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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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Investigations are conducted into the optical properties of the glass and Kapton substrate materials, and three variables were chosen: deposition rate, sputter gas pressure, and film contamination time. Substrate tests have shown that fabrication of an dielectric broadband reflector would require an extremely complex and expensive filter design.
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Magnetic tape data storage systems have evolved in an environment where the major applications have been back-up/restore, disaster recovery, and long term archive. Coincident with the rapidly improving price-performance of disk storage systems, the prime requirements for tape storage systems have remained: (1) low cost per MB, (2) a data rate balanced to the remaining system components. Little emphasis was given to configuring the technology components to optimize retrieval of the stored data. Emerging new applications such as network attached high speed memory (HSM), and digital libraries, place additional emphasis and requirements on the retrieval of the stored data. It is therefore desirable to consider the system to be defined both by STorage And Retrieval System (STARS) requirements. It is possible to provide comparative performance analysis of different STARS by incorporating parameters related to (1) device characteristics, and (2) application characteristics in combination with queuing theory analysis. Results of these analyses are presented here in the form of response time as a function of system configuration for two different types of devices and for a variety of applications.
The purpose of a magnetically suspended flywheel energy storage system for electric utility load leveling is to provide a means to store energy during times when energy is inexpensive to produce and then return it to the customer during times of peak power demand when generated energy is most expensive. The design of a 20 kWh flywheel energy storage system for electric utility load leveling applications involves the successful integration of a number of advanced technologies so as to minimize the size and cost of the system without affecting its efficiency and reliability. The flywheel energy storage system uses a carbon epoxy flywheel, two specially designed low loss magnetic bearings, a high efficiency motor generator, and a 60 cycle AC power converter all integrated through a microprocessor controller. The basic design is discussed of each of the components that is used in the energy storage design.
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Dry storage systems are used for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). However, with the growing need to extend the operational periods of these systems, there are concerns about the degradation of their concrete overpacks, which could compromise the system's structural integrity and safety during hazardous events. Traditional concrete mixtures used in SNF dry storage systems have remained largely unchanged since their inception and often use conventional ingredients. These materials are susceptible to degradation mechanisms such as chemical attacks, alkali-silica reactions (ASR), and freeze–thaw cycles, which can lead to a loss of strength and durability over time. To address these challenges, this paper reviews the application of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) as a promising alternative for spent nuclear fuel dry storage system overpacks. UHPC offers superior mechanical properties, exceptional durability, and reduced susceptibility to degradation mechanisms compared to conventional concrete. This paper focuses on the role of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as silica fume, fly ash, and metakaolin in enhancing UHPC performance for SNF storage applications. These SCMs have been shown to significantly improve the material’s microstructure, strength, and resistance to environmental stressors typically encountered in SNF storage environments. Moreover, incorporating SCMs supports sustainable construction by reducing cement consumption and associated carbon emissions. The review brings together existing research and experimental data, providing insights for engineers and researchers on developing UHPC mixtures that meet the rigorous demands of spent nuclear fuel dry storage systems, extending their service life and minimizing inspection intervals.
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The solid electrolyte interface (SEI) forms as a result of side reactions between the electrolyte and electrode surfaces in Li-ion batteries and can adversely impact performance by impeding Li-ion transport and diminishing the storage capacity of the battery. To gain a detailed understanding of the impact of the SEI on electrolyte structure, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the electrode/electrolyte interface were performed in the presence and absence of the SEI under applied voltages. The composition of the SEI was guided by a wealth of data from experiments and allowed to vary across the simulations. A novel computational approach was implemented that showed significant computational speedup compared to fully polarizable electrode simulations, yet, retained the correct qualitative physics for the electrolyte. A force-matching algorithm was used to construct a new force field for the pure electrolyte, LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate, which was developed from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The electrode/electrolyte interface was included using a simple, physically motivated model, which includes the polarization of the conducting graphitic electrode by the electrolyte and the application of an external voltage. Changes in the structure of the electrolyte at the interface as a function of applied voltage, the thickness of the SEI layer, and composition of the SEI provide molecular level insight into the species present at these interfaces and potential clues to the effect of the SEI on transport. It is noted that, with increasing SEI thickness and LiF content, lithium ions are drawn closer to the SEI surface, which implies that these interfaces favor desolvation and promote more rapid lithium transport.
We will discuss the following: (1) the Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) program objective; (2) benefits of flywheels for the International Space Station; (3) the FESS development team; (4) FESS electrical requirements; (5) FESS electrical architecture; and (6) electrical subsystem functionality. The objective of the FESS program is to demonstrate flywheel technologies operating together as a system and having improved performance characteristics over batteries in a low earth orbit energy storage application (such as the ISS).
Complex metal hydrides provide high-density hydrogen storage, which is essential for vehicular applications. However, the utility of these materials has been limited by thermodynamic and kinetic barriers present during the dehydrogenation and rehydrogenation processes as new phases form inside parent phases. Better understanding of the mixed-phase mesostructures and their interfaces may assist in improving cyclability. In this work, the evolution of the phases during hydrogenation of lithium nitride and dehydrogenation of lithium amide with lithium hydride are probed with scanning-transmission X-ray microscopy at the nitrogen K edge. With this technique, intriguing core-shell structures were observed in particles of both partially hydrogenated Li 3 N and partially dehydrogenated LiNH 2 + 2 LiH. The potential contributions of both internal hydrogen mobility and interfacial energies on the generation of these structures are discussed.
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Abstract not provided.
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High-performance computing (HPC) storage systems rely on access coordination to ensure that concurrent updates do not produce incoherent results. HPC storage systems typically employ pessimistic distributed locking to provide this functionality in cases where applications cannot perform their own coordination. This approach, however, introduces significant performance overhead and complicates fault handling. In this work we evaluate the viability of optimistic conditional storage operations as an alternative to distributed locking in HPC storage systems. We investigate design strategies and compare the two approaches in a prototype object storage system using a parallel read/modify/write benchmark. Our prototype illustrates that conditional operations can be easily integrated into distributed object storage systems and can outperform standard coordination primitives for simple update workloads. Our experiments show that conditional updates can achieve over two orders of magnitude higher performance than pessimistic locking for some parallel read/modify/write workloads.