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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 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Hydrogen-Battery Hybrid Energy System on Repurposed Offshore Platforms for Efficient Clean-Energy Transition

Due to the rising global energy demand and enhanced awareness of the environmental impact of fossil fuels, the Gulf of Mexico, traditionally known for oil extraction, offers a distinct chance to repurpose the existing offshore infrastructure. With the depletion of oil reserves, it is feasible to adapt previously utilized floating platforms for extraction to generate renewable energy, specifically through wind-generated power and hydrogen production. This adaptation seeks to promote a transport system that is more ecologically friendly in the future. Offshore wind turbines serve as the main energy source, with help from battery storage and hydrogen production to enhance the overall system performance, hydrogen creation, fuel, and electricity delivery for sustainable energy production. The system is divided into two distinct cases, each evaluated for cost, performance, and feasibility, with a focus on minimizing both the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). The first case examines the integration of offshore wind turbines with hydrogen production. Excess electricity generated by wind turbines is directed toward hydrogen production via electrolysis. The hydrogen produced can be used as fuel for vehicles or transported to the shore via pipelines. The second case investigates a technology that combines wind turbines with battery storage. The batteries possess an ability to supply electricity for a continuous duration of 4 hours maximum each day. The main objective is to reduce the LCOE by considering the battery's charging and discharging cycles, together with the uncertain attributes of wind power and battery deterioration. The produced energy can be distributed for onshore applications or utilized for the purpose of offsetting offshore loads such as subsea oil and gas production, transportation, etc. The offshore hydrogen-battery hybrid system is improved via three advanced algorithms, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO). In Case 1, PSO improves hydrogen production by efficiently managing the electrolyzer’s power consumption, decreasing production costs significantly. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is applied to improve the efficiency of the electrolyzer, reducing production costs and achieving an optimized CAPEX of $240.00 million (from an initial $300.00 million) and OPEX of $9.60 million per year. This system produces 4,720,000 kg of hydrogen annually, with a Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) of $6.40/kg and an annual profit of $9.27 million. In Case 2, GWO effectively reduces the overall energy cost by improving the charge-discharge management of batteries, which extends battery life and optimizes their use. The second case focuses on integrating battery storage, optimized using the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), which enhances battery charge-discharge cycles, extending battery life and lowering costs. This system achieves an optimized CAPEX of $204.80 million (from an initial $256.00 million) and OPEX of $9.29 million per year, producing 310883.39 MWh of electricity annually at a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of $86.13/MWh, with an annual profit of $6.25 million. The implementation of a comprehensive strategy results in a substantial reduction in costs, improved energy efficiency, and a dependable supply of both electric power and hydrogen, emphasizing the benefits of converting offshore oil platforms for clean energy transition. This study explores a clean strategy to enable cost-effective repurposing of offshore O&G platforms. Both cases highlight the economic and technical feasibility of transitioning offshore oil platforms to clean energy systems, demonstrating substantial cost reductions and reliable energy and hydrogen supplies for sustainable energy production.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measuring the muon precession frequency in the E989 Fermilab g-2 experiment

Since more than 50 years the electron and muon anomalies, $a_e$ and $a_\mu$, defined in terms of the gyromagnetic factor $g_i$ for particle $i$ as $a_i=(g_i-2)/2$, have provided a deep insight into the quantum structure of elementary particles.They have been, and continue to be, a milestone for the development of the Standard Model of Particle Physics against which all new theories have to be compared.For almost 20 years, the experimental value of $a_\mu$ has shown a tantalizing discrepancy of more than $3 \sigma$ from the theoretical prediction making it mandatory for experimentalists to improve the current result, dominated by the E821 experiment at BNL\cite{BNL}. The Muon $g-2$ E989 experiment at Fermilab will use the same storage ring technique used at BNL, and previously in the CERN-III experiment, with the goal of decreasing by a factor of 4 the current error on $a_\mu$, which will allow for a finer comparison with the theoretical prediction. E989 started collecting data in winter 2018 accumulating, in the period April-July 2018 (Run1) almost twice the statistics of the previous experiment (before application of data quality cuts). In this document, the experiment will be briefly described, underlying the improvements which will allow to reduce the systematic error, and some preliminary result will be shown.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Experimental 4D Tracking of a Single Electron in IOTA

We present the results of the first experiments on 4-dimensional phase-space tracking of a single electron in a storage ring, using a linear multi-anode photomultiplier tube for simultaneously measuring transverse coordinates and arrival times of synchrotron-radiation pulses. During the next few months, full 6D tracking will be implemented. This technology makes it possible to characterize the motion of a single particle, i.e. simultaneously tracking of amplitudes and phases for slow synchrotron oscillations and fast betatron oscillations. Complete tracking of a single particle enables the first direct measurements of dynamical properties, including invariants, amplitude-dependent tunes, and chaotic behavior.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1988

The sudden appearance of the tail of Comet Halley

An outburst event on Comet Halley, which was photographed in November 1985 when the comet was very near the ecliptic plane at 1.82 AU from the sun, is discussed. An irregular mass of material was observed, reaching about 1 arcmin south of the comet, approximately 70 degrees from the expected angle of the tail. Brightness changes during the event, up to a factor of 20, were shown in 2.3-10.3-micron IR measurements. The behavior of the outburst is consistent with the rapid expulsion of volatile ice particles. It is shown that the tail formed rather suddenly, though somewhat episodically. It is suggested that the outburst was not caused by a meteorite impact. It is concluded that the probable cause of the outburst was thermal heating of the nuclear crust with modest heat storage.

Lynch, D. K.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Scientific Visualization of Large Scale Unsteady Fluid Flow

In a numerical flow simulation. it is common to generate several thousand time steps of unsteady (time-dependent) flow data. Each time step may require tens to hundreds of megabytes for disk storage, and the total disk requirement for storing the unsteady flow data may be hundreds of gigabytes. Interactive visualization of unsteady flow data of this magnitude is presently impossible with the current hardware technology. This chapter describes the current approaches for unsteady flow visualization. An effective particle tracing technique for unsteady flow is also described. First, the life cycle of a typical numerical flow simulation is outlined. Several unsteady flow data sets from real-world problems are then given. The current approaches for visualizing unsteady flow are then described. There are many existing systems for flow visualization, and some of them are discussed. Streaklines depict time-varying phenomena that are sometimes difficult or impossible to see with other visualization techniques. The algorithms for computing streaklines are described. Several unsteady flow data sets have been visualized using streaklines, and the results are presented. Finally, some current issues in unsteady flow visualization are discussed.

Lane, David A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Recent Advances in Our Understanding of the Earth's Radiation Belts

The Earth's radiation belts were discovered by James van Allen more than fifty years ago and are a home to a plethora of fascinating processes ranging from low energy cold plasma to relativistic and ultra-relativistic particle populations. The traditional morphological picture of the radiation belts is that of an outer belt comprising mostly of electrons and an inner belt comprising mostly of protons with a so-called slot region separating the two. The inner belt is somewhat stable, while the outer radiation belt is very dynamical and shows variability in energetic electron populations over a wide range of energies, intensities, and time scales ranging from minutes, days and even years. This variability is due to dynamical processes of energization and loss with a variety of plasma waves playing an important and crucial role. The traditional picture has recently been challenged with new observations coming from the twin spacecraft mission, Van Allen Probes launched in the fall of 2012, which carries a comprehensive suite of instruments that measure particles and plasma waves. In more than 5 years of observations Van Allen Probes has advanced our understanding of fundamental questions regarding the acceleration and loss of outer Van Allen belt electron population. Van Allen Probes observations have also revealed new phenomena such as the "electron Storage ring", and the "impenetrable barrier". This article reviews electron dynamics in the Van Allen belts focusing on van Allen Probes observations and discuss exciting new ways of advancing radiation belt science with CubeSats and CubeSat constellations.

Relativistic electrons↗
DOE OSTI2023

Studying Cerium Oxide and Uranium Oxide Using Particle Attached Microelectrodes

The conference proceeding presents results of CeO2 and UO2 particles as microelectrodes enclosed in the SALVI E-cell developed in Dr. Yu's lab. These microfluidic cells can be used to study spent fuel materials in minute amount. They offer a flexible and economic way to understand spent fuel oxidation and dissolution in waste storage conditions.

Son, Jiyoung↗
DOE OSTI2024

Formation and Detriments of Residual Alkaline Compounds on High-Nickel Layered Oxide Cathodes

High-nickel layered oxides LiNi x M 1-x O 2 (x ≥ 0.9) have emerged as promising cathode materials for automotive batteries due to their high energy density and lower cost. However, the formation and accumulation of surface alkaline compounds during storage hinder their mass production and commercialization. Here, in this study, a validated chemical method is employed to deconvolute and quantify the evolution of each residual lithium compound in four representative cathodes during ambient-air storage, viz., LiNiO 2 (LNO), LiNi 0.95 Co 0.05 O 2 (NC), LiNi 0.95 Mn 0.05 O 2 (NM), and LiNi 0.95 Al 0.05 O 2 (NA). Furthermore, the activation energy of the reaction between water and the cathode is determined by measuring the leached LiOH concentration at various temperatures. While residual lithium and time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry measurements collectively reveal that the air stability overall follows the trend of NM > NA ≈ NC > LNO, the aged NM exhibits the highest charge-transfer resistance and the worst electrochemical performance among the cathodes. In situ, X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy unveil that the aged NM is plagued by a large area of resistive spinel-like M 3–x Li x O 4 phases, leading to aggravated particle reaction heterogeneity. Finally, a one-step recalcination method is demonstrated effective in fully restoring the degraded cathodes. This work provides insights into overcoming air sensitivity issues of high-Ni cathodes.

(S)TEM↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dynamics of particle network in composite battery cathodes

We report that improving composite battery electrodes requires a delicate control of active materials and electrode formulation. The electrochemically active particles fulfill their role as energy exchange reservoirs through interacting with the surrounding conductive network. We formulate a network evolution model to interpret the regulation and equilibration between electrochemical activity and mechanical damage of these particles. Through statistical analysis of thousands of particles using x-ray phase contrast holotomography in a LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 -based cathode, we found that the local network heterogeneity results in asynchronous activities in the early cycles, and subsequently the particle assemblies move toward a synchronous behavior. Our study pinpoints the chemomechanical behavior of individual particles and enables better designs of the conductive network to optimize the utility of all the particles during operation.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Fabrication of films and coatings used to activate shear thickening, impact resistant electrolytes

A method of making a passively impact resistant composite electrolyte and separator layer includes providing a suspension composition including electrically non-conducting particles that enable shear thickening. The particles can have a polydispersity index of no greater than 0.1, an average particle size in a range of from 50 nm to 1 um, and an absolute zeta potential of greater than ±40 mV. A particle suspension solvent is provided for suspending the particles. The suspension composition is applied to a porous separator material. A portion of the particles and suspension solvent penetrate the pores and the remainder of the particles in the suspension composition are distributed across the surface of the separator material. The suspension solvent is evaporated from the separator material to provide a shear thickening particle loaded separator. A separator assembly and a passivated battery are also disclosed.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Computational Modeling, Simulation, and Potential Applications of Optical Stochastic Cooling

With the rising demand for intense particles beams, much research is being conducted in the area of particle beam cooling. One of these methods, called Stochastic Cooling (SC) (developed at CERN in the 1970's), delivered a feedback method to improve the quality and lifetime of circulating proton beams by reducing their 6D phase-space and has been widely implemented in a number of hadron machines. However, traditional stochastic cooling schemes are limited by the bandwidth of microwave frequency systems. Optical Stochastic Cooling (OSC) is a promising extension of the stochastic cooling beam cooling technique. OSC instead uses optical wavelengths which allows for improved control and increased cooling but creates its own technical challenges. This lays out work conducted toward the experimental demonstration of OSC at Fermilab's Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) storage ring. This includes the design and characterization of parts of the optical delay system, the development and validation of a high-fidelity computational model of the OSC process, and the investigations into possible applications of the OSC mechanism to advanced beam manipulations.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dimensionality effect of conductive carbon fillers in LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 cathode

Developing advanced electrode architectures through modifying active materials, conductive fillers, binders, and electrolytes as well as processing methods has drawn significant research interest. Due to the insufficient electrical conductivity of many active materials, adding conductive carbon fillers to composite electrodes provides the necessary electrical conductivity. The dimensionality effect among different conductive fillers has a significant impact on electrochemistry, which can be associated with morphological and chemical heterogeneities of electrodes. In this study, synchrotron X-ray mosaic nanotomography and X-ray spectroscopy nanoimaging provided direct three-dimensional (3D) visualization and quantification capabilities to investigate the dimensionality effects of Super P (SP) and single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) fillers on the capacity retention of LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 (NMC111). The results indicate that NMC/SWCNT electrodes, with a wrapping effect from the SWCNTs, exhibited more homogeneous particle size distributions, morphological changes, and chemical states than NMC/SP electrodes, without the wrapping effect. This work developed a framework of 3D quantification methods to study the capacity fading behavior associated with morphological and chemical heterogeneities and paved the way toward designing electrodes for high rate energy storage applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1975

Water system virus detection

A monitoring system developed to test the capability of a water recovery system to reject the passage of viruses into the recovered water is described. A nonpathogenic marker virus, bacteriophage F2, is fed into the process stream before the recovery unit and the reclaimed water is assayed for its presence. Detection of the marker virus consists of two major components, concentration and isolation of the marker virus, and detection of the marker virus. The concentration system involves adsorption of virus to cellulose acetate filters in the presence of trivalent cations and low pH with subsequent desorption of the virus using volumes of high pH buffer. The detection of the virus is performed by a passive immune agglutination test utilizing specially prepared polystyrene particles. An engineering preliminary design was performed as a parallel effort to the laboratory development of the marker virus test system. Engineering schematics and drawings of a fully functional laboratory prototype capable of zero-G operation are presented. The instrument consists of reagent pump/metering system, reagent storage containers, a filter concentrator, an incubation/detector system, and an electronic readout and control system.

Fraser, A. S.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Analysis of particulates of comet nucleus samples: Possible use of olivine as indicator phase

The electron microprobe is a proven instrument for particulate analysis and modifications are possible for in situ analysis of particulates in ice at temperatures near that of liquid nitrogen. Present sample requirements allow for polished samples with 0.25 x 0.25 dimensions to be maintained in the sample chamber of a modern electron probe (CAMECA SX-50) at a temperature of -150 C; larger samples are possible but at higher temperatures as determined by thermal conductivity. The major problem is transport and insertion of samples into the instrument through vacuum interlocks. The manufacturer of the above microprobe has designed an exchange mechanism to allow storage and transport of samples previously prepared for their sample holder which attaches to their instrument allowing extraction and insertion of samples while maintaining -150 C temperature. An important test will be the capability of preparing polished surfaces of an ice-particulate sample without loss of particles and at low temperatures. While thin sections of water ice are routine, these are not examined for particulate material and are prepared at temperatures easily obtained in room-size volumes. Anticipated problems include rounding of small grains in the relatively soft ice matrix and the technical problem of dry polishing.

Steele, I. M.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Prokaryotic and Fungal Characterization of the Facilities Used to Assemble, Test, and Launch the OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft

To characterize the ATLO (Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations) environment of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, we analyzed 17 aluminum witness foils and two blanks for bacterial, archaeal, fungal, and arthropod DNA. Under NASA’s Planetary Protection guidelines, OSIRIS-REx is a Category II outbound, Category V unrestricted sample return mission. As a result, it has no bioburden restrictions. However, the mission does have strict organic contamination requirements to achieve its primary objective of returning pristine carbonaceous asteroid regolith to Earth. Its target, near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, is likely to contain organic compounds that are biologically available. Therefore, it is useful to understand what organisms were present during ATLO as part of the larger contamination knowledge effort—even though it is unlikely that any of the organisms will survive the multi-year deep space journey. Even though these samples of opportunity were not collected or preserved for DNA analysis, we successfully amplified bacterial and archaeal DNA (16S rRNA gene) from 16 of the 17 witness foils containing as few as 7 ± 3 cells per sample. Fungal DNA (ITS1) was detected in 12 of the 17 witness foils. Despite observing arthropods in some of the ATLO facilities, arthropod DNA (COI gene) was not detected. We observed 1,009 bacterial and archaeal sOTUs (sub-operational taxonomic units, 100% unique) and 167 fungal sOTUs across all of our samples (25–84 sOTUs per sample). The most abundant bacterial sOTU belonged to the genus Bacillus. This sOTU was present in blanks and may represent contamination during sample handling or storage. The sample collected from inside the fairing just prior to launch contained several unique bacterial and fungal sOTUs that describe previously uncharacterized potential for contamination during the final phase of ATLO. Additionally, fungal richness (number of sOTUs) negatively correlates with the number of carbon-bearing particles detected on samples. The total number of fungal sequences positively correlates with total amino acid concentration. These results demonstrate that it is possible to use samples of opportunity to characterize the microbiology of low-biomass environments while also revealing the limitations imposed by sample collection and preservation methods not specifically designed with biology in mind.

Aaron B. Regberg↗
DOE OSTI2021

Highly efficient Pt catalyst on newly designed CeO 2 -ZrO 2 -Al 2 O 3 support for catalytic removal of pollutants from vehicle exhaust

Pt-CeO 2 catalysts have been widely studied for the vehicle emission control. Designing novel CeO 2 based supports with improved physical-chemical properties has become a research hotspot to further promote the catalytic performance and stability of Pt-CeO 2 catalysts. In this work, through utilizing a unique, two-step incipient wetness impregnation (T-IWI) method for ceria-zirconia-alumina (CZA-T) support preparation, a Pt single site catalyst (Pt/CZA-T) with excellent thermal stability was synthesized. Higher oxidation activity and Oxygen storage capacity (OSC) were achieved on activated Pt/CZA-T, comparing to Pt catalysts on regular CeO 2 /Al 2 O 3 (Pt/CA) and one-step prepared CeZrO x /Al 2 O 3 (Pt/CZA). Via the modification of hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of γ-Al 2 O 3 by this unique T-IWI method, finer Ce 0.9 Zr 0.1 O 2 particles with higher density of surface defects were formed on CZA-T, on which a higher Pt dispersion and stronger Pt-O-Ce interaction were achieved. Upon activation, smaller, well-dispersed Pt clusters on CZA-T were generated. It was concluded that the CO oxidation performance and OSC were highly related to the size of Pt clusters on different supports that we have developed. Finally, more Pt sites located at Pt cluster-CeZrO x interfaces, which were the real active sites, were responsible for the highest OSC function and CO oxidation activity of activated Pt/CZA-T catalyst.

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

Optimization of the compositions of polyanionic sodium-ion battery cathode NaFe 2-x V x (PO 4 )(SO 4 ) 2

Sodium (Na) super ionic conductor (NASICON) polyanionic compounds have recently attracted much attention from the battery community because of their electroactive properties and reasonably high ionic conductivities, leading to their use as a cathode in sodium-ion batteries. This article describes the compositional optimizations, crystallographic evaluations, and electrochemical behavior of a new mixed NASICON polyanionic compound, NaFe 2-x V x (PO 4 )(SO 4 ) 2 . By doping the characteristic Fe 3+ sites of the FeO 6 octahedrons with varying amounts of V 3+ , the electrochemical stability and charge transport in NaFe 2 (PO 4 )(SO 4 ) 2 were enhanced. The resulting best composition, with crystal structure NaFe 1.4 V 0.6 (PO 4 )(SO 4 ) 2 resolved through the Rietveld method, exhibited a stable capacity compared with the other synthesized compositions. In situ powder x-ray diffraction measurements, a single-phase intercalation/deintercalation mechanism of the NASICON structure in the measured sodium concentration window was observed with no impurity phase formation. Further electrochemical assessments revealed the interfacial charge transfer kinetics to be the rate-limiting step in the sodium concentration window. Also, the measured sodium-ion diffusivity values in the range of 6 × 10 -11 to 7 × 10 -11 cm 2 /s in the measured sodium concentration range. The results reported here highlight the potential of compositionally and morphologically optimized NaFe 1.4 V 0.6 (PO 4 )(SO 4 ) 2 with higher particle surface areas as a cathode material for high-performance sodium-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗