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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
NASA NTRS2009

Hydrogen Fuel System Design Trades for High-Altitude Long-Endurance Remotely- Operated Aircraft

Preliminary design trades are presented for liquid hydrogen fuel systems for remotely-operated, high-altitude aircraft that accommodate three different propulsion options: internal combustion engines, and electric motors powered by either polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells or solid oxide fuel cells. Mission goal is sustained cruise at 60,000 ft altitude, with duration-aloft a key parameter. The subject aircraft specifies an engine power of 143 to 148 hp, gross liftoff weight of 9270 to 9450 lb, payload of 440 lb, and a hydrogen fuel capacity of 2650 to 2755 lb stored in two spherical tanks (8.5 ft inside diameter), each with a dry mass goal of 316 lb. Hydrogen schematics for all three propulsion options are provided. Each employs vacuum-jacketed tanks with multilayer insulation, augmented with a helium pressurant system, and using electric motor driven hydrogen pumps. The most significant schematic differences involve the heat exchangers and hydrogen reclamation equipment. Heat balances indicate that mission durations of 10 to 16 days appear achievable. The dry mass for the hydrogen system is estimated to be 1900 lb, including 645 lb for each tank. This tank mass is roughly twice that of the advanced tanks assumed in the initial conceptual vehicle. Control strategies are not addressed, nor are procedures for filling and draining the tanks.

Millis, Marc G.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Hydrogen Fuel Capability Added to Combustor Flametube Rig

Facility capabilities have been expanded at Test Cell 23, Research Combustor Lab (RCL23) at the NASA Glenn Research Center, with a new gaseous hydrogen fuel system. The purpose of this facility is to test a variety of fuel nozzle and flameholder hardware configurations for use in aircraft combustors. Previously, this facility only had jet fuel available to perform these various combustor flametube tests. The new hydrogen fuel system will support the testing and development of aircraft combustors with zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Research information generated from this test rig includes combustor emissions and performance data via gas sampling probes and emissions measuring equipment. The new gaseous hydrogen system is being supplied from a 70 000-standard-ft3 tube trailer at flow rates up to 0.05 lb/s (maximum). The hydrogen supply pressure is regulated, and the flow is controlled with a -in. remotely operated globe valve. Both a calibrated subsonic venturi and a coriolis mass flowmeter are used to measure flow. Safety concerns required the placement of all hydrogen connections within purge boxes, each of which contains a small nitrogen flow that is vented past a hydrogen detector. If any hydrogen leaks occur, the hydrogen detectors alert the operators and automatically safe the facility. Facility upgrades and modifications were also performed on other fluids systems, including the nitrogen gas, cooling water, and air systems. RCL23 can provide nonvitiated heated air to the research combustor, up to 350 psig at 1200 F and 3.0 lb/s. Significant modernization of the facility control systems and the data acquisition systems was completed. A flexible control architecture was installed that allows quick changes of research configurations. The labor-intensive hardware interface has been removed and changed to a software-based system. In addition, the operation of this facility has been greatly enhanced with new software programming and graphic operator interface stations. Glenn s RCL23 facility systems were successfully checked out in the spring of 2002, and hydrogen combustor research testing began in the summer of 2002.

Frankenfield, Bruce J.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Numerical investigation of the perpendicular injector flow field in a hydrogen fueled scramjet

A computer program has been developed which numerically solves the full (elliptic) two-dimensional Navier-Stokes and specie equations near a slotted perpendicular hydrogen fuel injector in a scramjet engine. The program currently predicts the turbulent mixing of injected hydrogen fuel and air without reaction, and allows the study of separated regions of flow immediately preceding and following the injector as well as the complex shock-expansion structure produced by the injector in this region of the engine. Results are presented that describe the size of the separated regions near the injector as well as locations where ignition is likely to occur.

Drummond, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1982

An assessment of the crash fire hazard of liquid hydrogen fueled aircraft

The crash fire hazards of liquid hydrogen fueled aircraft relative to those of mission equivalent aircraft fueled either with conventional fuel or with liquefied methane were evaluated. The aircraft evaluated were based on Lockheed Corporation design for 400 passenger, Mach 0.85, 5500 n. mile aircraft. Four crash scenarios were considered ranging from a minor incident causing some loss of fuel system integrity to a catastrophic crash. Major tasks included a review of hazardous properties of the alternate fuels and of historic crash fire data; a comparative hazard evluation for each of the three fuels under four crash scenarios a comprehensive review and analysis and an identification of areas further development work. The conclusion was that the crash fire hazards are not significantly different when compared in general for the three fuels, although some fuels showed minor advantages in one respect or another.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2013

Project Profile: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Mobile Lighting Tower (HFCML)

NASA is committed to finding innovative solutions that improve the operational performance of ground support equipment while providing environment and cost benefits, as well. Through the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Mobile Lighting Tower (HFCML) project, NASA gained operational exposure to a novel application of high efficiency technologies. Traditionally, outdoor lighting and auxiliary power at security gates, launch viewing sites, fallback areas, outage support, and special events is provided by diesel generators with metal halide lights. Diesel generators inherently contribute to C02, NOx, particulate emissions, and are very noisy. In 2010, engineers from NASA's Technology Evaluation for Environmental Risk Mitigation Principal Center (TEERM) introduced KSC operations to a novel technology for outdoor lighting needs. Developed by a team led by Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), the technology pairs a 5kW hydrogen fuel cell with robust high efficiency plasma lights in a towable trailer. Increased efficiency, in both the fuel cell power source and lighting load, yields longer run times between fueling operations while providing greater auxiliary power. Because of the unit's quiet operation and no exhaust fumes, it is capable of being used indoors and in emergency situations, and meets the needs of all other operational roles for metal halide/diesel generators. The only discharge is some water and warm air. Environmental benefits include elimination of diesel particulate emissions and estimated 73% greenhouse gas emissions savings when the hydrogen source is natural gas (per GREET model). As the technology matures the costs could become competitive for the fuel cell units which are approximately 5 times diesel units. Initial operational . concerns included the hydrogen storage tanks and valves, lightning safety/grounding, and required operating and refueling procedures. TEERM facilitated technical information exchange (design drawings, technical standards, and operations manuals) necessary for KSC hydrogen system experts to approve use of the HFCML unit, including initiating the environmental checklist (i.e. exterior lighting waiver due to sea turtles), and development of operations and maintenance instructions. TEERM worked with SNL to establish a bailment agreement for KSC to utilize a Beta unit as part of normal Center Operations for a period of twelve months.

McLaughlin, Russell↗
NASA NTRS1974

Emissions of nitrogen oxides from an experimental hydrogen-fueled gas turbine combustor

The effect of operating variables of a hydrogen fueled combustor on exhaust concentrations of total oxides of nitrogen was determined at inlet-air temperature levels up to 810 K, pressure of 414,000N/sa m, and reference velocity of 21.3 m/sec. The combustor, which was originally designed for hydrocarbon fuel produced a NO(x) concentration of 380 ppm with hydrogen at 810 K inlet-air temperature. A reduction in NO(x) of about 30 % was obtained by modification to a lean or rich primary zone. The lowest NO(x) levels obtained with hydrogen were equivalent to those of the reference combustor burning hydrocarbon fuels.

Norgren, C. T.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Study of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology for Freight Rail Propulsion and Review of Relevant Industry Standards.

Alternatives to conventional diesel electric propulsion are currently of interest to rail operators. In the U.S., smaller railroads have implemented natural gas and other railroads are exploring hydrogen technology as a cleaner alternative to diesel. Diesel, battery, hydrogen fuel cell, or track electrification all have trade-offs for operations, economics, safety, and public acceptability. A framework to compare different technologies for specific applications is useful to optimize the desired results. Standards from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and other industry best practices were reviewed for applicability with hydrogen fuel cell technology. Some technical gaps relate to the physical properties of hydrogen, such as embrittlement of metals, invisible flames, and low liquid temperatures. A reassessment of material selection, leak/flame detection, and thermal insulation methods is required. Hydrogen is less dense and diffuses more easily than natural gas, and liquid hydrogen is colder than liquefied natural gas. Different densities between natural gas and hydrogen require modifications to tank designs and flow rates. Leaked hydrogen will rise rather than pool on the ground like diesel, requiring a modification to the location of hydrogen tanks on rolling stock. Finally, the vibration and shock experienced in the rail environment is higher than light-duty vehicles and stationary applications for which current fuel cell technology has been developed, requiring a modification in tank design requirements and testing.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

Toward the application of the Risk-Based Maintenance approach to a hydrogen-fueled manufacturing plant

Safety, reliability, and maintenance of hydrogen-based equipment, including Risk-Based Maintenance (RBM), have recently gained increasing attention, as hydrogen, while key to decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, raises safety concerns. However, two literature gaps limit the development of risk-based strategies for hydrogen technologies. First, existing RBM methodologies do not account for hydrogen-specific components, such as electrolyzers, which differ from conventional equipment. Second, available studies on electrolyzer reliability remain largely qualitative or laboratory-scale. This study addresses these gaps by proposing an adapted RBM methodology tailored to hydrogen-fueled manufacturing facilities. Integrating qualitative tools (e.g., FMEA) with probabilistic models (e.g., Bayesian Networks) enables comprehensive hazardous scenarios identification and likelihood estimation. A conceptual layout of a glass furnace supplied by a 3 MW PEM electrolyzer is considered as a case study to demonstrate the feasibility of the adapted RBM framework in identifying high-risk components and enabling maintenance prioritization, potentially improving plant safety.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS1977

Direct-connect tests of hydrogen-fueled supersonic combustors

Direct-connect tests of hydrogen-fueled supersonic combustors were performed using arc-heated air at combustor inlet Mach numbers of 2.9 to 3.2. Various axisymmetric combustor geometries of 5.89 and 6.96 cm (inner diameter) inlet were investigated; the fuel was injected from the wall either from a ring of equally spaced holes normal to the air stream, or from a circumferential slot oriented 45 deg downstream. The hole-type injectors consistently gave better results. The effects of various parameters are examined, and the performance comparison procedure is described. A theoretical model of the supersonic combustion process which includes a precombustion shock-compression is used to explain the character of the observed pressure distributions and to assess the effects of the measured heat transfer rates, deduced wall shear, and combustor geometry on performance.

Waltrup, P. J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reliability of Lumped Thermodynamic Hydrogen Fueling Model under Slow-Fill Conditions

This study verifies the reliability of lumped thermodynamic fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) tank model under considerably slow-fill conditions. Many countries put efforts into research and development of FCEVs. As part of the efforts, thermodynamic hydrogen fueling models have been developed to understand the hydrogen temperature in the onboard tanks of FCEVs during the fueling process. Most of the models treat the hydrogen inside the tanks to be a lumped system and assume the hydrogen temperature to be uniform throughout the tanks. In other words, the hydrogen temperature is treated as average bulk temperature. This study certifies whether treating the hydrogen temperature in a tank as the bulk gas temperature is suitable by evaluating the temperature distributions inside the tank by a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D CFD) model.

DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION,HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optimizing Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Plans on Freight Corridors for Heavy-Duty Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

The development of a future hydrogen energy economy will require the development of several hydrogen market and industry segments including a hydrogen-based commercial freight transportation ecosystem. For a sustainable freight transportation ecosystem, the supporting fueling infrastructure and the associated vehicle powertrains making use of hydrogen fuel will need to be co-established. This article introduces the OR-AGENT (Optimal Regional Architecture Generation for Electrified National Transportation) tool developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has been used to optimize the hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirements on the I-75 corridor for heavy-duty (HD) fuel cell electric commercial vehicles (FCEV). This constraint-based optimization model considers existing fueling locations, regional-specific vehicle fuel economy and weight, vehicle origin and destination (O-D), and vehicle volume by class and infrastructure costs to characterize in-mission refueling requirements for a given freight corridor. The authors applied this framework to determine the ideal public access locations for hydrogen refueling (constrained by existing fueling stations), the minimal viable cost to deploy sufficient hydrogen fuel dispensers, and associated equipment, to accommodate a growing population of hydrogen fuel cell trucks. The framework discussed in this article can be expanded and applied to a larger interstate system, expanded regional corridor, or other transportation network. This article is the third in a series of papers that defined the model development to optimize a national hydrogen refueling infrastructure ecosystem for HD commercial vehicles.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRS1990

Balancing low cost with reliable operation in the rotordynamic design of the ALS Liquid Hydrogen Fuel Turbopump

The Air Force/NASA Advanced Launch System (ALS) Liquid Hydrogen Fuel Turbopump (FTP) has primary design goals of low cost and high reliability, with performance and weight having less importance. This approach is atypical compared with other rocket engine turbopump design efforts, such as on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), which emphasized high performance and low weight. Similar to the SSME turbopumps, the ALS FTP operates supercritically, which implies that stability and bearing loads strongly influence the design. In addition, the use of low cost/high reliability features in the ALS FTP such as hydrostatic bearings, relaxed seal clearances, and unshrouded turbine blades also have a negative influence on rotordynamics. This paper discusses the analysis conducted to achieve a balance between low cost and acceptable rotordynamic behavior, to ensure that the ALS FTP will operate reliably without subsynchronous instabilities or excessive bearing loads.

Greenhill, L. M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Prototype Integrated Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Data Center (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report)

Data centers are the backbone of the modern economy-from the server rooms that power small- to medium-sized organizations, to the enterprise-class data centers that support American corporations, and the server farms that run cloud computing services. Rather than a traditional grid-centric data center approach, work under the CRADA will be directed towards implementing a proof-of-concept "hydrogen-based" data center utilizing hydrogen fuel cells, electrolyzers, and solar photovoltaics as key building blocks. This integrated proof-of-concept builds on preliminary work done by HPE and its partners Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. (MBRDNA) and Power Innovations, to dramatically simplify the electrical infrastructure in the data center, leverage the latest automotive-scale hydrogen fuel cell technologies, and tightly couple renewably generated DC power directly to the Information Technology (IT). While some limited aspects of this concept have been demonstrated previously the entire integrated proof of concept proposed here has not yet been realized.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS2014

Ohio's First Electrolysis-Based Hydrogen Fueling Station

Presentation to the earth day coalition describing efforts with NASA GRC and Cleveland RTA on Ohio's hydrogen fueling station and bus demonstration. Project background and goals, challenges and successes, and current status.

fueling station↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optimizing Long Term Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Plans on Freight Corridors for Heavy Duty Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

The development of a future hydrogen energy economy will require the development of several hydrogen market and industry segments including a hydrogen based commercial freight transportation ecosystem. For a sustainable freight transportation ecosystem, the supporting fueling infrastructure and the associated vehicle powertrains making use of hydrogen fuel will need to be co-established. This paper develops a long-term plan for refueling infrastructure deployment using the OR-AGENT (Optimal Regional Architecture Generation for Electrified National Transportation) tool developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has been used to optimize the hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirements on the I-75 corridor for heavy duty (HD) fuel cell electric commercial vehicles (FCEV). This constraint-based optimization model considers existing fueling locations, regional specific vehicle fuel economy and weight, vehicle origin and destination (OD), vehicle volume by class and infrastructure costs to characterize in-mission refueling requirements for a given freight corridor. The authors applied this framework to determine the ideal long term public access locations for hydrogen refueling (constrained by existing fueling stations and dispensing technology), the minimal viable cost to deploy sufficient hydrogen fuel dispensers, and associated equipment, to accommodate a growing population of hydrogen fuel cell trucks. So the framework discussed in this paper can be expanded and applied to additional electrified powertrains as well as a larger interstate system, expanded regional corridor, or other transportation networks.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS1979

Hydrogen-fueled postal vehicle performance evaluation

Fuel consumption, range, and emissions data were obtained while operating a hydrogen-fueled postal delivery vehicle over a defined Postal Service Driving Cycle and the 1975 Urban Driving Cycle. The vehicle's fuel consumption was 0.366 pounds of hydrogen per mile over the postal driving cycle and 0.22 pounds of hydrogen per mile over the urban driving cycle. These data correspond to 6.2 and 10.6 mpg equivalent gasoline mileage for the two driving cycles, respectively. The vehicle's range was 24.2 miles while being operated on the postal driving cycle. Vehicle emissions were measured over the urban driving cycle. HC and CO emissions were quite low, as would be expected. The oxides of nitrogen were found to be 4.86 gm/mi, a value which is well above the current Federal and California standards. Vehicle limitations discussed include excessive engine flashbacks, inadequate acceleration capability the engine air/fuel ratio, the water injection systems, and the cab temperature. Other concerns are safety considerations, iron-titanium hydride observed in the fuel system, evidence of water in the engine rocker cover, and the vehicle maintenance required during the evaluation.

Hall, R. A.↗