purifies 0.24 kg/s of Helium throughput of 4 compressors through charcoal bed at 80 K and returns ambient Helium back to the system. The purifier is designed to be operated near liquid Nitrogen temperature during cold operations and up to 400 K during regeneration. Both warm and cold operational range of the purifier has required use of appropriate clearances in design due to expansion and contraction. The vessel of around 5.5 m height which is designed to be operated vertically is to be shipped horizontally. The asymmetrical position of heavy stainless steel heat exchanger in the purifier support frame and 5g vertical load design consideration for shipping has required use of shipping supports and heat exchanger rotational stops to comply with design requirements. FEA of purifier system is performed in cold, warm and shipping cases to verify that the purifier satisfies the design requirements.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Compression Stress-Relaxation and Oxygen Consumption Behavior of 9975 Shipping Package O-rings

The 9975 shipping package is used within the DOE complex for shipping special nuclear materials. The shipping packages are currently approved for up to 20 years storage in K-Area Complex (KAC) and work continues to provide technical basis to extend that period. Several techniques have been used at Savannah River National Laboratory to monitor the aging performance of Viton ® GLT or GLT-S fluoroelastomer O-rings. These experiments all involve accelerated aging of the O-ring samples at elevated temperatures. This report describes efforts to extend the service life estimate of GLT and GLT-S O-rings used in the 9975 shipping package.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Understanding the Opportunities of Biofuels for Marine Shipping

This report examines the potential benefits, feasibility, and barriers to the use of biofuels in place of heavy fuel oil (HFO) and marine gas oil for marine vessels. More than 90% of world’s shipped goods travel by marine cargo vessels powered by internal combustion (diesel) engines using primarily low-cost residual HFO, which is high in sulfur content. Recognizing that marine shipping is the largest source of anthropogenic sulfur emissions and is a significant source of other pollutants including particulates, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the International Maritime Organization enacted regulations to lower the fuel sulfur content from 3.5 wt.% to 0.5 wt.% in 2020. These regulations require ship operators either to use higher-cost, low-sulfur HFO or to seek other alternatives for reducing sulfur emissions (i.e., scrubbers, natural gas, distillates, and/or biofuels). The near-term options for shipowners to comply with regulations include fueling with low-sulfur HFO or distillate fuels or installing emissions control systems. However, few refineries are equipped to produce low-sulfur HFO. Likewise, the current production rates of distillates do not allow the necessary expansion required to fuel the world fleet of shipping vessels (which consume around 330 million metric tons). This quantity is more than twice that used in the United States for cars and trucks. The other near-term option is to install emission control systems, which also requires a significant investment. All of these options significantly increase operational costs. Because of such costs, biofuels have become an attractive alternative since they are inherently low in sulfur and potentially also offer greenhouse gas benefits. Based on this preliminary assessment, replacing HFO in large marine vessels with minimally processed, heavy biofuels appears to have potential as a path to reduced emissions of sulfur, CO 2 , and criteria emissions. Realizing this opportunity will require deeper knowledge of (1) the combustion characteristics of biofuels in marine applications, (2) their compatibility for blending with conventional marine fuels (including HFO), (3) needs and costs for scaling up production and use, and (4) a systems assessment of their life cycle environmental impacts and costs. It is recommended that a research program investigating each of these aspects be undertaken to better assess the efficacy of biofuels for marine use.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗