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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 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Solid oxide fuel cell power plant having a bootstrap start-up system

The bootstrap start-up system (42) achieves an efficient start-up of the power plant (10) that minimizes formation of soot within a reformed hydrogen rich fuel. A burner (48) receives un-reformed fuel directly from the fuel supply (30) and combusts the fuel to heat cathode air which then heats an electrolyte (24) within the fuel cell (12). A dilute hydrogen forming gas (68) cycles through a sealed heat-cycling loop (66) to transfer heat and generated steam from an anode side (32) of the electrolyte (24) through fuel processing system (36) components (38, 40) and back to an anode flow field (26) until fuel processing system components (38, 40) achieve predetermined optimal temperatures and steam content. Then, the heat-cycling loop (66) is unsealed and the un-reformed fuel is admitted into the fuel processing system (36) and anode flow (26) field to commence ordinary operation of the power plant (10).

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cyclotron produced {sup 67}Ga, a potential radionuclide for diagnostic and therapeutic applications

Production cross-sections of the {sup nat}Zn(d,x){sup 67}Ga reactions have been measured from a 24-MeV deuteron energy down to the threshold by using a stacked-foil activation technique combined with HPGe γ-ray spectrometry. An overall good agreement is found with some of the earlier measurements, whereas a partial agreement is obtained with the theoretical data extracted from the TENDL-2013 library. Physical thick target yield for the {sup 67}Ga radionuclide was deduced using the measured cross-sections, and found in agreement with the directly measured yield available in the literature. This study reveals that a low deuteron energy (<11 MeV) cyclotron and an enriched {sup 66}Zn target could be used to obtain {sup 67}Ga in no carrier added form.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
NASA NTRS1942

Aerodynamic Characteristics for Internal-Balance and Frise Type Ailerons on an NACA 6 Series Low-Drag Tip Section of the Wing for the XP-63 Airplane

At the request of the Army Air Forces, Materiel Command, tests were made in the two-Dimensional low-turbulence tunnel of a mode l submitted by Bell Aircraft Corporation as the tip section of the wing of the xp-63 airplane. " The model was a NACA 66, 2x-2l6 a = 0.6 airfoil section of 50-inch chord and made of dural according to standard sheet-metal practice. The model was fitted for an internal-balance aileron with a tab and a Frise type aileron. Several alterations of the skirts and balance on the internal- balance aileron were tested to obtain the various aerodynamic characteristics of the aileron.

AILERONS - DEFLECTION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Isospin-symmetry-breaking effects in A∼70 nuclei within beyond-mean-field approach

Particular isospin-symmetry-breaking probes including Coulomb energy differences (CED), mirror energy differences (MED), and triplet energy differences (TED) manifest anomalies in the A∼70 isovector triplets of nuclei. The structure of proton-rich nuclei in the A∼70 mass region suggests shape coexistence and competition between pairing correlations in different channels. Recent results concerning the interplay between isospin-mixing and shape-coexistence effects on exotic phenomena in A∼70 nuclei obtained within the beyond-mean-field complex Excited Vampir variational model with symmetry projection before variation using a realistic effective interaction in a relatively large model space are presented. Excited Vampir predictions concerning the Gamow-Teller β decay to the odd-odd N=Z {sup 66}As and {sup 70}Br nuclei correlated with the pair structure analysis in the T=1 and T=0 channel of the involved wave functions are discussed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

NEW Fe I LEVEL ENERGIES AND LINE IDENTIFICATIONS FROM STELLAR SPECTRA

The spectrum of the Fe I atom is critical to many areas of astrophysics and beyond. Measurements of the energies of its high-lying levels remain woefully incomplete, however, despite extensive laboratory and solar analysis. In this work, we use high-resolution archival absorption-line ultraviolet and optical spectra of stars whose warm temperatures favor moderate Fe I excitation. We derive the energy for a particular upper level in Kurucz's semiempirical calculations by adopting a trial value that yields the same wavelength for a given line predicted to be about as strong as that of a strong unidentified spectral line observed in the stellar spectra, then checking the new wavelengths of other strong predicted transitions that share the same upper level for coincidence with other strong observed unidentified lines. To date, this analysis has provided the upper energies of 66 Fe I levels. Many new energy levels are higher than those accessible to laboratory experiments; several exceed the Fe I ionization energy. These levels provide new identifications for over 2000 potentially detectable lines. Almost all of the new levels of odd parity include UV lines that were detected but unclassified in laboratory Fe I absorption spectra, providing an external check on the energy values. We motivate and present the procedure, provide the resulting new energy levels and their uncertainties, list all the potentially detectable UV and optical new Fe I line identifications and their gf values, point out new lines of astrophysical interest, and discuss the prospects for additional Fe I energy level determinations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

IMPROVED Co i log(gf) VALUES AND ABUNDANCE DETERMINATIONS IN THE PHOTOSPHERES OF THE SUN AND METAL-POOR STAR HD 84937

New emission branching fraction measurements for 898 lines of the first spectrum of cobalt (Co i) are determined from hollow cathode lamp spectra recorded with the National Solar Observatory 1 m Fourier transform spectrometer on Kitt Peak, AZ and a high-resolution echelle spectrometer. Published radiative lifetimes from laser induced fluorescence measurements are combined with the branching fractions to determine accurate absolute atomic transition probabilities for the 898 lines. Hyperfine structure (hfs) constants for levels of neutral Co in the literature are surveyed and selected values are used to generate complete hfs component patterns for 195 transitions of Co i. These new laboratory data are applied to determine the Co abundance in the Sun and metal-poor star HD 84937, yielding log ϵ(Co) = 4.955 ± 0.007 (σ = 0.059) based on 82 Co i lines and log ϵ(Co) = 2.785 ± 0.008 (σ = 0.065) based on 66 Co i lines, respectively. A Saha or ionization balance test on the photosphere of HD 84937 is performed using 16 UV lines of Co ii, and good agreement is found with the Co i result in this metal-poor ([Fe i/H] = −2.32, [Fe ii/H] = −2.32) dwarf star. The resulting value of [Co/Fe] = +0.14 supports a rise of Co/Fe at low metallicity that has been suggested in other studies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Enhanced Quadrupole Collectivity at N=40: The Case of Neutron-Rich Fe Isotopes

The transition rates for the 2{sub 1}{sup +} states in {sup 62,64,66}Fe were studied using the recoil distance Doppler-shift technique applied to projectile Coulomb excitation reactions. The deduced E2 strengths illustrate the enhanced collectivity of the neutron-rich Fe isotopes up to N=40. The results are interpreted using the generalized concept of valence proton symmetry which describes the evolution of nuclear structure around N=40 as governed by the number of valence protons with respect to Z{approx_equal}30. The trend of collectivity suggested by the experimental data is described by state-of-the-art shell-model calculations with a new effective interaction developed for the fpgd valence space.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Evolution of the N = 40 neutron subshell in 20 ≤ Z ≤ 30 nuclei within the dispersive optical model

The evolution of single-particle neutron spectra in the N = 40 isotones {sup 60}Ca, {sup 62}Ti, {sup 64}Cr, {sup 66}Fe, {sup 68}Ni, and {sup 70}Zn is calculated on the basis of the mean-field model featuring a dispersive optical potential. The results of these calculations agree with the idea that the degree of collectivity becomes higher in the {sup 64}Сr nucleus and that the coupling of single-particle motion to this collectivity becomes stronger, as well as with available experimental data, which are indicative of the closure of the N = 40 subshell in {sup 68}Ni and of the trend toward this closure in {sup 60}Ca.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Response of Water Use Efficiency to Global Environmental Change Based on Output From Terrestrial Biosphere Models

Here, water use efficiency (WUE), defined as the ratio of gross primary productivity and evapotranspiration at the ecosystem scale, is a critical variable linking the carbon and water cycles. Incorporating a dependency on vapor pressure deficit, apparent underlying WUE (uWUE) provides a better indicator of how terrestrial ecosystems respond to environmental changes than other WUE formulations. Here we used 20th century simulations from four terrestrial biosphere models to develop a novel variance decomposition method. With this method, we attributed variations in apparent uWUE to both the trend and interannual variation of environmental drivers. The secular increase in atmospheric CO 2 explained a clear majority of total variation (66 ± 32%: mean ± one standard deviation), followed by positive trends in nitrogen deposition and climate, as well as a negative trend in land use change. In contrast, interannual variation was mostly driven by interannual climate variability. To analyze the mechanism of the CO 2 effect, we partitioned the apparent uWUE into the transpiration ratio (transpiration over evapotranspiration) and potential uWUE. The relative increase in potential uWUE parallels that of CO 2 , but this direct CO 2 effect was offset by 20 ± 4% by changes in ecosystem structure, that is, leaf area index for different vegetation types. However, the decrease in transpiration due to stomatal closure with rising CO 2 was reduced by 84% by an increase in leaf area index, resulting in small changes in the transpiration ratio. CO 2 concentration thus plays a dominant role in driving apparent uWUE variations over time, but its role differs for the two constituent components: potential uWUE and transpiration.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Causes and importance of new particle formation in the present-day and preindustrial atmospheres

New particle formation has been estimated to produce around half of cloud-forming particles in the present-day atmosphere, via gas-to-particle conversion. Here we assess the importance of new particle formation (NPF) for both the present-day and the preindustrial atmospheres. We use a global aerosol model with parametrizations of NPF from previously published CLOUD chamber experiments involving sulfuric acid, ammonia, organic molecules, and ions. We find that NPF produces around 67% of cloud condensation nuclei at 0.2% supersaturation (CCN0.2%) at the level of low clouds in the preindustrial atmosphere (estimated uncertainty range 45–84%)and 54% in the present day (estimated uncertainty range 38–66%). Concerning causes, we find that the importance of biogenic volatile organic compounds(BVOCs) in NPF and CCN formation is greater than previously thought. Removing BVOCs and hence all secondary organic aerosol from our model reduces low-cloud-level CCN concentrations at 0.2%supersaturation by 26% in the present-day atmosphere and 41% in the preindustrial. Around three quarters of this reduction is due to the tiny fraction of the oxidation products of BVOCs that have sufficiently low volatility to be involved in NPF and early growth. Furthermore, we estimate that 40% of preindustrial CCN0.2% are formed via ion-induced NPF, compared with 27% in the present day, although we caution that the ion-induced fraction of NPF involving BVOCs is poorly measured at present. In conclusion, our model suggests that the effect of changes in cosmic ray intensity on CCN is small and unlikely to be comparable to the effect of large variations in natural primary aerosol emissions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

A decade of curtailment studies demonstrates a consistent and effective strategy to reduce bat fatalities at wind turbines in North America

Abstract There is a rapid, global push for wind energy installation. However, large numbers of bats are killed by turbines each year, raising concerns about the impacts of wind energy expansion on bat populations. Preventing turbine blades from spinning at low wind speeds, referred to as curtailment, is a method to reduce bat fatalities, but drawing consistent inference across studies has been challenging. We compiled publicly available studies that evaluated curtailment at six wind energy facilities in North America across 10 years. We used meta‐regression of 29 implemented treatments to determine fatality reduction efficacy as well as sources of variation influencing efficacy. We also estimated species‐specific fatality reduction for three species that comprise most fatalities in North America: hoary bat ( Lasiurus cinereus ), eastern red bat ( Lasiurus borealis ) and silver‐haired bat ( Lasionycteris noctivagans ). We found that curtailment reduced total bat fatalities by 33% with every 1.0 ms −1 increase in curtailment wind speed. Estimates of the efficacy for the three target species were similar (hoary bats: 28% per ms −1 , 95% CI: 0.4%–48%, eastern red bats: 32% per ms −1 , 95% CI: 13%–47% and silver‐haired bats: 32% per ms −1 , 95% CI: 3%–53%). Across multiple facilities and years, a 5.0 ms −1 cut‐in speed was estimated to reduce total bat fatalities by an average of 62% (95% CI: 54%–69%). Mortality reductions at individual facilities in any given year were estimated to fall between 33%–79% (95% prediction interval). Inter‐annual differences rather than inter‐site or turbine characteristics accounted for most of the variation in efficacy rates. Species‐specific average mortality reduction at 5.0 ms −1 curtailment wind speed was 48% (95% CI: 24%–64%) for hoary bats, 61% (95% CI: 42%–74%) for eastern red bats and 52% (95% CI: 30%–66%) for silver‐haired bats. Practical implication . curtailment reduced bat mortality at wind turbines in this North American study. Efficacy increased proportionally as curtailment speed is raised, and patterns and rates of efficacy were similar across species. This indicates that curtailment is an effective strategy to reduce bat fatalities at wind energy facilities, but exploration of further refinements could both minimize bat mortality and maximize energy production.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

FRICTION STIR LAP WELDING OF ALUMINUM - POLYMER USING SCRIBE TECHNOLOGY

Friction Stir Scribe (FSS) technology is a relatively new variant of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) which enables lap joining of dissimilar material with very different melting points and different high temperature flow behaviors. The cutter scribe attached at the tip of FSW tool pin effectively cuts the high melting point material such that a mechanically interlocking feature is created between the dissimilar materials. The geometric shape of this interlocking feature determines the shear strength attained by the lap joint. This work presents first use of scribe technology in joining polymers to aluminum alloy. Details of the several runs of scribe welding performed in lap joining of ~3.175mm thick polymers including HDPE, filled and unfilled Nylon 66 to 2mm thick AA5182 are presented. The effect of scribe geometry and length on weld interlocking features is presented along with lap shear strength evaluations.

Upadhyay, Piyush↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fluidic Processing of High-Performance ZIF-8 Membranes on Polymeric Hollow Fibers: Mechanistic Insights and Microstructure Control

Recently, a methodology for fabricating polycrystalline metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes has been introduced – referred to as interfacial microfluidic membrane processing – which allows parallelizable fabrication of MOF membranes inside polymeric hollow fibers of microscopic diameter. Such hollow fiber membranes, when bundled together into modules, are an attractive way to scale molecular sieving membranes. The understanding and engineering of fluidic processing techniques for MOF membrane fabrication are in their infancy. Here in this work, a detailed mechanistic understanding of MOF (ZIF-8) membrane growth under microfluidic conditions in polyamide-imide hollow fibers is reported, without any intermediate steps (such as seeding or surface modification) or post-synthesis treatments. A key finding is that interfacial membrane formation in the hollow fiber occurs via an initial formation of two distinct layers and the subsequent rearrangement into a single layer. This understanding is used to show how nonisothermal processing allows fabrication of thinner (5 μm) ZIF-8 films for higher throughput, and furthermore how engineering the polymeric hollow fiber support microstructure allows control of defects in the ZIF-8 membranes. Finally, the performance of these engineered ZIF-8 membranes is then characterized, which have H 2 /C 3 H 8 and C 3 H 6 /C 3 H 8 mixture separation factors as high as 2018 and 65, respectively, and C 3 H 6 permeances as high as 66 GPU.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

High-Performance Hemofiltration via Molecular Sieving and Ultra-Low Friction in Carbon Nanotube Capillary Membranes

Conventional dialyzer membranes typically comprise of unevenly distributed polydisperse, tortuous, rough pores, embedded in relatively thick ≈20–50 µm polymer layers wherein separation occurs via size exclusion as well as differences in diffusivity of the permeating species. However, transport in such polymeric pores is increasingly hindered as the molecule size approaches the pore dimension, resulting in significant retention of undesirable middle molecules (≥15–60 kDa) and uremic toxins. Enhanced removal of middle molecules is usually accompanied by high albumin loss (≈66 kDa) causing hypoalbuminemia. Here, the scalable bottom-up fabrication of wafer-scale carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes with highly aligned, low-friction, straight-channels/capillaries and narrow pore-diameter distributions (≈0.5–4.5 nm) is demonstrated, to overcome persistent challenges in hemofiltration/hemodialysis. Using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-Ficoll 70 and albumin in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) as well as in bovine blood plasma, it is shown that CNT membranes can allow for significantly higher hydraulic permeability (more than an order of magnitude when normalized to pore area) than commercial high-flux hemofiltration/hemodialysis membranes (HF 400), as well as greatly enhance removal of middle molecules while maintaining comparable albumin retention. These findings are rationalized via an N-pore transport model that highlights the critical role of molecular flexing and deformation during size-selective transport within nanoscale confinements of the CNTs. In conclusion, the unique transport characteristics of CNTs coupled with size-exclusion and wafer-scale fabrication offer transformative advances for hemofiltration, and the obtained insight into molecular transport can aid advancements in several other bio-systems/applications beyond hemofiltration/hemodialysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Interfacial Strength in Hierarchical Carbon Fiber Composites: Interplay of Interphase Modulus and Roughness

A facile, direct deposition approach that exploits van der Waals interactions between carbonaceous materials is utilized to create unidirectional hybrid carbon fiber composites. Two small molecule crosslinkers, a trifunctional aromatic (TL) and a difunctional aliphatic (DL) acyl chloride, are first utilized to create a crosslinked interphase with a softer and stiffer modulus respectively. TL crosslinked interphase with a higher modulus improved the tensile strength by 50%, despite non-covalent linking between fiber and matrix, elucidating the critical role of the interphase in alleviating modulus mismatch between the high modulus carbon fiber and the rubbery matrix. Fractional quantities of carbon nanotubes are additionally dispersed in the small molecule crosslinkers which behaved as a dispersant, helping introduce nanoasperities on the carbon fiber surface. Strong “pi-pi” interactions between CNTs and CF contributed to tensile properties, which are increased by 66% compared to the control. A cohesive zone model suggests that a stiffer interphase is better able to exploit surface heterogeneities and roughness on the fiber, synergistically enhancing interfacial strength.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Molecular Simulation of Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework Membranes for Inorganic Salt Separation

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) enable molecular-level design of nanochannels for selective separation in pressure-driven membrane processes. Through variation of building blocks and, subsequently, the pore structure and chemistry, membrane performance can be tailored. This study employs nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations to theoretically demonstrate the tunable selectivity of COF membranes through a bottom-up functionalization approach. Water and salt transport are evaluated for six β-ketoenamine-linked COFs with varying multilayer thicknesses. For the thinnest multilayer (0.64–0.72 nm), all COFs exhibit low sodium sulfate (Na 2 SO 4 ) rejection (55–66%). However, 20 stacked sheets (6.4–7.2 nm) provide 67–98% rejection, with the sulfonated COF providing the highest Na 2 SO 4 rejection. Analysis of time-resolved ion density profiles reveals that solute rejection is primarily governed by interfacial exclusion arising from pore size and functional group chemistry. Although increasing salt rejection compromises water permeance, the permeance of all COF membranes is at least two orders of magnitude greater than that of a commercially available nanofiltration membrane. Overall, this work guides the rational design of COF membranes for aqueous salt separation.

Nanofiltration↗
DOE OSTI2016

Proton Transport in a Highly Conductive Porous Zirconium‐Based Metal–Organic Framework: Molecular Insight

Abstract The water stable UiO‐66(Zr)‐(CO 2 H) 2 MOF exhibits a superprotonic conductivity of 2.3×10 −3 S cm −1 at 90 °C and 95 % relative humidity. Quasi‐elastic neutron scattering measurements combined with aMS‐EVB3 molecular dynamics simulations were able to probe individually the dynamics of both confined protons and water molecules and to further reveal that the proton transport is assisted by the formation of a hydrogen‐bonded water network that spans from the tetrahedral to the octahedral cages of this MOF. This is the first joint experimental/modeling study that unambiguously elucidates the proton‐conduction mechanism at the molecular level in a highly conductive MOF.

Borges, Daiane Damasceno↗