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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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Final report describes an integrated wastewater-heat recovery system and solar preheating system to supply part of hot-water requirements of an industrial laundry. Large retrofit solar-water-heating system uses lightweight collectors.
Report describes retrofit solar-heating system designed for and installed in bottle works in Tennessee. System consists of 9,480 square feet (880 Square meters) of evacuated-tube solar collectors with attached specular cylindrical reflectors. Tubular collectors are expected to supply 55 percent of total thermal load.
The completed system was composed of three basic subsystems: the collector system consisting of 3,264 square feet of Owens Illinois evacuated glass tube collectors; the storage system which included a 5,000 gallon insulated steel tank; and the distribution and control system which included piping, pumping and heat transfer components as well as the solemoid activated valves and control logic for the efficient and safe operation of the entire system. This solar heating system was installed in an existing facility and was, therefore, a retrofit system. Extracts from the site files, specifications, drawings, installation, operation and maintenance instructions are included.
The need for clean, oil free space simulation systems has demanded the development of large, clean pumping systems. The assurance of optically dense liquid nitrogen baffles over diffusion pumps prevents backstreaming to a large extent, but does not preclude contamination from accidents or a control failure. Turbomolecular pumps or ion pumps achieve oil free systems but are only practical for relatively small chambers. Large cryopumps were developed and checked out which do achieve clean pumping of very large chambers. These pumps can be used as the original pumping system or can be retrofitted as a replacement for existing diffusion pumps.
The synfuels economic evaluation model was utilized to analyze cost and product economics of the TVA coal conversion facilities. It is concluded that; (1) moderate yearly future escalations ( 6%) in current natural gas prices will result in medium-Btu gas becoming competitive with natural gas at the plant boundary; (2) utilizing DRI price projections, the alternate synfuel products, except for electricity, will be competitive with their counterparts; (3) central site fuel cell generation of electricity, utilizing MBG, is economically less attractive than the other synthetic fuels, given projected price rises in electricity produced by other means; and (4) because of estimated northern Alabama synfuels market demands, existing conventional fuels, infrastructure and industrial synfuels retrofit problems, a diversity of transportable synfuels products should be produced by the conversion facility.
Support was provided to DOE and NASA in their efforts to inform industry, the public, and Government on the benefits and purpose of the gas turbine programs through demonstrations and exhibits. Tasks were carried out for maintenance, repair, and retrofit of the experimental gas turbine engines being used by NASA in their gas turbine technology programs and in program demonstrations. Limited support testing was conducted at Chrysler in which data were generated on air bearing rotor shaft dynamics, heavy duty variable sheave rubber belts, high temperature elastomer regenerator drive mounting and graphite regenerator seal friction characteristics.
The design definition of a microwave power reception and conversion system for use on high altitude powered platform is presented. The study includes an initial design, construction and test effort on a thin film, printed circuit rectenna. A study of a low altitude demonstration of an airborne rectenna was made starting with the assumption that a fifty foot mechanically steerable parabolic reflector at the Wallops Flight Center would be retrofitted with a low microwave power source consisting of a five kilowatt commercially available magnetron and that a small blimp would be used to support the rectenna.
90 page report gives overview of retrofitted solar space-heating and hot-water system installation for 61-year-old high school. Description, specifications, modifications, plan drawings for roof, three floors, basement, correspondence, and documents are part of report.
A design, fabrication, and implementation of a horizon control of a longwall shearer was performed. This equipment was tested and demonstrated aboveground. This hardware was also installed on a longwall face. The feasibility of providing horizon control for a shearer was demonstrated aboveground. The feasibility of retrofitting the necessary sensors in a survivable manner was demonstrated underground. Subsequent field tests of a specific component, the natural background sensor, at a western location demonstrated the particular usefulness of this device on a wider application basis.
Tests were conducted on a nominal 14:1 fixed-ratio Nasvytis multiroller traction drive retrofitted as the speed reducer in an automotive gas turbine engine. Power turbine speeds of 45,000 rpm and a drive output power of 102 kW (137 hp) were reached. The drive operated under both variable roller loading (proportional to torque) and fixed roller loading (automatic loading mechanism locked). The drive operated smoothly and efficiently as the engine speed reducer. Engine specific fuel consumption with the traction speed reducer was comparable to that with the original helical gearset.
The land availability and land values for solar ponds in the United States as they concern the residential, commercial, and institutional land use categories were investigated. Solar ponds were identified as efficient and economical means for collecting and storing direct and diffuse solar energy. Innovative methodologies were applied to arrive at regional projections regarding the amount of land that might potentially be available for retrofit or future solar pond applications. Regional land values were also documented and analyzed.
Bubble device technologies for spacecraft onboard memory offer improved reliability and memory functional characteristics. Recent advances include Permalloy gap devices (commercially available) whose improved performance and higher density are attributable to an asymmetric chevron pattern. Secondly, an order of magnitude increase in density at less power than the Permalloy technology is possible with the ion implant technology. A third technology, the self-structured current access system, offers another order of magnitude improvement in density and data rate, and is being studied. Capacity estimates for Permalloy gap, ion implant, and self-structured current access systems are, respectively, 10 to the 8th, 10 to the 9th, and 10 to the 10th bits, and power per unit data rate efficiencies are 140, 60, and 2 W/Mbps. A flexible modular organization system, compatible with all of these device technologies, is analyzed, and, as the system is contained in a bubble, relatively simple retrofitting is foreseen.
Proposed airlock retrofitted to air-inflated polymeric domes to accommodate large vehicles. Airlock inexpensive, simple to assemble, adaptable to any terrain and any size required, and requires no external power.
Two rotating gravity gradiometer (RGG) sensors, along with all the external electronics needed to operate them, and the fixtures and special test equipment needed to fill and align the bearings, were assembled in a laboratory, and inspected. The thermal noise threshold of the RGG can be lowered by replacing a damping resistor in the first stage electronics by an active artificial resistor that generates less random voltage noise per unit bandwidth than the Johnson noise from the resistor it replaces. The artificial resistor circuit consists of an operational amplifier, three resistors, and a small DC to DC floating power supply. These are small enough to be retrofitted to the present circuit boards inside the RGG rotor in place of the 3 Megohm resistor. Using the artificial resistor, the thermal noise of the RGG-2 sensor can be lowered from 0.3 Eotvos to 0.15 Eotvos for a 10 sec integration time.
A test program was initiated to evaluate the key operational and performance factors associated with the Nasvytis multiroller concept. Two sets of Nasvytis drives, each of slightly geometry, were parametrically tested on a back to back test stand. Initial results from these tests are reported. One of these units was later retrofitted to the power turbine of an automotive gas turbine engine and dynamometer tested.
Potential production rates and project cost savings achieved by converting the conventional machining process in manufacturing shuttle external tank panels to high speed machining (HSM) techniques were studied. Savings were projected from the comparison of current production rates with HSM rates and with rates attainable on new conventional machines. The HSM estimates were also based on rates attainable by retrofitting existing conventional equipment with high speed spindle motors and rates attainable using new state of the art machines designed and built for HSM.
Adaptation and derivation were used to develop a procedure for assessing the availability of renewable energy resources on the landscape while simultaneously accounting for the economic, legal, social, and environmental issues required. Done in a step-by-step fashion, the procedure can be used interactively at the computer terminals. Its application in determining the hydroelectricity, biomass, and windpower in a 40,000 acre study area of Western Massachusetts shows that: (1) three existing dam sites are physically capable of being retrofitted for hydropower; (2) each of three general areas has a mean annual windspeed exceeding 14 mph and is conductive to windpower; and (3) 20% of the total land area consists of prime agricultural biomass while 30% of the area is prime forest biomass land.
Data are presented for two different experimental programs which were conducted to investigate the characteristics of a hybrid (hydrostatic/ball) bearing operating in liquid hydrogen. The same bearing design was used in both programs. Analytical predictions were made of the bearing characteristics and are compared with the experimental results when possible. The first program used a bearing tester to determine the steady state, transient, and cyclic life characteristics of the bearing over a wide range of operating conditions. The second program demonstrated the feasibility of applying hybrid bearings to an actual high speed turbopump by retrofitting and then testing an existing liquid hydrogen turbopump with the bearings.