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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 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Elucidating key reducing species beyond ions in hydrogen plasma smelting reduction of iron ore

Hydrogen plasma smelting reduction (HPSR) of iron ore has attracted significant attention over the past decade due to its high-temperature operation, rapid plasma mediated reduction kinetics, and simpler density-based separation of molten iron product, compared to H2-based solid-state reduction. All of these attributes enable processing of low-grade ores for downstream use in electric-arc furnaces, as virgin iron with low gangue content is required for high quality steel and improved furnace operation. While positive ions exist within the plasma arc, this work demonstrates that near the anodic ore surface, hydrogen radicals and vibrationally excited hydrogen species dominate and their densities correlate well with observed reduction rates. Species concentrations in the transferred plasma arc and at the plasma-ore interface are evaluated using coupled thermal plasma and near-wall non-equilibrium plasma models. The thermal plasma model is validated against experimental voltage data and spectroscopic measurements of plasma temperature and density for varying current inputs. Modeling of the near surface thermochemical non-equilibrium and micrometer scale anode sheath layer reveals, in addition to the expected H + , significant concentrations of ArH + and H$^+_3$ ions, typically not observed in thermal plasmas under thermodynamic equilibrium. Our results show that the inverted sheath structure at the anodic ore surface strongly suppresses reactive positive ion fluxes, while non-equilibrium electron-impact processes generate abundant hydrogen radicals and vibrationally excited species. These findings highlight the critical role of non-equilibrium effects in hydrogen arc-driven iron ore reduction and advance understanding beyond prevailing hypotheses centered on hydrogen ion-driven mechanisms.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS2005

Transition Region Emission and the Energy Input to Thermal Plasma in Solar Flares

Understanding the energetics of solar flares depends on obtaining reliable determinations of the energy input to flare plasma. X-ray observations of the thermal bremsstrahlung from hot flare plasma provide temperatures and emission measures which, along with estimates of the plasma volume, allow the energy content of this hot plasma to be computed. However, if thermal energy losses are significant or if significant energy goes directly into cooler plasma, this is only a lower limit on the total energy injected into thermal plasma during the flare. We use SOHO UVCS observations of O VI flare emission scattered by coronal O VI ions to deduce the flare emission at transition region temperatures between 100,000 K and 1 MK for the 2002 July 23 and other flares. We find that the radiated energy at these temperatures significantly increases the deduced energy input to the thermal plasma, but by an amount that is less than the uncertainty in the computed energies. Comparisons of computed thermal and nonthermal electron energies deduced from RHESSI, GOES, and UVCS are shown.

Holman, Gordon D.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electron temperature gradient driven transport model for tokamak plasmas

A new model for electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes is developed as a component of the multi-mode anomalous transport module [Rafiq et al., Phys Plasmas 20, 032506 (2013)] to predict a time-dependent electron temperature profile in conventional and low aspect ratio tokamaks. This model is based on two-fluid equations that govern the dynamics of low-frequency short- and long-wavelength electromagnetic toroidal ETG driven drift modes. A low collisionality NSTX discharge is used to scan the plasma parameter dependence on the ETG real frequency, growth rate, and electron thermal diffusivity. Electron thermal transport is discovered in the deep core region where modes are more electromagnetic in nature. Several previously reported gyrokinetic trends are reproduced, including the dependencies of density gradients, magnetic shear, β and gradient of β (β'), collisionality, safety factor, and toroidicity, where β is the ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic pressure. Furthermore, the electron heat diffusivity associated with the ETG mode is discovered to be on a scale consistent with the experimental diffusivity determined by power balance analysis.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electron Temperature Gradient Driven Transport Model for Tokamak Plasmas

A new model for electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes is developed as a component of the Multi-Mode anomalous transport module [T. Rafiq \textit{et al.,} Phys Plasmas \textbf{20}, 032506 (2013)] to predict a time dependent electron temperature profile in conventional and low aspect ratio tokamaks. This model is based on two-fluid equations that govern the dynamics of low-frequency short- and long-wavelength electromagnetic toroidal ETG driven drift modes. A low collisionality NSTX discharge is used to scan the plasma parameter dependence on the ETG real frequency, growth rate, and electron thermal diffusivity. Electron thermal transport is discovered in the deep core region where modes are more electromagnetic in nature. Several previously reported gyrokinetic trends are reproduced, including the dependencies of density gradients, magnetic shear, $\beta$ and gradient of $\beta$ $(\betap)$, collisionality, safety factor, and toroidicity, where $\beta$ is the ratio of plasma pressure to the magnetic pressure. The electron heat diffusivity associated with the ETG mode is discovered to be on a scale consistent with the experimental diffusivity determined by power balance analysis.

ETG↗
NASA NTRS1991

Plasma convection and ion beam generation in the plasma sheet boundary layer

Because of the dawn-dusk electric field E(dd), plasma in the magnetotail convects from the lobe toward the central plasma sheet (CPS). In the absence of space or velocity diffusion due to plasma turbulence, convection would yield a steady state distribution function f = V exp (-2/3) g(v exp 2 V exp 2/3), where V is the flux tube volume. Starting with such a distribution function and a plasma beta which varies from beta greater than 1 in the CPS to beta much smaller than 1 in the lobe, the evolution of the ion distribution function was studied considering the combined effects of ion diffusion by kinetic Alfven waves (KAW) in the ULF frequency range (1-10 mHz) and convection due to E(dd) x B drift in the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) and outer central plasma sheet (OCPS). The results show that, during the early stages after launching the KAWs, a beamlike ion distribution forms in the PSBL and at the same time the plasma density and temperature decrease in the OCPS. Following this stage, ions in the beams convect toward the CPS resulting in an increase of the plasma temperature in the OCPS.

Moghaddam-Taaheri, E.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Producing entangled photon pairs and quantum squeezed states in plasmas

Plasma is capable of mediating the conversion of two pump photons into two different photons through a relativistic four-wave mixing nonlinearity. Spontaneously created photon pairs are emitted at symmetric angles with respect to the colinear pump direction, and the emission rate is largest if they have identical frequency. Thus, two orthogonally polarized pumps can produce polarization-entangled photon pairs through a millimeter-long homogeneous plasma. Here, the noise from Raman scattering can be avoided if the pump detuning differs from twice the plasma frequency. However, pump detuning exactly equal to twice the plasma frequency can significantly enhance the interaction rate, which allows for the production of strong two-mode squeezed states. Remarkably, the amplified noise from Raman scattering are correlated and hence can be suppressed in one of the output quadratures, thereby maintaining the squeezing magnitude.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1982

Determination of the temperature of a dense plasma from a spectral line shift

The method of maximum spectral line shift proposed by Bardocz, et al, (1966) was successfully applied in the diagnostics of dense plasmas produced by high power pulse discharges. It is pointed out that the effect of the shock wave pressure on the spectral line shift has to be taken into account in order to obtain accurate results with this method for high power discharges. A pressure dependent function was introduced in the expression given by those authors to provide the necessary correction.

Sultanov, A. M.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Inversion technique to obtain local ion temperature profiles for an axisymmetric plasma with toroidal and radial velocities

A matrix inversion technique is derived to calculate local ion temperature from line-integrated measurements of an extended emission source in an axisymmetric plasma which exactly corrects for both toroidal velocity and radial velocity components. Local emissivity and toroidal velocity can be directly recovered from line-integrated spectroscopic measurements, but an independent measurement of the radial velocity is necessary to complete the temperature inversion. The extension of this technique to handle the radial velocity is relevant for magnetic reconnection and merging compression devices where temperature inversion from spectroscopic measurements is desired. A simulation demonstrates the effects of radial velocity on the determination of ion temperature.

ion temperature↗
DOE OSTI2023

Spatial heterodyne spectroscopy for fast local magnetic field measurements of magnetized fusion plasmas

A novel spectroscopy diagnostic for measuring internal magnetic fields in high temperature magnetized plasmas has been developed. It involves spectrally resolving the Balmer- α (656 nm) neutral beam radiation split by the motional Stark effect with a spatial heterodyne spectrometer (SHS). The unique combination of high optical throughput (3.7 mm 2 sr) and spectral resolution (δλ ~ 0.1 nm) allows these measurements to be made with time resolution $\ll$1 ms. The high throughput is effectively utilized by incorporating a novel geometric Doppler broadening compensation technique in the spectrometer. The technique significantly reduces the spectral resolution penalty inherent to using large area, high-throughput optics while still collecting the large photon flux provided by such optics. In this work, fluxes of order 10 10 s –1 support the measurement of deviations of <5 mT (Δ λ Stark ~ 10 –4 nm) in the local magnetic field with 50 µs time resolution. Example high time resolution measurements of the pedestal magnetic field throughout the ELM cycle of a DIII-D tokamak plasma are presented. Local magnetic field measurements give access to the dynamics of the edge current density, which is essential to understanding stability limits, edge localized mode generation and suppression, and predicting performance of H-mode tokamaks.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1998

ASCA Observations of the T Tauri Star SU Aurigae and the Surrounding L1517 Dark Cloud

We present the results of a approximately equals 40 ks pointed Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) observation of the L1517 star-forming region, centered on the X-ray-bright T Tauri star SU Aurigae. This star has the highest X-ray luminosity of any classical T Tauri star in the Taurus-Auriga region, and its optical spectra show evidence for both mass inflow and outflow. Strong X-ray emission was detected from SU Aur (L(sub x) = 10(exp 30.9) ergs s(exp -1)) as well as weaker emission from five other pre-main-sequence stars. Although no large-amplitude flares were detected, the X-ray emission of SU Aur showed clear variability in the form of a slow decline in count rate during the 1.3 day observation. We provide the first direct comparison of the coronal differential emission measure (DEM) distribution of a classical T Tauri star with that of a young main-sequence star of similar spectral type. The DEM distributions of SU Aur (G2; age 3 Myr) and the young solar-like star EK Draconis (GO V; age 70 Myr) are qualitatively similar, with both showing a bimodal temperature distribution characterized by a cool plasma component peaking at approximately 8-9 MK and a hot component peaking at approximately 20-21 MK. However, there is a striking difference in the relative proportion of plasma at high temperatures in the two stars, with hot plasma (>20 MK) accounting for approximately equals 80% of the volume emission measure of SU Aur, compared to only approximately equals 40% in EK Dra. These results provide new insight into the changes that will occur in the corona of a T Tauri star as it descends onto the main sequence. A sharp decline in the fraction of coronal plasma at flarelike temperatures will occur during the late-T Tauri and post-T Tauri phases, and other recent X-ray studies have shown that this decline will continue after the young solar-like star reaches the main sequence.

Skinner, Stephen L.↗