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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 775 records · Page 43
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Can the Results of Biodiversity-Ecosystem Productivity Studies Be Translated to Bioenergy Production?

Biodiversity experiments show that increases in plant diversity can lead to greater biomass production, and some researchers suggest that high diversity plantings should be used for bioenergy production. However, many methods used in past biodiversity experiments are impractical for bioenergy plantings. For example, biodiversity experiments often use intensive management such as hand weeding to maintain low diversity plantings and exclude unplanted species, but this would not be done for bioenergy plantings. Also, biodiversity experiments generally use high seeding densities that would be too expensive for bioenergy plantings. Here we report the effects of biodiversity on biomass production from two studies of more realistic bioenergy crop plantings in southern Michigan, USA. One study involved comparing production between switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) monocultures and species-rich prairie plantings on private farm fields that were managed similarly to bioenergy plantings. The other study was an experiment where switchgrass was planted in monoculture and in combination with increasingly species-rich native prairie mixtures. Overall, we found that bioenergy plantings with higher species richness did not produce more biomass than switchgrass monocultures. The lack of a positive relationship between planted species richness and production in our studies may be due to several factors. Non-planted species (weeds) were not removed from our studies and these non-planted species may have competed with planted species and also prevented realized species richness from equaling planted species richness. Also, we found that low seeding density of individual species limited the biomass production of these individual species. Finally, production in future bioenergy plantings with high species richness may be increased by using a high density of inexpensive seed from switchgrass and other highly productive species, and future efforts to translate the results of biodiversity experiments to bioenergy plantings should consider the role of seeding density.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Application of 'Six Sigma{sup TM}' and 'Design of Experiment' for Cementation - Recipe Development for Evaporator Concentrate for NPP Ling AO, Phase II (China) - 12555

Cementation of radioactive waste is a common technology. The waste is mixed with cement and water and forms a stable, solid block. The physical properties like compression strength or low leach ability depends strongly on the cement recipe. Due to the fact that this waste cement mixture has to fulfill special requirements, a recipe development is necessary. The Six Sigma{sup TM}' DMAIC methodology, together with the Design of experiment (DoE) approach, was employed to optimize the process of a recipe development for cementation at the Ling Ao nuclear power plant (NPP) in China. The DMAIC offers a structured, systematical and traceable process to derive test parameters. The DoE test plans and statistical analysis is efficient regarding the amount of test runs and the benefit gain by getting a transfer function. A transfer function enables simulation which is useful to optimize the later process and being responsive to changes. The DoE method was successfully applied for developing a cementation recipe for both evaporator concentrate and resin waste in the plant. The key input parameters were determined, evaluated and the control of these parameters were included into the design. The applied Six Sigma{sup TM} tools can help to organize the thinking during the engineering process. Data are organized and clearly presented. Various variables can be limited to the most important ones. The Six Sigma{sup TM} tools help to make the thinking and decision process trace able. The tools can help to make data driven decisions (e.g. C and E Matrix). But the tools are not the only golden way. Results from scoring tools like the C and E Matrix need close review before using them. The DoE is an effective tool for generating test plans. DoE can be used with a small number of tests runs, but gives a valuable result from an engineering perspective in terms of a transfer function. The DoE prediction results, however, are only valid in the tested area. So a careful selection of input parameter and their limits for setting up a DoE is very important. An extrapolation of results is not recommended because the results are not reliable out of the tested area. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1996

Spectral Irradiance Measurements of Simulated Lightning in Planetary Atmospheres

Optical emissions from lightning provide information to estimate the altitude, latitude and longitude of lightning storms, the energy of the discharges, and the production of important trace species such as HCN and C2H2. Knowledge of the spectra of planetary lightning is needed to deduce the total energy dissipated by lightning (and thereby, the production of trace gases) and to help design experiments to detect and track lightning storms. Measurements of the spectral irradiance from approximately 380 to 820 nm are reported for laboratory simulations of lightning in the atmospheres of Venus, Jupiter, and Titan. In our laboratory, laser-induced plasmas (LIP) are used to simulate lightning discharges. This technique avoids contamination of the spectra by elect-ode material and maintains a safe environment while allowing the use of flammable gases, such as hydrogen and methane, found in outer planet atmospheres. The observations were made at I and 5 bars pressure for Venus and Jupiter and at 1 bar for the Titan mixture. At a pressure of one bar, our results show prominent lines from H(sub alpha), H(sub beta), H(sub gamma), and H(sub delta) lines of the Balmer Series of atomic hydrogen, a single line from Helium at 588 nm and strong continuum radiation. At pressures of 5 bars, the H(sub alpha) and H(sub beta) lines are wider, the H(sub gamma), and H(sub delta) lines merge into the continuum because of pressure broadening, and the helium line at 588 nm is no longer visible. The observed spectra of simulated lightning in the venusian atmosphere at 1 and 5 bars shows that the OI multiplet at 777.7 nm dominates the spectra, but weak features due to atomic carbon and singly excited and singly ionized oxygen atoms are also visible. Although lightning has not yet been observed on Titan, it conceivable that some form of lightning discharge could be occurring. Therefore experiments on a Titan atmosphere mixture were conducted. The most prominent features seen in the simulated spectra are the H(sub alpha) at 656 nm. from the dissociation of the methane and two strong features at 740 and 820 nm from singly excited nitrogen atoms. Most of the features between 400 and 656 nm are due to ionized nitrogen atoms. A broad, highly structured feature centered near 389 nm is molecular band radiation from CN molecules formed in the cooling plasma of atomic nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen. It is observed in the lightning simulations of both the venusian and Titan atmospheres, For Venus, Jupiter, and Titan, narrow spectral features that are ideal for detecting lightning in the presence of sunlight are present in the spectra. These features could allow lightning to be detected and tracked by Earth-based instruments.

Borucki, W. J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Final Design for Additional Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) with Sodium Chloride Absorbers to Provide Validation Benchmarks for TerraPower

The first set of Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) with chlorine absorbers (TEX-Cl) were executed in Q4FY24 and are in the process of being benchmarked for the ICSBEP. TEX-Cl builds upon the TEX-HEU baseline cases that were published in the 2022 International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) Handbook. TEX-HEU, like TEX-Pu, was designed to be modular to allow for the incorporation of various absorbers and reflectors to test nuclear data and application case needs. For example, TEX-HEU with hafnium (TEX-Hf) utilizes hafnium plates as both absorbers and reflectors, depending on the tested configuration. A second set of chlorine experiments, dubbed More TEX-Cl, are laid out in this report to meet the needs of TerraPower for chlorine validation for their Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR) systems. TerraPower’s Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) and MCFR are fast molten salt reactors that utilize sodium chloride (NaCl) salt eutectics as the fuel and coolant. The MCRE eutectic is a mixture of NaCl and uranium trichloride (UCl 3 ). An abundant need for chlorine absorption validation has been expressed by multiple members of the community, including Y-12 (whose needs were addressed with the first set of experiments), LANL (whose needs were addressed with the Chlorine Worth Study (CWS)), TerraPower, institute de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (IRSN), Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SNRS), and others. Of the members who have expressed interest in this validation, most are interested in the fast neutron energy region, where the 35 Cl(n,p) reaction is most prominent. New 35 Cl(n,p) differential cross section measurements performed by LANL at LANCSE show substantial changes to the cross sections (Figure 1) and may be validated through these experiments as some configurations are optimally sensitive to this cross section.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1982

Oxidation of SO2 by NO2 and air in an aqueous suspension of carbon

A series of experiments has been performed using carbon black as a surrogate for soot particles. Carbon black was suspended in water and gas mixtures were bubbled into the suspensions to observe the effect of carbon particles on the oxidation of SO2 by air and NO2. Identical gas mixtures were bubbled into a black containing only pure water. After exposure each solution was analyzed for pH and sulfate. It was found that NO2 greatly enhances the oxidation of SO2 to sulfate in the presence of carbon black. The amount of sulfate in the blanks was significantly less. Under the conditions of the experiments no saturation of the reaction was observed and SO2 was converted to sulfate even in a highly acid medium (pH not less than 1.5).

Rogowski, R. S.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Isotope effects on L-H threshold and confinement in tokamak plasmas

The dependence of plasma transport and confinement on the main hydrogenic ion isotope mass is of fundamental importance for understanding turbulent transport and, therefore, for accurate extrapolations of confinement from present tokamak experiments, which typically use a single hydrogen isotope, to burning plasmas such as ITER, which will operate in deuterium–tritium mixtures. Knowledge of the dependence of plasma properties and edge transport barrier formation on main ion species is critical in view of the initial, low-activation phase of ITER operations in hydrogen or helium and of its implications on the subsequent operation in deuterium–tritium. The favourable scaling of global energy confinement time with isotope mass, which has been observed in many tokamak experiments, remains largely unexplained theoretically. Moreover, the mass scaling observed in experiments varies depending on the plasma edge conditions. In preparation for upcoming deuterium–tritium experiments in the JET tokamak with the ITER-like Be/W Wall (JET-ILW), a thorough experimental investigation of isotope effects in hydrogen, deuterium and tritium plasmas is being carried out, in order to provide stringent tests of plasma energy, particle and momentum transport models. Recent hydrogen and deuterium isotope experiments in JET-ILW on L-H power threshold, L-mode and H-mode confinement are reviewed and discussed in the context of past and more recent isotope experiments in tokamak plasmas, highlighting common elements as well as contrasting observations that have been reported. The experimental findings are discussed in the context of fundamental aspects of plasma transport models.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1997

Gas Chromatographic Detectors for Exobiology Flight Experiments

Exobiology flight experiments require highly sensitive instrumentation for in situ chemical analysis of the volatile chemical species that occur in the atmospheres and surfaces of various bodies within the solar system. The complex mixtures encountered place a heavy burden on the analytical instrumentation to detect and identify all species present. Future missions to Mars', comets, or planetary moons such as Europa, will perform experiments with complex analyses. In addition, instrumentation for such missions must perform under severely restricted conditions with limited resources. To meet these analytical requirements, improved methods and highly sensitive yet smaller instruments must continually be developed with increasingly greater capabilities. We describe here efforts to achieve this objective, for past and future missions, through the development of new or the improvement of existing sensitive, miniaturized gas chromatographic detectors.

Kojiro, Daniel R.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Enhanced x-ray emissions from Au-Gd mixture targets ablated by a high-power nanosecond laser

As an important x-ray source, enhancement of x-ray emissions from laser-produced plasmas is imperative for various applications. High-Z Au-Gd mixture targets are proposed to enhance the laser to x-ray conversion efficiency compared to pure Au target. In the experiments, a 1 ns frequency-tripled (351 nm wavelength) laser light was used to obtain an intensity of 3×10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2} on the targets. The x-ray spectra, total absolute x-ray emissions of all space, M-band fraction and backscattering from pure Au and Au-Gd mixture have been measured, respectively. It is shown that the absolute laser to x-ray conversion efficiency for the Au-Gd mixture containing 60% gold by atom is 47.7%, which has a 15% enhancement compared with that of the pure Au target. The experimental results are consistent with the radiation hydrodynamic simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Helium–Xenon mixtures to improve the topological signature in high pressure gas xenon TPCs

Within the framework of xenon-based double beta decay experiments, we propose the possibility to improve the background rejection of an electroluminescent Time Projection Chamber (EL TPC) by reducing the diffusion of the drifting electrons while keeping nearly intact the energy resolution of a pure xenon EL TPC. Additionally, based on state-of-the-art microscopic simulations, a substantial addition of helium, around 10 or 15 %, may reduce drastically the transverse diffusion down to 2.5 mm/ $\sqrt{m}$ from the 10.5 mm/ $\sqrt{m}$ of pure xenon. The longitudinal diffusion remains around 4 mm/ $\sqrt{m}$. Light production studies have been performed as well. They show that the relative variation in energy resolution introduced by such a change does not exceed a few percent, which leaves the energy resolution practically unchanged. Lastly, the technical caveats of using photomultipliers close to an helium atmosphere are also discussed in detail.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Direct numerical simulations of three-component Rayleigh–Taylor mixing and an improved model for multicomponent reacting mixtures

We present direct numerical simulations of a three-layer Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) problem with a configuration based on the experiments of Suchandra & Ranjan ( J. Fluid Mech. , vol. 974, 2023, A35) and Jacobs & Dalziel ( J. Fluid Mech. , vol. 542, 2005, pp. 251–279). The problem consists of a layer of light fluid between two layers of heavy fluid with an Atwood number of 0.3. These simulations are first validated through comparison with available experimental data. The validated simulations are then utilized to analyse statistics in this three-component flow. First, length scales are examined utilizing spectra and two-point spatial correlations of velocity and species concentration fluctuations. Next, joint probability density functions (p.d.f.s) of species concentration are compared against several model p.d.f.s representing generalizations of the bivariate beta distribution. Notably, the joint p.d.f.s do not appear to be accurately described by a Dirichlet distribution, indicating the marginal distributions do not conform to a beta distribution. Finally, similarity of the present configuration to three-component mixing found in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) applications is exploited to develop and validate an improved model for the impact of multicomponent mixing on thermonuclear (TN) reaction rates. A single time instant from the present simulations is chosen for a TN burn calculation under the hypothetical assumption of ICF materials and temperatures. Total TN output from this second calculation is then compared against the prediction of the improved model. The new model is found to accurately predict TN reaction rates in both premixed and non-premixed configurations.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

G-Mapper: Learning a Cover in the Mapper Construction

The Mapper algorithm is a visualization technique in topological data analysis (TDA) that outputs a graph reflecting the structure of a given dataset. However, the Mapper algorithm requires tuning several parameters in order to generate a “nice” Mapper graph. This paper focuses on selecting the cover parameter. We present an algorithm that optimizes the cover of a Mapper graph by splitting a cover repeatedly according to a statistical test for normality. Our algorithm is based on G-means clustering, which searches for the optimal number of clusters in 𝑘-means by iteratively applying the Anderson–Darling test. Our splitting procedure employs a Gaussian mixture model to carefully choose the cover according to the distribution of the given data. In conclusion, experiments for synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate that our algorithm generates covers so that the Mapper graphs retain the essence of the datasets, while also running significantly faster than a previous iterative method.

G-means clustering↗
NASA NTRS1999

Waves in Radial Gravity Using Magnetic Fluid

Terrestrial laboratory experiments studying various fluid dynamical processes are constrained, by being in an Earth laboratory, to have a gravitational body force which is uniform and unidirectional. Therefore fluid free-surfaces are horizontal and flat. Such free surfaces must have a vertical solid boundary to keep the fluid from spreading horizontally along a gravitational potential surface. In atmospheric, oceanic, or stellar fluid flows that have a horizontal scale of about one-tenth the body radius or larger, sphericity is important in the dynamics. Further, fluids in spherical geometry can cover an entire domain without any sidewall effects, i.e. have truly periodic boundary conditions. We describe spherical body-force laboratory experiments using ferrofluid. Ferrofluids are dilute suspensions of magnetic dipoles, for example magnetite particles of order 10 nm diameter, suspended in a carrier fluid. Ferrofluids are subject to an additional body force in the presence of an applied magnetic field gradient. We use this body force to conduct laboratory experiments in spherical geometry. The present study is a laboratory technique improvement. The apparatus is cylindrically axisymmetric. A cylindrical ceramic magnet is embedded in a smooth, solid, spherical PVC ball. The geopotential field and its gradient, the body force, were made nearly spherical by careful choice of magnet height-to-diameter ratio and magnet size relative to the PVC ball size. Terrestrial gravity is eliminated from the dynamics by immersing the "planet" and its ferrofluid "ocean" in an immiscible silicone oil/freon mixture of the same density. Thus the earth gravity is removed from the dynamics of the ferrofluid/oil interface and the only dynamically active force there is the radial magnetic gravity. The entire apparatus can rotate, and waves are forced on the ferrofluid surface by exterior magnets. The biggest improvement in technique is in the wave visualization. Fluorescing dye is added to the oil/freon mixture and an argon ion laser generates a horizontal light that can be scanned vertically. Viewed from above, the experiment is a black circle with wave deformations surrounded by a light background. A contour of the image intensity at any light sheet position gives the surface of the ferrofluid "ocean" at that "latitude". Radial displacements of the waves as a function of longitude are obtained by subtracting the contour line positions from a no-motion contour at that laser sheet latitude. The experiments are run by traversing the forcing magnet with the laser sheet height fixed and images are frame grabbed to obtain a time-series at one latitude. The experiment is then re-run with another laser-sheet height to generate a full picture of the three-dimensional wave structure in the upper hemisphere of the ball as a function of time. We concentrate here on results of laboratory studies of waves that are important in Earth's atmosphere and especially the ocean. To get oceanic scaling in the laboratory, the experiment must rotate rapidly (4-second rotation period) so that the wave speed is slow compared to the planetary rotation speed as in the ocean. In the Pacific Ocean, eastward propagating Kelvin waves eventually run into the South American coast. Theory predicts that some of the wave energy should scatter into coastal-trapped Kelvin waves that propagate north and south along the coast. Some of this coastal wave energy might then scatter into mid-latitude Rossby waves that propagate back westward. Satellite observations of the Pacific Ocean sea-surface temperature and height seem to show signatures of westward propagating mid-latitude Rossby waves, 5 to 10 years after the 1982-83 El Nino. The observational data is difficult to interpret unambiguously owing to the large range of motions that fill the ocean at shorter timescales. This series of reflections giving eastward, north- ward, and then westward traveling waves is observed cleanly in the laboratory experiments, confirming the theoretical expectations.

Ohlsen, D. R.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Strain induced novel quantum magnetotransport properties of topological insulators

Recent theoretical and experimental researches have revealed that the strained bulk HgTe can be regarded as a three-dimensional topological insulator (TI). Motivated by this, we explore the strain effects on the transport properties of the HgTe surface states, which are modulated by a weak 1D in-plane electrostatic periodic potential in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. We analytically derive the zero frequency (dc) diffusion conductivity for the case of quasielastic scattering in the Kubo formalism, and find that, in strong magnetic field regime, the Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations are superimposed on top of the Weiss oscillations due to the electric modulation for null and finite strain. Furthermore, the strain is shown to remove the degeneracy in inversion symmetric Dirac cones on the top and bottom surfaces. This accordingly gives rise to the splitting and mixture of Landau levels, and the asymmetric spectrum of the dc conductivity. These phenomena, not known in a conventional 2D electron gas and even in a strainless TI and graphene, are a consequence of the anomalous spectrum of surface states in a fully stained TI. These results should be valuable for electronic and spintronic applications of TIs, and thus we fully expect to see them in the further experiment. - Highlights: • The strain removes the degeneracy in inversion symmetric Dirac cones. • The strain gives rise to the splitting and mixture of the Landau levels. • The strain leads to the asymmetric spectrum of the dc conductivity. • Shubnikov de Haas oscillations are shown to be superimposed on Weiss oscillations. • Interplay between strain and electric field causes different occupancy of TI states.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2026

Reduced Order Models for Liquid Hydrogen Pooling and Vaporization Supported by Experiments

In the event of a leak of liquid hydrogen, a pool can form that vaporizes, disperses, and eventually dilutes to a non-flammable mixture. In this work, we describe fast-running models for the pooling and vaporization of liquid hydrogen in a steady cross-wind. Several pooling models from the literature are compared to solve for the flow and extent of the pool. The size of the pool can serve as the source for a separate dispersion model, which builds upon the existing one-dimensional Gaussian plume model in HyRAM+. Additional terms for the effects of a cross-wind on momentum and entrainment were added so that the model could handle the effects of a cross-wind on a low-speed flow. The models are compared to experimental data on pooling extent and downwind dispersion for steady flow rates of liquid hydrogen in a steady cross-wind. In the two compared experiments, liquid flow rates of 15 and 45 g/s were spilled onto concrete in cross-winds of approximately 1.8 m/s. The rate of growth of the pool and the downwind concentration boundaries are compared to the models, showing good agreement, although additional tuning is needed. These models can contribute to the advancement of codes and standards for liquid hydrogen systems.

dispersion↗
DOE OSTI2020

Impact of particle arrays on phase separation composition patterns

We examine the symmetry-breaking effect of fixed constellations of particles on the surface-directed spinodal decomposition of binary blends in the presence of particles whose surfaces have a preferential affinity for one of the components. Our phase-field simulations indicate that the phase separation morphology in the presence of particle arrays can be tuned to have a continuous, droplet, lamellar, or hybrid morphology depending on the interparticle spacing, blend composition, and time. In particular, when the interparticle spacing is large compared to the spinodal wavelength, a transient target pattern composed of alternate rings of preferred and non-preferred phases emerges at early times, tending to adopt the symmetry of the particle configuration. We reveal that such target patterns stabilize for certain characteristic length, time, and composition scales characteristic of the pure phase-separating mixture. To illustrate the general range of phenomena exhibited by mixture-particle systems, we simulate the effects of single-particle, multi-particle, and cluster–particle systems having multiple geometrical configurations of the particle characteristic of pattern substrates on phase separation. Our simulations show that tailoring the particle configuration, or substrate pattern configuration, a relative fluid-particle composition should allow the desirable control of the phase separation morphology as in block copolymer materials, but where the scales accessible to this approach of organizing phase-separated fluids usually are significantly larger. Limited experiments confirm the trends observed in our simulations, which should provide some guidance in engineering patterned blend and other mixtures of technological interest.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1990

Laboratory simulation of interstellar grain chemistry and the production of complex organic molecules

During the past 15 years considerable progress in observational techniques has been achieved in the middle infrared (5000 to 500 cm(-1), 2 to 20 microns m), the spectral region most diagnostic of molecular vibrations. Spectra of many different astronomical infrared sources, some deeply embedded in dark molecular clouds, are now available. These spectra provide a powerful probe, not only for the identification of interstellar molecules in both the gas solid phases, but also of the physical and chemical conditions which prevail in these two very different domains. By comparing these astronomical spectra with the spectra of laboratory ices one can determine the composition and abundance of the icy materials frozen on the cold (10K) dust grains present in the interior of molecular clouds. These grains and their ice mantles may well be the building blocks from which comets are made. As an illustration of the processes which can take place as an ice is irradiated and subsequently warmed, researchers present the infrared spectra of the mixture H2O:CH3OH:CO:NH3:C6H14 (100:50:10:10:10). Apart from the last species, the ratio of these compounds is representative of the simplest ices found in interstellar clouds. The last component was incorporated into this particular experiment as a tracer of the behavior of a non-aromatic hydrocarbon. The change in the composition that results from ultraviolet photolysis of this ice mixture using a UV lamp to simulate the interstellar radiation field is shown. Photolysis produces CO, CO2, CH4, HCO, H2CO, as well as a family of moderately volatile hydrocarbons. Less volatile carbonaceous materials are also produced. The evolution of the infrared spectrum of the ice as the sample is warmed up to room temperature is illustrated. Researchers believe that the changes are similar to those which occur as ice is ejected from a comet and warmed up by solar radiation. The warm-up sequence shows that the nitrile or iso-nitrile bearing compound produced during photolysis evaporates between 200 and 250K, suggesting that it is carried by a small molecular species. These molecules could be similar to the source material in Comet Halley that is ejected in grains into the coma, freed by sublimation, and photolyzed by solar radiation to produce the observed jets.

Allamandola, L. J.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Resolving and Measuring Diffusion in Complex Interfaces: Exploring New Capabilities

This exploratory LDRD targeted the use of a new high resolution spectroscopic diffusion capabilities developed at Sandia to resolve transport processes at interfaces in heterogeneous polymer materials. In particular, the combination of high resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with pulsed field gradient (PFG) diffusion experiments were used to directly explore interface diffusion within heterogeneous polymer composites, including measuring diffusion for individual chemical species in multi-component mixtures. Several different types of heterogeneous polymer systems were studied using these HRMAS NMR diffusion capabilities to probe the resolution limitations, determine the spatial length scales involved, and explore the general applicability to specific heterogeneous systems. The investigations pursued included a) the direct measurement of the diffusion for poly(dimethyl siloxane) polymer (PDMS) on nano-porous materials, b) measurement of penetrant diffusion in additive manufactures (3D printed) processed PDMS composites, and c) the measurement of diffusion in swollen polymers/penetrant mixtures within nano-confined aluminum oxide membranes. The NMR diffusion results obtained were encouraging and allowed for an improved understanding of diffusion and transport processes at the molecular level, while at the same time demonstrating that the spatial heterogeneity that can be resolved using HRMAS NMR PFG diffusion experiment must be larger than ~μm length scales, expect for polymer transport within nanoporous carbons where additional chemical resolution improves the resolvable heterogeneous length scale to hundreds of nm.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Numerical Investigation of Spark Ignition Events in Lean and Dilute Methane/Air Mixtures using a Detailed Energy Deposition Model

It is beneficial but challenging to operate spark-ignition engines under highly lean and dilute conditions. The unstable ignition behavior can result in downgraded combustion performance in engine cylinders. Numerical approach is serving as a promising tool to identify the ignition requirements by providing insight into the complex physical/chemical phenomena. An effort to simulate the early stage of flame kernel initiation in lean and dilute fuel/air mixture has been made and discussed in this paper. The simulations are set to validate against laboratory results of spark ignition behavior in a constant volume combustion vessel. In order to present a practical as well as comprehensive ignition model, the simulations are performed by taking into consideration the discharge circuit analysis, the detailed reaction mechanism, and local heat transfer between the flame kernel and spark plug. The energy profile and the energy source geometry are investigated in detail to represent the physics of electrical discharge. It was observed in the experiments that a sufficiently high ambient pressure is necessary for a successful ignition event in the lean and dilute mixture when the spark plug gap size and primary energy input are held constant. By adopting realistic energy levels, this detailed energy deposition model showed the capability to reasonably present such ignition behavior transition. The unique combination of energy deposition profile and geometry reveals the complexity of electrical discharge during the spark ignition event. The response of the combustible gas to the energy deposition showed dependency on the volumetric energy density, energy source’s surface area, temperature gradient at the energy source boundary, as well as the heat transfer condition local to the flame kernel.

Zhang, Anqi↗