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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 595 records · Page 33
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Technical Report on Preliminary Methodology for Enhancing Risk Monitors with Integrated Equipment Condition Assessment

Small modular reactors (SMRs) generally include reactors with electric output of ~350 MWe or less (this cutoff varies somewhat but is substantially less than full-size plant output of 700 MWe or more). Advanced SMRs (AdvSMRs) refer to a specific class of SMRs and are based on modularization of advanced reactor concepts. AdvSMRs may provide a longer-term alternative to traditional light-water reactors (LWRs) and SMRs based on integral pressurized water reactor concepts currently being considered. Enhancing affordability of AdvSMRs will be critical to ensuring wider deployment. AdvSMRs suffer from loss of economies of scale inherent in small reactors when compared to large (~greater than 600 MWe output) reactors. Some of this loss can be recovered through reduced capital costs through smaller size, fewer components, modular fabrication processes, and the opportunity for modular construction. However, the controllable day-to-day costs of AdvSMRs will be dominated by operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. Technologies that help characterize real-time risk are important for controlling O&M costs. Risk monitors are used in current nuclear power plants to provide a point-in-time estimate of the system risk given the current plant configuration (e.g., equipment availability, operational regime, and environmental conditions). However, current risk monitors are unable to support the capability requirements listed above as they do not take into account plant-specific normal, abnormal, and deteriorating states of active components and systems. This report documents technology developments that are a step towards enhancing risk monitors that, if integrated with supervisory plant control systems, can provide the capability requirements listed and meet the goals of controlling O&M costs. The report describes research results from an initial methodology for enhanced risk monitors by integrating real-time information about equipment condition and POF into risk monitors.

advanced small modular reactor↗
NASA NTRS1993

Robot-Control Station Would Adapt To Operator

Proposed control station for remote robot adapts control system to personal characteristics and preferences of operator. Automatically adjusts positions and angles of video cameras and monitors, adjusts characteristics of hand controller, process images, and provides graphical displays serving operator best. System of one or more video cameras, controlled by computer, views workspace of robot, as shown in article, "Movable Cameras and Monitors For Viewing Telemanipulator" (NPO-17837). Control station includes several video monitors, hand controller, image-processing system providing graphical displays, voice-input command system, keyboards, and mouse.

Diner, Daniel B.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Technology Solutions Case Study: Advanced Boiler Load Monitoring Controls, Chicago, Illinois

Most of Chicago’s older multifamily housing stock is heated by centrally metered steam or hydronic systems. The cost of heat is typically absorbed into the owner’s operating cost and is then passed to tenants. Central boilers typically have long service lifetimes; the incentive for retrofit system efficiency upgrades is greater than equipment replacement for the efficiency-minded owner. System improvements as the “low-hanging fruit” are familiar, from improved pipe insulation to aftermarket controls such as outdoor temperature reset (OTR) or lead/lag controllers for sites with multiple boilers. Beyond these initial system efficiency upgrades are an emerging class of Advanced Load Monitoring (ALM) aftermarket controllers that dynamically respond to the boiler load, with claims of 10% to 30% of fuel savings over a heating season. In this project, the Building America team Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR) installed and monitored an ALM aftermarket controller, the M2G from Greffen Systems, at two Chicago area multifamily buildings with existing OTR control. Results show that energy savings depend on the degree to which boilers are oversized for their load, represented by cycling rates. Also, savings vary over the heating season with cycling rates, with greater savings observed in shoulder months. Over the monitoring period, oversized boilers at one site showed reductions in cycling and energy consumption in line with prior laboratory studies, while less oversized boilers at another site showed muted savings.

Building America↗
DOE OSTI2013

Parallel Implementation of Power System Dynamic Simulation

Dynamic simulation of power system transient stability is important for planning, monitoring, operation, and control of electrical power systems. However, modeling the system dynamics and network involves the computationally intensive time-domain solution of numerous differential and algebraic equations (DAE). This results in a transient stability implementation that may not maintain the real-time constraints of an online security assessment. This paper presents a parallel implementation of the dynamic simulation on a high-performance computing (HPC) platform using parallel simulation algorithms and computation architectures. It enables the simulation to run even faster than real time, enabling the “look-ahead” capability of upcoming stability problems in the power grid.

dynamic simulation↗
DOE OSTI2026

EPICS for small-scale laboratories with Python soft IOCs

While the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is widely used at large laboratories for slow controls and instrumentation, the deployment of a full EPICS installation can be difficult, with a steep learning curve to new users. Taking advantage of the pythonSoftIOC module, we developed an EPICS slow controls implementation for Jefferson Lab's Hall B cryotarget written entirely in Python and based on software IOCs that communicate with instruments over Ethernet. Here, this system ran successfully, interfacing with Jefferson Lab's full EPICS network, and we offer it as an example of the capabilities of pythonSoftIOC to build lightweight, yet robust and flexible instrumentation platforms that would be easily adapted for use at a small-scale laboratory. University groups can use these examples to build complete slow controls systems, from device communication to data archiving and display, using open-source, mature EPICS tools and student-friendly Python as an alternative to expensive and proprietary systems such as LabVIEW.

Computing↗
DOE OSTI2019

Centralized System Management of IPMI Enabled Platforms Using EPICS

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a specification for computer hardware platform management and monitoring. The interface includes features for monitoring hardware sensors like fan speed and device temperature, inventory discovery, event propagation and logging. All IPMI functionality is accessible without the host operating system running. With its wide support across hardware vendors and the backing of a standardization committee, it is a compelling instrumentation for integration into a control system for large experimental physics projects. Integrating IPMI into EPICS provides the benefit of centralized monitoring, archiving and alarming integrated with the facility control system. A new project has been started to enable this capability by creating a native EPICS device driver built on the open-source FreeIPMI library for the remote host connection interface. The driver supports automatic system components discovery for creating EPICS database templates, detailed device information from Field Replaceable Unit interface, sensor monitoring with remote threshold management, geographical PV addressing in PICMG based platforms and PICMG front panel lights readout.

Vodopivec, Klemen↗
DOE OSTI2021

CPS Testbed Architectures for WAMPAC using Industrial Substation and Control Center Platforms and Attack-Defense Evaluation

Advanced persistent threats and cyberattacks can impact wide-area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC) system operation. Many cyber-physical system (CPS) testbeds have been developed for attack-defense experimentation and attack-resiliency tools evaluation for WAMPAC, but they are limited to a simulation-and-emulation based environment. This paper presents a quasi-realistic CPS attack-defense testbed-based framework for WAMPAC applications using the industrial substation and control center platforms such as eTerra integrated with the hardware-in-the-loop CPS smart grid testbed available at Iowa State University. The proposed framework includes various combinations of industry-grade substation and control center platforms, communication topologies, real-time digital simulators, and a novel cyber-physical distributed intrusion-and-anomaly detection system (D-IADS) for WAMPAC applications. The D-IADS includes a master at the control center and geographically distributed sensor devices at each substation. Each D-IADS sensor deployed at a substation or control center network monitors ingress and egress traffic, detect intrusions, and dispatch alerts to the D-IADS master. The D-IADS master centrally monitors and analyze the alerts and controls D-IADS sensors. We considered an EMP60 synthetic CPS grid as a case study to demonstrate the framework and proposed D-IADS for WAMPAC applications against cyberattack vectors such as Man-in-the-Middle DNP3 attack, denial-of-service, and data-integrity attacks.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of Integrated Biomimetic Framework with Intelligent Monitoring, Cognition and Decision Capabilities for Control of Advanced Energy Plants

The objective of the project entitled “Development of Integrated Biomimetic Framework with Intelligent Monitoring, Cognition, and Decision Capabilities for Control of Advanced Energy Plants” is to develop algorithms and methodologies for designing a biomimetic control system for optimal control of advanced energy plants. Traditionally, control systems have been designed based on assumed a priori knowledge of the process system. A number of variables are manipulated to accomplish disturbance rejection and/or servo control performance. While it is possible to adapt the process model based on available data, the control structure and the controllers rarely change. Thus, the knowledge learnt during process operation is lost or remains underutilized. In addition, the business models of today, especially for power plants, are rapidly changing. The power plant operators are being pushed to the edge due to the penetration of renewable energy derived power to the grid, the demand for high efficiency, ever-tightening environmental regulations, and requirements for increased plant availability. Thus, power plant operations need to be agile and should adapt quickly to the dynamic requirements. A number of characteristics distinguish biological systems from the traditional process control systems. Self-organization, distributed intelligence, adaptability, intelligent monitoring, cognition, and decision capabilities are some of the powerful characteristics of the biological world that can be effectively utilized in process control. At the top, the central nervous system (CNS) integrates the information from and coordinates the activities of all parts of the bodies (for bilaterian animals). Inspired by these distinct characteristics, this project seeks to develop methodologies and algorithms to accomplish: (i) self-organization of the control structure for maximizing the plant’s operating profit by mimicking the function of the cortical areas in the human brain, (ii) distributed and adaptive controllers that mimic the rule of pursuit present in ants, (iii) intelligent monitoring of the controllers powered with cognition and decision capabilities that mimic the artificial immune systems, and (iv) seamless coordination and integration in the control system that mimics the CNS.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Non-Parametric Statistical Analysis of Current Waveforms through Power System Sensors

The protection, control, and monitoring of the power grid is not possible without accurate measurement devices. As the percentage of renewable energy sources penetrating the existing grid infrastructure increases, so do uncertainties surrounding their effects on the everyday operation of the power system. Many of these devices are sources of high-frequency transients. These transients may be useful for identifying certain events or behaviors otherwise not seen in traditional analysis techniques. Therefore, the ability of sensors to accurately capture these phenomena is paramount. In this work, two commercial-grade power system distribution sensors are investigated in terms of their ability to replicate high-frequency phenomena by studying their responses to three events: a current inrush, a microgrid “close-in”, and a fault on the terminals of a wind turbine. Kernel density estimation is used to derive the non-parametric probability density functions of these error distributions and their adequateness is quantified utilizing the commonly used root mean square error (RMSE) metric. It is demonstrated that both sensors exhibit characteristics in the high harmonic range that go against the assumption that measurement error is normally distributed.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1993

Link monitor and control operator assistant: A prototype demonstrating semiautomated monitor and control

This article describes the approach, results, and lessons learned from an applied research project demonstrating how artificial intelligence (AI) technology can be used to improve Deep Space Network operations. Configuring antenna and associated equipment necessary to support a communications link is a time-consuming process. The time spent configuring the equipment is essentially overhead and results in reduced time for actual mission support operations. The NASA Office of Space Communications (Code O) and the NASA Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology (Code C) jointly funded an applied research project to investigate technologies which can be used to reduce configuration time. This resulted in the development and application of AI-based automated operations technology in a prototype system, the Link Monitor and Control Operator Assistant (LMC OA). The LMC OA was tested over the course of three months in a parallel experimental mode on very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) operations at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Center. The tests demonstrated a 44 percent reduction in pre-calibration time for a VLBI pass on the 70-m antenna. Currently, this technology is being developed further under Research and Technology Operating Plan (RTOP)-72 to demonstrate the applicability of the technology to operations in the entire Deep Space Network.

Lee, L. F.↗
NASA NTRS2004

CCSDS Spacecraft Monitor and Control Service Framework

This CCSDS paper presents a reference architecture and service framework for spacecraft monitoring and control. It has been prepared by the Spacecraft Monitoring and Control working group of the CCSDS Mission Operations and Information Management Systems (MOIMS) area. In this context, Spacecraft Monitoring and Control (SM&C) refers to end-to-end services between on- board or remote applications and ground-based functions responsible for mission operations. The scope of SM&C includes: 1) Operational Concept: definition of an operational concept that covers a set of standard operations activities related to the monitoring and control of both ground and space segments. 2) Core Set of Services: definition of an extensible set of services to support the operational concept together with its information model and behaviours. This includes (non exhaustively) ground systems such as Automatic Command and Control, Data Archiving and Retrieval, Flight Dynamics, Mission Planning and Performance Evaluation. 3) Application-layer information: definition of the standard information set to be exchanged for SM&C purposes.

Merri, Mario↗
NASA NTRS1989

Large screen display for the Mission Control Center

The Mission Control Center (MCC), located at the Johnson Space Center near Houston, Texas, is the primary point of control and monitoring for National Space Transportation System (NSTS) flight activities. NSTS flight managers monitor and command spacecraft from one of two Flight Control Rooms (FCR). Each FCR is equipped with five large screen displays for group dissemination of spacecraft system status and vehicle position relative to Earth geography. The primary or center screen display is ten feet in height and twenty feet in width. The secondary or side screens are seven and one-hald feet high and ten feet wide. The center screen projection system is exhibiting high maintenance costs and is considered to be in wear-out phase. The replacement of the large center screen displays at the MCC is complicated by the unique requirements of the Flight Controller user. These requirements demand a very high performance, multiple color projection system capable of the display of high resolution text, graphics and images produced in near real time. The current system to be replaced, the replacement system requirements, the efforts necessary to procure the major element of this system (the projector) for the government, and how the new capabilities are to be integrated into the existing MCC operational configuration are discussed.

Skudlarek, Martin J.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Resilient Plant Monitoring System: Design, Analysis, and Performance Evaluation

Resilient monitoring systems are sensor networks that degrade gracefully under malicious attacks on their sensors, causing them to project misleading information. The goal of this paper is to design, analyze, and evaluate the performance of a resilient monitoring system intended to monitor plant conditions (normal or anomalous). The architecture developed consists of four layers: data quality assessment, process variable assessment, plant condition assessment, and sensor network adaptation. Each of these layers is analyzed by either analytical or numerical tools, and the performance of the overall system is evaluated using simulations. The measure of resiliency of the resulting system is evaluated using Kullback Leibler divergence, and is shown to be sufficiently high in all scenarios considered.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1975

The Deep Space Network

This report presents DSN progress in flight project support, tracking and data acquisition (TDA) research and technology, network engineering, hardware and software implementation, and operations. Each issue presents material in some, but not all, of the following categories in the order indicated. - Description of the DSN - Mission Support Ongoing Planetary/Interplanetary Flight Projects Advanced Flight Projects - Radio Science - Special Projects - Supporting Research and Technology Tracking and Ground-Based Navigation Communications--Spacecraft/Ground Station Control and Operations Technology Network Control and Data Processing - Network and Facility Engineering and Implementation Network Network Operations Control Center Ground Communications Deep Space Stations - Operations Network Operations Network Operations Control Center Ground Communications Deep Space Stations - Program Planning TDA Planning Quality Assurance In each issue, the part entitled "Description of the DSN" describes the functions and facilities of the DSN and may report the current configuration of one of the five DSN systems (Tracking, Telemetry, Command, Monitor & Control, and Test & Training). The work described in this report series is either performed or managed by the Tracking and Data Acquisition organization of JPL for NASA.

Tracking and Data Acquisition organization↗
DOE OSTI2018

Co-Decontamination Dynamic Modeling to Support the Experimental Campaign

The Co-Decontamination (CoDCon) Demonstration experiment at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is designed to test the separation of a mixed U and Pu product from dissolved spent nuclear fuel. The primary purpose of the project is to demonstrate control of the Pu/U ratio throughout the entire process without producing a pure Pu stream. In addition, the project is quantifying the accuracy and precision to which a Pu/U mass ratio can be achieved. The system includes an on-line monitoring system using spectroscopy to monitor the ratios throughout the process. A dynamic model of the CoDCon flowsheet and the on-line monitoring system was developed to augment the experimental work. This model is based in MATLAB Simulink and provides the ability to expand the range of scenarios that can be examined for process control and determine overall measurement uncertainty. Experimental results have been used to inform and benchmark the model so that it can accurately simulate various transient scenarios. The results of the experimental benchmarking are presented here along with modeled scenarios to demonstrate the control and process monitoring of the system.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS2013

Ubiquitous Wireless Smart Sensing and Control

Need new technologies to reliably and safely have humans interact within sensored environments (integrated user interfaces, physical and cognitive augmentation, training, and human-systems integration tools). Areas of focus include: radio frequency identification (RFID), motion tracking, wireless communication, wearable computing, adaptive training and decision support systems, and tele-operations. The challenge is developing effective, low cost/mass/volume/power integrated monitoring systems to assess and control system, environmental, and operator health; and accurately determining and controlling the physical, chemical, and biological environments of the areas and associated environmental control systems.

Wagner, Raymond↗
NASA NTRS2013

Ubiquitous Wireless Smart Sensing and Control. Pumps and Pipes JSC: Uniquely Houston

Need new technologies to reliably and safely have humans interact within sensored environments (integrated user interfaces, physical and cognitive augmentation, training, and human-systems integration tools).Areas of focus include: radio frequency identification (RFID), motion tracking, wireless communication, wearable computing, adaptive training and decision support systems, and tele-operations. The challenge is developing effective, low cost/mass/volume/power integrated monitoring systems to assess and control system, environmental, and operator health; and accurately determining and controlling the physical, chemical, and biological environments of the areas and associated environmental control systems.

Wagner, Raymond↗