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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 739 records · Page 41
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

The Applications of Modern Nanoindentation

The TI-950 TriboIndenter is a nanoindentation device that obtains nanometer resolution material topography images using Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), modulus maps of material using nano-Dynamic Mechanical Analysis, and provides hardness measurements with a resolution of 0.2 nm. The instrument applies a force to a material through a sharp tip and used a transducer to measure the force a material applies back to the tip to derive information about the material. The information can be used to study the homogeneity of material surfaces as well as the homogeneity of the material as a function of depth and can lead to important information on the aging of the material as well as the consistency of the production of the material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Neutron Resonance Theory for Nuclear Reactor Applications: Modern Theory and Practices.

The neutron resonance phenomena constitute one of the most fundamental subjects in nuclear physics as well as in reactor physics. It is the area where the concepts of nuclear interaction and the treatment of the neutronic balance in reactor fuel lattices become intertwined. The latter requires the detailed knowledge of resonance structures of many nuclides of practical interest to the development of nuclear energy. The most essential element in reactor physics is to provide an accurate account of the intricate balance between the neutrons produced by the fission process and neutrons lost due to the absorption process as well as those leaking out of the reactor system. The presence of resonance structures in many major nuclides obviously plays an important role in such processes. There has been a great deal of theoretical and practical interest in resonance reactions since Fermi’s discovery of resonance absorption of neutrons as they were slowed down in water. The resonance absorption became the center of attention when the question was raised as to the feasibility of the self-sustaining chain reaction in a natural uranium-fueled system. The threshold of the nuclear era was crossed almost eighty years ago when Fermi and Szilard observed that a substantial reduction in resonance absorption is possible if the uranium was made into the form of lumps instead of a homogeneous mixture with water. In the West, the first practical method for estimating the resonance escape probability in a reactor cell was pioneered by Wigner et al in early forties.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A Distributed Control System Prototyping Environment to Support Control Room Modernization

Operators of critical processes, such as nuclear power production, must contend with highly complex systems, procedures, and regulations. Developing human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that better support operators is a high priority for ensuring the safe and reliable operation of critical processes. Human factors engineering (HFE) provides a rich and mature set of tools for evaluating the performance of HMIs, however the set of tools for developing and designing HMIs is still in its infancy. Here we propose a rapid prototyping approach for integrating proposed HMIs into their native environments before a design is finalized. This approach allows researchers and developers to test design ideas and eliminate design flaws prior to fully developing the new system. We illustrate this approach with four prototype designs developed using Microsoft’s Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). One example is integrated into a microworld environment to test the functionality of the design and identify the optimal level of automation for a new system in a nuclear power plant. The other three examples are integrated into a full-scale, glasstop digital simulator of a nuclear power plant. One example demonstrates the capabilities of next generation control concepts; another aims to expand the current state of the art; lastly, an HMI prototype was developed as a test platform for a new control system currently in development at U.S. nuclear power plants. WPF possesses several characteristics that make it well suited to HMI design. It provides a tremendous amount of flexibility, agility, robustness, and extensibility. Distributed control system (DCS) specific environments tend to focus on the safety and reliability requirements for real-world interfaces and consequently have less emphasis on providing functionality to support novel interaction paradigms. Because of WPF’s large user-base, Microsoft can provide an extremely mature tool. Within process control applications,WPF is platform independent and can communicate with popular full-scope process control simulator vendor plant models and DCS platforms.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2017

Foundational Report Series: Advanced Distribution Management Systems for Grid Modernization, DMS Industry Survey

The objective of this survey is to benchmark current practices for DMS implementation to serve as a guide for future system implementations. The survey sought information on current plans to implement DMS, DMS functions of interest, implementation challenges, functional benefits achieved, and other relevant information. These survey results were combined (where possible) with results of similar surveys conducted in the previous four years to observe trends over time.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measured performance of filtration and ventilation systems for fine and ultrafine particles and ozone in an unoccupied modern California house

This study evaluated nine ventilation and filtration systems in an unoccupied 2006 house located 250m downwind of the I-80 freeway in Sacramento, California. Systems were evaluated for reducing indoor concentrations of outdoor particles in summer and fall/winter, ozone in summer, and particles from stir-fry cooking. Air exchange rate was measured continuously. Energy use was estimated for year-round operation in California. Exhaust ventilation without enhanced filtration produced indoor PM 2.5 that was 70% lower than outdoors. Supply ventilation with MERV13 filtration provided slightly less protection whereas supply MERV16 filtration reduced PM 2.5 5 by 97-98% relative to outdoors. Supply filtration systems used little energy but provided no benefits for indoor-generated particles. Systems with MERV13-16 filters in the recirculating heating and cooling unit (FAU) operating continuously or 20 min/h reduced PM 2.5 by 93-98%. Across all systems, removal percentages were higher for ultrafine particles and lower for black carbon, relative to PM 2.5 . Indoor ozone was 3-4% of outdoors for all systems except an electronic air cleaner that produced ozone. Filtration via the FAU or portable filtration units lowered PM 2.5 by 25-75% when operated over the hour following cooking. The energy for year-round operation of FAU filtration with an efficient blower motor was estimated at 600 kWh/year.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Advanced Cloud Forecasting for Solar Energy’s Impact on Grid Modernization

Solar energy production is subject to variability in the solar resource – clouds and aerosols will reduce the available solar irradiance and inhibit power production. The fact that solar irradiance can vary by large amounts at small timescales and in an unpredictable way means that power utilities are reluctant to assign to their solar plants a large portion of future energy demand – the needed power might be unavailable, forcing the utility to make costly adjustments to its daily portfolio. The availability and predictability of solar radiation therefore represent important research topics for increasing the power produced by renewable sources.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Modernizing the nation’s stockpile: Plutonium Surface Science Lab

Los Alamos National Laboratory is the Department of Energy’s premier nuclear weapons lab and the nation’s Plutonium R&D Center of Excellence. The Lab combines decades of expertise with one-of-a-kind tools to ensure the safety and stability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of The PaR Tool: Modernization of the Planning and Routing Scripts

The placement of an efficient route for power lines is a poorly understood. Owners of the land are often divided about whether to allow their land to have a pole placed. A planning and routing toolkit allows for the people to allow and deny access to land then instantly see the route recalculate. The original planning and routing scripts were the original proof of concept, there was a series of problems that greatly hindered the functionality of the system. The PaR Tool a fully featured application replaced the proof of concept scripts and the speed of the system was increased by 254%. It is readily extensible and far easier to use.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Historic Documentation of TA-03-0016. Smashing Atoms & Modern Physics at the Ion Beam Facility, Volume 1

The U. S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Los Alamos Field Office (Field Office) requested the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) to concur with the National Register of Historic Places eligibility determination contained in the report The Decommissioning of TA-3-16, the Ion Beam Facility (IBF) (LA-UR-05-0775). In this report, Building Technical Area (TA) 3-16 was determined eligible to the National Register of Historic Places. The SHPO concurred with the eligibility determination on March 25, 2005. However, the Field Office later proposed to decontaminate, decommission, and ultimately demolish this property, an adverse effect to Building TA-3-16.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Models and methods for assessing the value of HVDC adn MVDC technologies in modern power grids (Annual Report, Executive Summary)

Evolution of today’s predominantly alternating current (ac) transmission grid in to mixed ac transmission – high-voltage direct current (HVdc) systems is expected with the decreasing costs of and advancements in power electronics technologies. The recent technological advancements include the development of more efficient and compact voltage source converters (VSCs) that can provide fast response. Because of their controllability and fast response, HVdc systems provide the ability to enhance reliability of the ac transmission grid through frequency support, voltage control, and congestion relief. The HVdc systems can also provide other ancillary services to enhance the economics and reliability of the ac transmission grids, and to optimize their performance. The tools, models, and methods developed to evaluate their benefits will be key enablers to understanding the value proposition introduced by the fast-acting HVdc systems. The main motivation of this work was to develop models and methods to explore and quantify the technical and economic benefits of HVdc systems and fast response VSC technologies in the future grid of United States. The models and methods explore the benefits of HVdc systems through provision of controlled active/reactive power and fast response. The fast response can provide much-needed multiobjective services to the grid (e.g., frequency response, voltage control) while moving blocks of energy. The models and methods can be applied to study other power electronics technologies and scenarios such as those undertaken in ongoing studies led by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Inverter-based Resource Performance Task Force (IRPTF). The IRPTF studies identify the problems associated with power electronics-based technologies as they are integrated in to the bulk power system (or the ac transmission system).

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Modern Wild West: The Rough-and-Tumble World of Encryption

Encryption is a big deal, but it hasn’t always been so. In the early 90s, it was solidly in the realm of governments, corporations, and what the general public might consider paranoid tech geeks. Encryption was used to protect documents containing classified information, sensitive financial data, trade secrets, or emails between a few people who met at a key-signing party. Today, people have been educated a bit more, and most understand the privacy implications of not using some form of encryption.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2019

The BNL-LANL cathode collaboration: Applying the tools of modern material science to cathode design [Slides]

Changes to the LANL / BNL photocathode programs are a strategic response to evolving needs and opportunities within NNSA. The Materials by Design strategy engages the broader material science communities at both LANL and BNL. Progress has been non-linear with time and investment. Techniques honed for one application can be rapidly applied to many others. For example, Cs 2 Te following successes of smooth K 2 CsSb. We enter a cycle of using accelerator-based tools to improve accelerators. Providers of advanced tools of material science (accelerator based x-ray light sources) are now availing themselves of the same capabilities to improve the next-generation machines. We are looking to define future collaborations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

The vertical structure of convective mass-flux derived from modern radar systems: Data analysis in support of cumulus parametrization (Final Report)

The project delivered against all its major aims. We first developed a new calibration technique that enabled the construction of a long-term (17 years) calibrated radar dataset for the Darwin region. We documented both the technique and the data set in publications. We then developed a corresponding long-term dataset that characterises the large-scale state of the atmosphere. Equipped with both, we examined the relationship of key convective ensemble characteristics, such as cloud number and size, with the convective environment. In addition to the stated goals, we also applied the data set to i) estimate rainfall efficiency; ii) derive a new metric for convective organisation and iii) derive a longterm data set of convective mass-flux in the Darwin region and apply it to derive estimates of entrainment and detrainment rates in a convective cloud ensemble. Most of the research has been published or submitted for publication and will therefore only briefly summarised here, with links to or copies of the respective papers supplied.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗