Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “distributed processing”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Rare behavior of growth processes via umbrella sampling of trajectories

We compute probability distributions of trajectory observables for reversible and irreversible growth processes. These results reveal a correspondence between reversible and irreversible processes, at particular points in parameter space, in terms of their typical and atypical trajectories. Thus key features of growth processes can be insensitive to the precise form of the rate constants used to generate them, recalling the insensitivity to microscopic details of certain equilibrium behavior. We obtained these results using a sampling method, inspired by the "s-ensemble" large-deviation formalism, that amounts to umbrella sampling in trajectory space. The method is a simple variant of existing approaches, and applies to ensembles of trajectories controlled by the total number of events. It can be used to determine large-deviation rate functions for trajectory observables in or out of equilibrium.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Neural network modeling of in situ fluid-filled pore size distributions in subsurface shale reservoirs under data constraints

Subsurface nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logs acquired in the wellbore environment are sensitive to fluid-filled pore size distribution, fluid mobility, permeability, and porosity in the near-wellbore reservoir volume. NMR response of a formation layer is processed to extract the T2 distribution, which approximates the fluid-filled pore size distribution. NMR logs are acquired in limited number of wells due to financial and operational challenges, which adversely affects reservoir characterization. We developed here two neural-network-based machine learning techniques, long short-term memory (LSTM) network and variational autoencoder with a convolutional layer (VAEc) network, to process the ‘easy-to-acquire’ formation mineral and fluid saturation logs to generate synthetic NMR T2 distributions in the absence of ‘hard-to-acquire’ NMR T2 distribution log. Both the predictive models are trained and tested on limited wireline log measurements randomly selected from a 300-ft depth interval of the Bakken shale formation. Synthesis performances of LSTM and VAEc models in terms of R 2 are 0.78 and 0.75, respectively. Noise is inevitable in logging data due to the complex wellbore and formation conditions. Notably, both the predictive models robustly synthesize the fluid-filled pore size distributions in the presence of 50% noise in input logs and 30% noise in training T2 data. The performance of the proposed methodology improves with access to larger volume of training data from other formation types. The proposed method is critical to the synthesis of in situ fluid-filled pore size distributions in shale formations under data constraints due to financial and operational challenges.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The MOSAiC Distributed Network: Observing the coupled Arctic system with multidisciplinary, coordinated platforms

Central Arctic properties and processes are important to the regional and global coupled climate system. The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) Distributed Network (DN) of autonomous ice-tethered systems aimed to bridge gaps in our understanding of temporal and spatial scales, in particular with respect to the resolution of Earth system models. By characterizing variability around local measurements made at a Central Observatory, the DN covers both the coupled system interactions involving the ocean-ice-atmosphere interfaces as well as three-dimensional processes in the ocean, sea ice, and atmosphere. The more than 200 autonomous instruments (“buoys”) were of varying complexity and set up at different sites mostly within 50 km of the Central Observatory. During an exemplary midwinter month, the DN observations captured the spatial variability of atmospheric processes on sub-monthly time scales, but less so for monthly means. They show significant variability in snow depth and ice thickness, and provide a temporally and spatially resolved characterization of ice motion and deformation, showing coherency at the DN scale but less at smaller spatial scales. Ocean data show the background gradient across the DN as well as spatially dependent time variability due to local mixed layer sub-mesoscale and mesoscale processes, influenced by a variable ice cover. The second case (May–June 2020) illustrates the utility of the DN during the absence of manually obtained data by providing continuity of physical and biological observations during this key transitional period. We show examples of synergies between the extensive MOSAiC remote sensing observations and numerical modeling, such as estimating the skill of ice drift forecasts and evaluating coupled system modeling. The MOSAiC DN has been proven to enable analysis of local to mesoscale processes in the coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean system and has the potential to improve model parameterizations of important, unresolved processes in the future.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Parameterizations of Cloud Microphysics and Indirect Aerosol Effects

Aerosols and especially their effect on clouds are one of the key components of the climate system and the hydrological cycle [Ramanathan et al., 2001]. Yet, the aerosol effect on clouds remains largely unknown and the processes involved not well understood. A recent report published by the National Academy of Science states "The greatest uncertainty about the aerosol climate forcing - indeed, the largest of all the uncertainties about global climate forcing - is probably the indirect effect of aerosols on clouds [NRC, 2001]." The aerosol effect on clouds is often categorized into the traditional "first indirect (i.e., Twomey)" effect on the cloud droplet sizes for a constant liquid water path [Twomey, 1977] and the "semi-direct" effect on cloud coverage [e.g., Ackerman et al., 2000]. Enhanced aerosol concentrations can also suppress warm rain processes by producing a narrow droplet spectrum that inhibits collision and coalescence processes [e.g., Squires and Twomey, 1961; Warner and Twomey, 1967; Warner, 1968; Rosenfeld, 1999]. The aerosol effect on precipitation processes, also known as the second type of aerosol indirect effect [Albrecht, 1989], is even more complex, especially for mixed-phase convective clouds. Table 1 summarizes the key observational studies identifying the microphysical properties, cloud characteristics, thermodynamics and dynamics associated with cloud systems from high-aerosol continental environments. For example, atmospheric aerosol concentrations can influence cloud droplet size distributions, warm-rain process, cold-rain process, cloud-top height, the depth of the mixed phase region, and occurrence of lightning. In addition, high aerosol concentrations in urban environments could affect precipitation variability by providing an enhanced source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Hypotheses have been developed to explain the effect of urban regions on convection and precipitation [van den Heever and Cotton, 2007 and Shepherd, 2005]. Recently, a detailed spectral-bin microphysical scheme was implemented into the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (GCE) model. Atmospheric aerosols are also described using number density size-distribution functions. A spectral-bin microphysical model is very expensive from a computational point of view and has only been implemented into the 2D version of the GCE at the present time. The model is tested by studying the evolution of deep tropical clouds in the west Pacific warm pool region and summertime convection over a mid-latitude continent with different concentrations of CCN: a low "clean" concentration and a high "dirty" concentration. The impact of atmospheric aerosol concentration on cloud and precipitation will be investigated.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Effects of Substituents on the S N 2 Free Energy of Activation for α-O-4 Lignin Model Compounds

Current methods for processing lignocellulosic biomass fail to take full advantage of the phenolic chemicals available in lignin, the third most common polymer on the planet. The complexity of the lignin polymer structure, the lack of knowledge of the mechanisms by which it breaks down, and the difficulties in predicting and controlling the reaction product distribution make improvement in processing methods challenging. The use of model compounds, which contain only a few key features of the native polymer, allow the reactivity of the overall polymer to be investigated more simply by isolating key elements. In our previous work, we examined the mechanism of acidolysis for two α-O-4 lignin model compounds, benzylphenyl ether (BPE) and 1-(phenoxyethyl)benzene (PEB). In the present work, we examine the rate-limiting step of this mechanism, a nucleophilic attack on the α-carbon commensurate with protonation of the ether oxygen, for other α-O-4 model compounds that contain features more reminiscent of native lignin, including compounds based on native model dimers. The effects of individual substituents and combinations of substituents are also examined in order to determine their contributions to the reactivity of native lignin dimers. Simple relationships are examined between ground-state properties and reactivity. The results of these calculations show that the effects of substituents on the reactivity of BPE-based compounds are quite different from those of PEB-based compounds. While reasonable correlations can be found for BPE reactivity and properties across substituents, PEB shows much less predictable reactivity except among small subsets of substituents. Overall, the trends observed here provide useful information about the reactivity of α-O-4 bonds in lignin during acidolysis as a function of the local chemical environment.

Pelzer, Adam W.↗
DOE OSTI2021

GPU-based Image Compression for Efficient Compositing in Distributed Rendering Applications

Visualizations of large-scale data sets are often created on graphics clusters that distribute the rendering task amongst many processes. When using real-time GPU-based graphics algorithms, the most time-consuming aspect of distributed rendering is typically the com-positing phase - combining all partial images from each rendering process into the final visualization. Compo siting requires image data to be copied off the GPU and sent over a network to other processes. While compression has been utilized in existing distributed rendering compositors to reduce the data being sent over the network, this compression tends to occur after the raw images are transferred from the GPU to main memory. In this paper, we present work that leverages OpenGL / CUDA interoperability to compress raw images on the GPU prior to transferring the data to main memory. This approach can significantly reduce the device-to-host data transfer time, thus enabling more efficient compositing of images generated by distributed rendering applications.

Lipinksi, Riley↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dynamics of asymmetric binary glass formers. II. Results from nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Various {sup 2}H and {sup 31}P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques are applied to probe the component dynamics of the binary glass former tripropyl phosphate (TPP)/polystyrene-d{sub 3} (PS) over the full concentration range. The results are quantitatively compared to those of a dielectric spectroscopy (DS) study on the same system previously published [R. Kahlau, D. Bock, B. Schmidtke, and E. A. Rössler, J. Chem. Phys. 140, 044509 (2014)]. While the PS dynamics does not significantly change in the mixtures compared to that of neat PS, two fractions of TPP molecules are identified, one joining the glass transition of PS in the mixture (α{sub 1}-process), the second reorienting isotropically (α{sub 2}-process) even in the rigid matrix of PS, although at low concentration resembling a secondary process regarding its manifestation in the DS spectra. Pronounced dynamical heterogeneities are found for the TPP α{sub 2}-process, showing up in extremely stretched, quasi-logarithmic stimulated echo decays. While the time window of NMR is insufficient for recording the full correlation functions, DS results, covering a larger dynamical range, provide a satisfactory interpolation of the NMR data. Two-dimensional {sup 31}P NMR spectra prove exchange within the broadly distributed α{sub 2}-process. As demonstrated by {sup 2}H NMR, the PS matrix reflects the faster α{sub 2}-process of TPP by performing a spatially highly hindered motion on the same timescale.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Mass Distribution in Galaxy Cluster Cores

Many processes within galaxy clusters, such as those believed to govern the onset of thermally unstable cooling and active galactic nucleus feedback, are dependent upon local dynamical timescales. However, accurate mapping of the mass distribution within individual clusters is challenging, particularly toward cluster centers where the total mass budget has substantial radially dependent contributions from the stellar ( M {sub *}), gas ( M {sub gas}), and dark matter ( M {sub DM}) components. In this paper we use a small sample of galaxy clusters with deep Chandra observations and good ancillary tracers of their gravitating mass at both large and small radii to develop a method for determining mass profiles that span a wide radial range and extend down into the central galaxy. We also consider potential observational pitfalls in understanding cooling in hot cluster atmospheres, and find tentative evidence for a relationship between the radial extent of cooling X-ray gas and nebular H α emission in cool-core clusters. At large radii the entropy profiles of our clusters agree with the baseline power law of K ∝ r {sup 1.1} expected from gravity alone. At smaller radii our entropy profiles become shallower but continue with a power law of the form K ∝ r {sup 0.67} down to our resolution limit. Among this small sample of cool-core clusters we therefore find no support for the existence of a central flat “entropy floor.”.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Molecular dynamics simulation of annealed ZnO surfaces

The effect of thermally annealing a slab of wurtzite ZnO, terminated by two surfaces, (0001) (which is oxygen-terminated) and (0001{sup ¯}) (which is Zn-terminated), is investigated via molecular dynamics simulation by using reactive force field (ReaxFF). We found that upon heating beyond a threshold temperature of ∼700 K, surface oxygen atoms begin to sublimate from the (0001) surface. The ratio of oxygen leaving the surface at a given temperature increases as the heating temperature increases. A range of phenomena occurring at the atomic level on the (0001) surface has also been explored, such as formation of oxygen dimers on the surface and evolution of partial charge distribution in the slab during the annealing process. It was found that the partial charge distribution as a function of the depth from the surface undergoes a qualitative change when the annealing temperature is above the threshold temperature.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

New insight on the Sivers transverse momentum dependent distribution function

Polarised Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS) processes allow to study Transverse Momentum Dependent partonic distributions (TMDs), which reveal a non trivial three dimensional internal structure of the hadrons in momentum space. One of the most representative of the TMDs is the so-called Sivers function that describes the distribution of unpolarized quarks inside a transversely polarized proton. We present a novel extraction of the Sivers distribution functions from the most recent experimental data of HERMES and COMPASS experiments. Using suitable parametrizations, within the TMD factorization scheme, and a simple fitting strategy, we also perform a preliminary exploration of the role of the proton sea quarks.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Computational technique for plasma parameters determination using Langmuir probe data

In the present work, we consider a new numerical method for processing the experimental information on the electron energy distribution function obtained with a Langmuir probe in a low-pressure plasma. This method offers the possibility to establish the temperature and concentration of the electrons for different forms of the distribution function. Some specific difficulties of the previous methods used to do such estimations are surpassed using the method proposed in this work.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Ecological Processes Shaping Bulk Soil and Rhizosphere Microbiome Assembly in a Long-Term Amazon Forest-to-Agriculture Conversion

Forest-to-agriculture conversion has been identified as a major threat to soil biodiversity and soil processes resilience, although the consequences of long-term land use change to microbial community assembly and ecological processes have been often neglected. In this paper, we combined metagenomic approach with a large environmental dataset, to (i) identify the microbial assembly patterns and, (ii) to evaluate the ecological processes governing microbial assembly, in bulk soil and soybean rhizosphere, along a long-term forest-to-agriculture conversion chronosequence, in Eastern Amazon. We hypothesized that (i) microbial communities in bulk soil and rhizosphere have different assembly patterns and (ii) the weight of the four ecological processes governing assembly differs between bulk soil and rhizosphere and along the chronosequence in the same fraction. Community assembly in bulk soil fitted most the zero-sum multinomial (ZSM) neutral-based model, regardless of time. Low to intermediate dispersal was observed. Decreasing influence of abiotic factors was counterbalanced by increasing influence of biotic factors, as the chronosequence advanced. Undominated ecological processes of dispersal limitation and variable selection governing community assembly were observed in this soil fraction. For soybean rhizosphere, community assembly fitted most the lognormal niche-based model in all chronosequence areas. High dispersal and an increasing influence of abiotic factors coupled with a decreasing influence of biotic factors were found along the chronosequence. Thus, we found a dominant role of dispersal process governing microbial assembly with a secondary effect of homogeneous selection process, mainly driven by decreasing aluminum and increased cations saturation in soil solution, due to long-term no-till cropping. Together, our results indicate that long-term no-till lead community abundances in bulk soil to be in a transient and conditional state, while for soybean rhizosphere, community abundances reach a periodic and permanent distribution state. Dominant dispersal process in rhizosphere, coupled with homogeneous selection, brings evidences that soybean root system selects microbial taxa via trade-offs in order to keep functional resilience of soil processes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Chain-length-controllable upcycling of polyolefins to sulfate detergents

Escalating global plastic pollution and the depletion of fossil-based resources underscore the urgent need for innovative end-of-life plastic management strategies in the context of a circular economy. Thermolysis is capable of upcycling end-of-life plastics to intermediate molecules suitable for downstream conversion to eventually high-value chemicals, but tuning the molar mass distribution of the products is challenging. Here, in this study, we report a temperature-gradient thermolysis strategy for the conversion of polyethylene and polypropylene into hydrocarbons with tunable molar mass distributions. The whole thermolysis process is catalyst- and hydrogen-free. The thermolysis of polyethylene and polyethylene/polypropylene mixtures with tailored temperature gradients generated oil with an average chain length of ~C 14 . The oil featured a high concentration of synthetically useful α-olefins. Computational fluid dynamics simulations revealed that regulating the reactor wall temperature was the key to tuning the hydrocarbon distributions. Subsequent oxidation of the obtained α-olefins by sulfuric acid and neutralization by potassium hydroxide afforded sulfate detergents with excellent foaming behaviour and emulsifying capacity and low critical micelle concentration. Overall, this work provides a viable approach to producing value-added chemicals from end-of-life plastics, improving the circularity of the anthropogenic carbon cycle.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Diagnosis of convective organization and cold pools using ARM datasets and evaluation of a unified convection parameterization (UNICON)

Tropical thunderstorms often cluster together. Studies have suggested that the degree to which the tropical thunderstorms are clustered impacts Earth's energy balance and water cycle, as well as extreme precipitation events. However, the processes controlling the spatial distribution of the thunderstorms are poorly understood and are not properly represented in most computer models for weather and climate prediction. Under the goals of better understanding how convection organizes at the mesoscale and advancing the representation of mesoscale convective organization in global climate models, we i) objectively quantified the degrees of convective organization and diagnosed cold pool processes using ARM field campaign observations, ii) examined the organization processes in storm-resolving model simulations, and iii) evaluated the impacts of mesoscale convective organization in global model simulations. The project yielded a firm reference against which the global model representation of mesoscale convective organization and cold pools can be evaluated against and shed new light into the role of parameterized convective organization in the global model simulation of the basic state and variability. Our results revealed two distinct phases of convective clustering during the two-day rain episodes (Cheng et al. 2018) and a new mechanism through which vertical wind shear in the low-troposphere can aid convective organization over tropical oceans (Cheng et al. 2020). It was demonstrated that the interactive representation of cold pools and mesoscale convective organization is key for global models to successfully simulate both the mean state and intraseasonal variability in the tropics (Ahn et al. 2019; 2020).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULES AT HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION TOWARD ORION-KL. II. KINEMATICS

It has recently been suggested that chemical processing can shape the spatial distributions of complex molecules in the Orion-KL region and leads to the nitrogen-oxygen 'chemical differentiation' seen in previous observations of this source. Orion-KL is a very dynamic region, and it is therefore also possible that physical conditions can shape the molecular distributions in this source. Only high spatial resolution observations can provide the information needed to disentangle these effects. Here, we present millimeter imaging studies of Orion-KL at various beam sizes using the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy. We compare molecular images with high spatial resolution images that trace the temperature, density, and kinematics of the source in order to investigate the effects of physical conditions on molecular distributions. These observations were conducted at {lambda} = 3 mm and included transitions of ethyl cyanide [C{sub 2}H{sub 5}CN], methyl formate [HCOOCH{sub 3}], formic acid [HCOOH], acetone [(CH{sub 3}){sub 2}CO], SiO, and methanol [CH{sub 3}OH]. We find differences in the molecular distributions as a function of each of the aforementioned physical factors. These results indicate that acetone may be produced by chemical processing and is robust to large changes in physical conditions, while formic acid is readily destroyed by gas-phase processing in warm and dense regions. We also find that while the spatial distributions of ethyl cyanide and methyl formate are not distinct as is suggested by the concept of 'chemical differentiation', local physical conditions shape the small-scale emission structure for these species.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Probing GPDs in ultraperipheral collisions

Ultraperipheral collisions in hadron colliders give new opportunities to investigate the hadron structure through exclusive photoproduction processes. We describe the possibility of measuring the Generalized Parton Distributions in the Timelike Compton Scattering process and in the production of heavy vector meson.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Commissioning of an MPGD-based Drift Chamber for Heavy-ion Tracking in FRIB's Sweeper magnet system

A newly developed drift chamber equipped with an innovative hybrid Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detector based readout was commissioned at FRIB. The detector consists of a Multi-layer Thick Gas Electron Multiplier (M-THGEM) mounted over a high-granularity, position-sensitive readout board. Denoted as the Micro-Pattern Drift Chamber (MPDC), the new device is used to provide tracking capability as part of the detectors of the Sweeper magnet system for neutron-invariant-mass spectrometry at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). The localization of impinging ions in a 30 × 30 cm 2 drift area is derived by processing the charge-avalanche distribution induced on the segmented readout board. The signals induced on the readout pads are processed by a compact, multi-channel Data Acquisition System (DAQ) based on the Scalable Readout System (SRS). To facilitate synchronization with other detector systems of the Sweeper magnet system, the SRS has been configured to accept an external trigger.

Gaseous detectors↗
DOE OSTI2017

Effect of collisions on the angular distribution of ions under plasmachemical etching

The most important parameter responsible for the quality of high-aspect structures produced by plasmachemical etching is the angular distribution of ions near the processed surface. In this work, the effect of collisions and gas pressure on the angular distributions of ions and chemically active radicals in the chamber of a high-pressure plasmachemical reactor with a remote plasma source is analyzed theoretically.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗