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Results for “Technological innovation”

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
NASA NTRS1972

Government and technological innovation - Weather modification as a case in point.

The principal technology on which all forms of intentional, local weather modification ultimately rest is that of cloud seeding. There are three primary milestones in the evolution of such a new technology including invention, development, and introduction to society on an operational basis. It is shown that government has been deeply involved in each of the first two phases of weather modification's evolution. The agencies involved include the military agencies, the Weather Bureau, the National Science Foundation, and the Bureau of Reclamation. It is pointed out that weather modification will require some unusually flexible and open administrative devices if it is to advance in the public interest.

Lambright, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Technological Innovations from NASA

The challenge of human space exploration places demands on technology that push concepts and development to the leading edge. In biotechnology and biomedical equipment development, NASA science has been the seed for numerous innovations, many of which are in the commercial arena. The biotechnology effort has led to rational drug design, analytical equipment, and cell culture and tissue engineering strategies. Biomedical research and development has resulted in medical devices that enable diagnosis and treatment advances. NASA Biomedical developments are exemplified in the new laser light scattering analysis for cataracts, the axial flow left ventricular-assist device, non contact electrocardiography, and the guidance system for LASIK surgery. Many more developments are in progress. NASA will continue to advance technologies, incorporating new approaches from basic and applied research, nanotechnology, computational modeling, and database analyses.

Pellis, Neal R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Women as a resource for the flexibility required for high technology innovation

What do women scientists need to know for career advancement into senior level positions? Our declining economic conditions have been the cause for major political and technological changes. The U.S. Congress is turning toward technology to increase our competitive edge in the world. Allowing women scientists, and women engineers in particular, more voice in the decision making process may be an innovative alternative for the diversity and flexibility needed for the unknown technological problems of the future. But first women scientists need to know how the system measures scientific achievement and how to identify the processes needed to increase our technological capability in order for them to formidably compete and win higher ranking positions.

Marlaire, Ruth Dasso↗
NASA NTRS2018

Space Technology Innovation

There is a series of experiments and projects that have been done to support space missions, which we are now utilizing in our daily lives. The advancement of science and technology moves at a fast speed, and many of those technology advancements were thanks to the need that space missions required to make them happen. This presentation will provide information about some of those technologies developed in the international space station, in robotic missions to the moon and mars, and in earth simulations. We will touch on satellite applications, planetary defense from asteroids and meteorites, lunar structures, analog missions, and human systems integration. Similarly, we will touch on some microgravity countermeasures, such as artificial gravity, telemedicine, crew autonomy for scheduling their own activities, within others. During the presentation of each topic, we will provide suggestions on how students and young professionals can get involved to work on similar projects and in this manner be able to contribute to the scientific and technological space research.

Space science↗
DOE OSTI2020

Mineral Recovery Enhanced Desalination (MRED) process: An innovative technology for desalinating hard brackish water

Desalination of water containing high concentrations of calcium, dissolved carbon dioxide, sulfate, silica and other sparingly soluble salts is difficult because of the scaling potential. An innovative pre-treatment scheme was investigated at bench scale that selectively removes these constituents and produces a soft water to enable desalination with high feed water recovery. The process first removes dissolved carbon dioxide by air stripping at low pH. Magnesium is removed by precipitation at high pH. Calcium is removed by ion exchange (IX), and sulfate is removed by nanofiltration (NF). Cation regenerant from IX, containing calcium, and concentrate from NF, containing sulfate, is combined to precipitate gypsum. Concentrate from the desalination process consisting of a concentrated NaCl solution is used to regenerate the IX resins. The selective precipitation, IX, and NF processes were tested in laboratory experiments and produced magnesium hydroxide and gypsum at greater than 90% and 95% purity respectively. A process model was developed to calculate process performance, mass and liquid flow rates. Finally, the MRED process offers the following benefits: 1) greater recovery of brackish feedwater by a desalination process, 2) recovery of marketable commodities and 3) reduction in the volume and mass of waste products from the treatment process.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1994

Advanced teleoperation: Technology innovations and applications

The capability to remotely, robotically perform space assembly, inspection, servicing, and science functions would rapidly expand our presence in space, and the cost efficiency of being there. There is considerable interest in developing 'telerobotic' technologies, which also have comparably important terrestrial applications to health care, underwater salvage, nuclear waste remediation and other. Such tasks, both space and terrestrial, require both a robot and operator interface that is highly flexible and adaptive, i.e., capable of efficiently working in changing and often casually structured environments. One systems approach to this requirement is to augment traditional teleoperation with computer assists -- advanced teleoperation. We have spent a number of years pursuing this approach, and highlight some key technology developments and their potential commercial impact. This paper is an illustrative summary rather than self-contained presentation; for completeness, we include representative technical references to our work which will allow the reader to follow up items of particular interest.

Schenker, Paul S.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Southeastern Focus Place-Based Technology Innovation Summit

This meeting focused on taking science-based action to realize decarbonized, place-based, clean energy interventions that are equally shaped by, inspired from, and committed to the communities they serve. We seek to make clean energy technologies applicable, relevant, and significant for all communities throughout the various scales of place—from Knoxville, Tennessee, to the Tennessee Valley Region, to the entire Southeast. This meeting matched researchers with community groups and businesses that are creating change in the built environment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Clean Cities: A Model of Collaborative Technology Innovation Built Over 30 Years

The Clean Cities Coalition Network is an example of successful government-sponsored efforts to reduce petroleum use and facilitate collaborative governance across sectors and levels of government within the transportation sector. In 1993, under what is now the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established Clean Cities in response to a requirement in the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992 to implement voluntary alternative fuel deployment activities. VTO's Technology Integration Program is responsible for the Clean Cities Coalition Network and many other activities. DOE created a collaborative governance effort that has translated higher-level policy goals into multiple local collaborative practices for more than 30 years.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Power Sector Transformation Pathways: Exploring Objectives, Factors, and Technology Innovations to Inform Power Sector Pathway Decisions

The power and heating sectors are responsible for around 30% of global CO2 emissions and this share is likely to grow as countries move towards electrification of the transportation and building sectors. Therefore, enabling forward-thinking, long term strategies in the power sector is a crucial area for international collaboration and support. The rapid transition of power systems toward modern, low-carbon pathways and technologies will be necessary to meet key climate goals while also enabling other critical objectives such as economic development, energy access, and energy system resiliency, among others. Many developed and developing countries are well-poised to champion power sector transformation (PST), however, further support is needed to identify pathways and implement critical near and long-term actions. To address this need, the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP) together with an expert team including Agora Energiewende, Energy Innovation, European Climate Foundation, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research , Prayas Energy Group and LEDS Latin America and Caribbean Platform, developed a framework identifying four key pathways that can be integrated and combined to support low-carbon PST. These four pathways are: (1) Distributed Energy Resource Revolution, (2) Bulk Power Transformation, (3) Transmission and Distribution Interactivity, and (4) Distributed Transactional Future. To support exploration of pathways, this study examines PST objectives and factors that may lead countries or jurisdictions to place a greater relative emphasis on certain pathways as well as a framework and complementary tool for considering the emphasis in a hands on manner. The report provides case studies on application of the approach to bring life to the topic. The case studies include Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and the European Union, among others. The report also presents actions to-be-taken in the near-, medium- and long-term to support the realization of pathways and long-term transformation of the power sector. The report, together with a complementary spreadsheet tool developed under the effort, can be used to enable stakeholder engagement and visioning for the power sector over the long-term, taking into account key factors and potential innovations. It can also be used to understand and inform relevant analysis tools and models based on which pathways are emphasized, and to identify key actions in the near- and medium-term to avoid lock-in of carbon-intensive technologies.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS2011

Using Innovative Technologies for Manufacturing Rocket Engine Hardware

Many of the manufacturing techniques that are currently used for rocket engine component production are traditional methods that have been proven through years of experience and historical precedence. As the United States enters into the next space age where new launch vehicles are being designed and propulsion systems are being improved upon, it is sometimes necessary to adopt innovative techniques for manufacturing hardware. With a heavy emphasis on cost reduction and improvements in manufacturing time, rapid manufacturing techniques such as Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) are being adopted and evaluated for their use on NASA s Space Launch System (SLS) upper stage engine, J-2X, with hopes of employing this technology on a wide variety of future projects. DMLS has the potential to significantly reduce the processing time and cost of engine hardware, while achieving desirable material properties by using a layered powder metal manufacturing process in order to produce complex part geometries. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has recently hot-fire tested a J-2X gas generator (GG) discharge duct that was manufactured using DMLS. The duct was inspected and proof tested prior to the hot-fire test. Using a workhorse gas generator (WHGG) test fixture at MSFC's East Test Area, the duct was subjected to extreme J-2X hot gas environments during 7 tests for a total of 537 seconds of hot-fire time. The duct underwent extensive post-test evaluation and showed no signs of degradation. DMLS manufacturing has proven to be a viable option for manufacturing rocket engine hardware, and further development and use of this manufacturing method is recommended.

Betts, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Using Innovative Technologies for Manufacturing and Evaluating Rocket Engine Hardware

Many of the manufacturing and evaluation techniques that are currently used for rocket engine component production are traditional methods that have been proven through years of experience and historical precedence. As we enter into a new space age where new launch vehicles are being designed and propulsion systems are being improved upon, it is sometimes necessary to adopt new and innovative techniques for manufacturing and evaluating hardware. With a heavy emphasis on cost reduction and improvements in manufacturing time, manufacturing techniques such as Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) and white light scanning are being adopted and evaluated for their use on J-2X, with hopes of employing both technologies on a wide variety of future projects. DMLS has the potential to significantly reduce the processing time and cost of engine hardware, while achieving desirable material properties by using a layered powdered metal manufacturing process in order to produce complex part geometries. The white light technique is a non-invasive method that can be used to inspect for geometric feature alignment. Both the DMLS manufacturing method and the white light scanning technique have proven to be viable options for manufacturing and evaluating rocket engine hardware, and further development and use of these techniques is recommended.

Betts, Erin M.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Furthering Advancement to Address Tough Problems Facing the Solar Energy Industry, Spurring the Next Wave of Solar Technology Innovations through Three Progressive Challenges and Cash Incentives (Final Report)

The American-Made Solar Prize is a prize competition from the U.S. Department of Energy that is designed to revitalize U.S. solar manufacturing. The competition aims to support the growth of U.S. solar manufacturing and reenergize American energy innovation by tapping into American's competitive spirit and the nation's unparalleled innovation ecosystem leveraging national labs, incubators, facilities and more. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) will provide technical and business advisement to the noted Solar Prize finalists. The CRADA Participant is in the process of developing a new continuous process for making silicon wafers for solar cells in a novel approach to horizontal ribbon growth. Under this CRADA, NREL will characterize the chemical, electrical, and crystallographic properties of the as-produced wafers to and work with the CRADA Participant to improve and modify processing conditions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗