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Results for “condition monitoring”

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 OSTI2014

Automatic monitoring of vibration welding equipment

A vibration welding system includes vibration welding equipment having a welding horn and anvil, a host device, a check station, and a robot. The robot moves the horn and anvil via an arm to the check station. Sensors, e.g., temperature sensors, are positioned with respect to the welding equipment. Additional sensors are positioned with respect to the check station, including a pressure-sensitive array. The host device, which monitors a condition of the welding equipment, measures signals via the sensors positioned with respect to the welding equipment when the horn is actively forming a weld. The robot moves the horn and anvil to the check station, activates the check station sensors at the check station, and determines a condition of the welding equipment by processing the received signals. Acoustic, force, temperature, displacement, amplitude, and/or attitude/gyroscopic sensors may be used.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Conductive fabric seal

Disclosed are several examples of a system and method for detecting if an article is being tampered with. Included is a covering made of a substrate that is coated with a layer of an electrically conductive material that forms an electrically conductive surface having an electrical resistance. The covering is configured to at least partially encapsulate the article such that the article cannot be tampered with, without modifying the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive surface of the covering. A sensing device is affixed to the electrically conductive surface of the covering and the sensing device monitors the condition of the covering by producing a signal that is indicative of the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive surface of the covering. A measured electrical resistance that differs from a nominal electrical resistance is indicative of a covering that is being tampered with and an alert is communicated to an observer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Conductive fabric seal

Disclosed are several examples of a system and method for detecting if an article is being tampered with. Included is a covering made of a substrate that is coated with a layer of an electrically conductive material that forms an electrically conductive surface having an electrical resistance. The covering is configured to at least partially encapsulate the article such that the article cannot be tampered with, without modifying the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive surface of the covering. A sensing device is affixed to the electrically conductive surface of the covering and the sensing device monitors the condition of the covering by producing a signal that is indicative of the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive surface of the covering. A measured electrical resistance that differs from a nominal electrical resistance is indicative of a covering that is being tampered with and an alert is communicated to an observer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Failure, modal, and vibration analysis of a reactor pool cooling pump

Two 75 HP pumps redundantly supply cooling water to the reactor pool of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Due to a recent history of premature bearing failures, one of these pumps has undergone maintenance to deal with possible issues of misalignment and base looseness. Vibration analysis and modal analysis including steady state spectrum, operational deflection shape, run up and down order tracking, and modal impact have been utilized to verify the effectiveness of the maintenance and identify possible remaining failure modes. The studies conclude that the pump is, after the maintenance, in an overall good conditional state as per ISO 10816, but a few failure modes remain. These modes consist of some shaft unbalance, considerable shaft misalignment intensified by piping movement, possible motor ground fault, hydrodynamic issues such as cavitation with modal interaction, and base looseness. These failure modes and their supporting data have been used to make suggestions for future maintenance, to verify the effectiveness of the previous maintenance, and to provide a base on which to check future data. This report will cover the testing setup, methodology, analysis results, and maintenance suggestions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

System and method for engine combustion

A combustion system for use with one or more cylinder bores of an internal combustion engine includes at least one cylinder head defining first and second intake ports in fluid communication with the one or more cylinder bores. A flap is adjustably connected to the at least one cylinder head. The flap includes a first flap portion cooperating with the first intake port extending from an arm and a second flap portion cooperating with the second intake port extending from the arm and disposed adjacent the first flap portion. A controller in electrical communication with an actuator monitors the condition of the engine and actuates the flap to position the first and second flap portions between first and second positions to create a first combustion condition and a second combustion condition.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Photovoltaic systems with voltage limiting devices

A photovoltaic system includes voltage limiting devices that are connected in series. A voltage limiting device clips a corresponding photovoltaic string to limit a voltage of the photovoltaic string. Unclipping of clipped photovoltaic strings is coordinated by a central controller or in a distributed fashion by the voltage limiting devices based on monitored string conditions.

Truong, Tuan↗
DOE OSTI2016

Computed Tomography of Dry Cask Storage for Used Fuel

The demand for dry cask storage for used nuclear fuel is on the rise due to the continuous operation of currently existing nuclear plants which are reaching or have reached the capacity of their used fuel pools. Dry cask storage allows used fuel that has already been cooled in the used fuel pool for at least five years to be surrounded by an inert gas inside a specially designed and licensed cask. Currently, 75 of the 78 U.S.A reactor sites either have or are pursuing an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) for dry cask fuel storage [1] with over 2,000 casks already loaded [2]. Cask loading will only continue to increase until a final repository solution is operational or the U.S. begins to recycle fuel. The challenge of monitoring the condition of the used fuel inside the cask without exposing the used fuel has been apparent since the 1980s. The objective of the University of Florida (UF) project is ultimately to investigate the feasibility of imaging the used fuel assemblies’ location and evaluating the inner structural condition using emission source computed tomography (CT). A combination of radiation transport models will be used to simulate gamma-rays and neutrons traversing through the used fuel, structure, and cask body materials. In the simulations, multiple linear detector arrays will record the radiation outside the cask wall and will be placed at various angles in order to model rotating a linear detector array around the entire cask. The combination of data from all the detectors will give the planar radiation projection onto the detectors, more commonly called the Radon transform, of the structure of used fuel assemblies. This project can be processed with filtered back projection or other more advanced reconstructive imaging algorithms to recreate the fuel structures. A majority of the historical work done for used fuel has been on verification, diversion detection, and burnup credit validation in order to meet regulatory guidelines. One of the more commonly used systems for single assembly verification is the Fork Detector developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1988 [3]. A group at the Idaho National Laboratory developed a Compton Dry-Cask Imaging Scanner that has the ability to detect empty vs full storage positions but it suffered a setback when transported to the Doel Nuclear Power Plant near Antwerp, Belgium; the system was unable to detect full energy peaks because of the additional scattering caused by a thick ballistic steel shield [4]. As detectors, computational power, and modeling improves, a few groups have leveraged these advancements and started to investigate CT hoping, that despite the difficulties, the technique can give information on fuel condition. So far the groups have mostly limited the tomographic work to a per assembly basis [5] [6] [7], rather than the full dry cask as the University of Florida plans to investigate. The downsides of CT versus simpler verification and validation are the amount of data required and the time it takes to acquire that data. Given that dry casks are intended to sit undistributed for up to 60 years, a scanning time of several weeks to several months is not unreasonable if such systems do not require human operators beyond the initial setup.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Failure analysis of a cooling pump using modal and vibration analysis

Four pumps redundantly supply cooling water to a system. All four pumps underwent maintenance during a recently scheduled downtime. During preliminary evaluation following maintenance, one pump, the subject of this document, exhibited higher vibration levels compared to the other three pumps. The pump underwent further performance testing to rule out potential damage resulting from the higher vibration. Vibration analysis and modal analysis including steady state spectrum, operational deflection shape, run up transients, and modal impact have been utilized to identify dynamic characteristics that could contribute to the increased vibration levels. This article will cover the testing setup, methodology, analysis results, and recommendations.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Management Information System Powers NREL's Intelligent Campus

NREL's Intelligent Campus program leverages its own laboratory buildings as research instruments to study renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage, integration, and analysis with real, quantitative measurements. At the heart of NREL's Intelligent Campus program is its Energy Management Information System (EMIS), a family of tools and services used to manage building and campus energy use. NREL's EMIS includes capabilities, such as benchmarking and monthly utility tracking, interval meter analytics, equipment fault detection and diagnostics, condition-based monitoring, and supervisory control, enabling unprecedented energy management capabilities. The system serves as a demonstration project for other federal facilities interested in learning about its design, features, and benefits.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Management Information System Powers NREL's Intelligent Campus

NREL's Intelligent Campus program leverages its own laboratory buildings as research instruments to study renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage, integration, and analysis with real, quantitative measurements. At the heart of NREL's Intelligent Campus program is its Energy Management Information System (EMIS), a family of tools and services used to manage building and campus energy use. NREL's EMIS includes capabilities, such as benchmarking and monthly utility tracking, interval meter analytics, equipment fault detection and diagnostics, condition-based monitoring, and supervisory control, enabling unprecedented energy management capabilities. The system serves as a demonstration project for other federal facilities interested in learning about its design, features, and benefits.

EMIS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Evaluation of Story Maps to Enhance Public Engagement and Communication at Legacy Management Sites - 17334

The US Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management's (LM) mission is to fulfill the department's post-closure responsibilities and to ensure protection of human health and the environment. Accomplishing that mission currently requires managing 91 legacy sites across the country by performing efficient long-term surveillance and maintenance activities, preserving and making accessible historic site records, and identifying opportunities for beneficial reuse. Integral to the success of these activities is connecting and effectively communicating with the public, governments, and other interested parties. Relationships with such entities are so important that the Office of Legacy Management has elevated such engagement to one of its strategic goals for the next 10 years. Several public engagement efforts are currently supported, including stakeholder meetings, interpretive visitor centers, hard-copy documents, and Internet-based information sources. The tools available to communicate with the public via the Internet are continually improving, and LM proactively evaluates these tools to enhance public engagement. The use of ESRI Story Maps to effectively and more succinctly communicate LM's long-term surveillance and maintenance practices is one tool currently being evaluated. Story Maps can utilize multiple types of content to engage users through site narratives, illustrations of change over time, photos, videos, and embedded links to external sources of information. The ability to illustrate site complexities via graphics and geo-spatial data is particularly useful for staff as well as communicating to stakeholders. Staff with a variety of expertise and functions in the organization can be empowered to respond to stakeholder questions using this tool. In addition, Story Maps can be easily initiated and managed in real time by LM site managers, an efficiency that would be invaluable to them as immediate site communication needs arise. A series of test Story Maps for several sites were developed to explore the capabilities of the tool. The test Story Maps included pages that described site description and overview, historical conditions and use, cleanup conditions, current monitoring data if applicable, and institutional controls. Links to existing communications tools were also incorporated in Story Maps, such as existing web sites that currently store environmental reports and the Geo-spatial Environmental Mapping System (GEMS), where stakeholders can download monitoring data. As with any tool, many things must be taken into consideration, such as: 1) Can the current IT infrastructure support the tool? 2) What data quality protocols need to be established? 2) What resources will be needed to maintain this tool? 3) What type of information should be shared? 4) Who will be responsible for information updates? This paper explores potential approaches for developing and deploying this tool for the public. (authors)

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Integrated program for department of energy environmental management office of soil and groundwater remediation - 15426

The subsurface problems that remain at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) sites are technically complex and the costs to complete the cleanup mission are expected to range from $17 billion to $21 billion. There is growing recognition that conventional remedies will not meet regulatory goals at a number of sites and alternative approaches will be required. To address the challenge, the EM Office of Soil and Groundwater Remediation created an integrated program to develop innovative scientific and technical in conjunction with engagement of stakeholders, regulators, and the public. The integrated program provides a holistic approach to assess the risk associated with the remaining challenges facing EM and develop solutions that achieve remediation goals and protect human health and the environment. The integrated program uses a systems-based framework for achieving environmental remediation goals. The framework is based on developing and updating a site conceptual model and includes steps to 1) provide the technical basis for remedial actions, 2) assessments of potential remedies, and 3) implementation and management of remedies to achieve site restoration goals. The Office of Soil and Groundwater remediation defines research and development needed to successfully define and apply the framework. Research opportunities and targets are identified in characterization and conceptual model development, predictions of site conditions, remediation, monitoring, and remediation decision support. Characterization and quantification of key subsurface uncertainties is needed to support conceptual model development, identify contaminant source zones, quantify the flux of contaminants from source terms to points of compliance, and characterize controlling processes for remediation approaches including natural attenuation. Predictive analyses are needed to support development of remediation endpoints, select and design active and in situ or passive remedies, assess remedy performance, and predict long-term contaminant behavior for design of monitoring systems. Advancements are needed to support adaptive remediation approaches and to develop long-term contaminant management strategies for complex sites, such as effective in situ treatment methods for long-lived contaminants ({sup 99}Tc, {sup 129}I, U, Hg, etc.). Monitoring tools and approaches are needed to evaluate remedy performance and plume behavior and decision support methods are needed to quantitatively evaluate remediation alternatives. The Office of Soil and Groundwater Remediation leverages scientific understanding provided through partnerships with the DOE Office of Science, the Department of Defense, and Environmental Protection Agency. These partnerships are helping EM develop scientific understanding and technologies for implementing the assessment framework. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Citizen Science: Potential New Opportunity for Consent-Based Siting Processes - 16608

Citizen science is a global phenomenon, as millions of volunteers are collecting, analyzing, and sharing data that contribute to scientific knowledge. Recognizing its potential, the U.S. 2013 Open Government National Action Plan encouraged Federal agencies to harness American ingenuity toward helping address a broad range of scientific and societal challenges, specifically invoking crowd-sourcing and citizen science. The October 2015 Plan reinforced this charge, calling on agencies to increase public participation through both means. Thus, citizen science opportunities are actively being sought across a wide range of Federal programs. Meanwhile, all nations with commercial nuclear reactors face the challenge of managing the spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste produced. Consent-based siting of facilities to manage these materials is considered an essential aspect of this shared challenge. A variety of other agency programs have illustrated the role citizens can play in strengthening engagement, empowerment, and scientific research. With these same themes important to planning for nuclear waste management, citizen science could represent a potential new opportunity for this national effort. Online resources were investigated to understand the nature and range of citizen science projects and seek insights for possible new applications. Results show that volunteers are contributing to research in areas from archaeology to zoology, and extending from the ocean floor to outer space. A large number of the collaborations involve characterizing local environmental conditions and monitoring changes over time. This paper highlights insights from several projects that illustrate the contributions citizen scientists can make to advance scientific knowledge and assist national and international programs. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Hanford Double Shell Tank Integrity Inspection - Integration of Customized Robotics - 18400

28 steel, double-shell, million gallon waste storage tanks located at the Hanford site in Washington State store both radioactive and hazardous waste. To monitor their condition and ensure continued viability, these tanks are inspected periodically through a comprehensive integrity program. In 2012, the first leak in a double-shell tank at Hanford was discovered in the 241-AY tank farm (Tank AY-102) and the failure was observed to be from the primary tank bottom. However, the exact failure location and damage mechanism have not been determined. A decision was made to pursue the capability to inspect the primary tank bottom region in order to provide additional tank integrity information. This work is particularly challenging due to the confined space in the double-shell tank annulus region (i.e. the 30 inch space between the primary and secondary tank shells), the limited dimensions of the tank risers that provide access to the annulus space (risers as small as 10 inches in diameter), and also the very small dimensions of the air channels in the concrete refractory pad that the primary waste storage tank rests on (channels are approximately two inches in diameter). Veolia Nuclear Solutions, along with Key Subcontractor Inuktun, were contracted to provide the capability to conduct these tank inspections in support of Hanford's double-shell tank integrity program. The Veolia Nuclear Solutions /Inuktun team designed, built, tested and delivered a tethered miniature robotic crawler system that utilizes the marsupial approach - a larger deployment crawler positions a smaller inspection crawler. The deployment crawler is installed via the tank riser, is magnetically coupled to the side of the tank shell, and drives to the selected deployment location at the end of one of the refractory channels where the small inspection robot is subsequently deployed. Operation of the equipment is controlled from a trailer outside the tank farm (a distance of several hundred feet). The system design includes a custom mechanism that provides for positioning and cable handling as well as the controls interface (laptop connected via control cables). The solution leveraged the Veolia Nuclear Solutions/Inuktun team's experience with delivering similar modular systems for other US and international sites. This simple but innovative solution delivered on an accelerated project schedule underlines the ability to provide effective robotic solutions to the nuclear industry. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗