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At least 919 records · Page 51

Overcoming the Adoption Barrier to Electric Flight

Electrically-powered aircraft can enable dramatic increases in efficiency and reliability, reduced emissions, and reduced noise as compared to today's combustion-powered aircraft. This paper describes a novel flight demonstration concept that will enable the benefits of electric propulsion, while keeping the extraordinary convenience and utility of common fuels available at today's airports. A critical gap in airborne electric propulsion research is addressed by accommodating adoption at the integrated aircraft-airport systems level, using a confluence of innovative but proven concepts and technologies in power generation and electricity storage that need to reside only on the airframe. Technical discriminators of this demonstrator concept include (1) a novel, high-efficiency power system that utilizes advanced solid oxide fuel cells originally developed for ultra-long-endurance aircraft, coupled with (2) a high-efficiency, high-power electric propulsion system selected from mature products to reduce technical risk, assembled into (3) a modern, high-performance demonstration platform to provide useful and compelling data, both for the targeted early adopters and the eventual commercial market.

Borer, Nicholas K.↗

PEM Fuel Cell MODEL for Conceptual Design of Hydrogen eVTOL Aircraft

A model and software for design and analysis of a Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system are developed for hydrogen eVTOL aircraft. Examples are provided of stacks designed for 80 kWe and 500 kWe net electrical power. Examples are provided of eVTOL designed for 250 and 400 lb payload. The trade-offs included stack characteristics, hydrogen storage characteristics, and aircraft payload and range. The objectives were to identify the key technology drivers of a hydrogen rotorcraft, establish technology targets for a viable aircraft, and recommend research to address the fundamental pre-competitive barriers. The current U.S. infrastructure on hydrogen informed the targets and recommendations. The key conclusion is that the advances made in cell electrochemical power density over the last decade might allow a PEMFC system to meet, or even beat, piston engine powered light-utility rotorcraft. The development must focus on the key drivers of a hydrogen eVTOL. The drivers are ultra-light stack cooling and short-term hydrogen storage. A stack system of net electrical power 100−150 kWe with specific power 1.1 kWe/kg including air, cooling, and electrical subsystems, and a tank storage of 15% weight fraction hydrogen are the minimum targets to meet the performance of a modern piston-engine rotorcraft, with a range of 180 nautical miles, payload of 400 lb, and gross weight of about 1400 lb. This is defined as the objective aircraft. If only one target is met, an aircraft of half the range could be produced, with a 30% greater gross take-off weight. This is defined as an intermediate aircraft. Because definitive conclusions are premature without weights and loads data on a flight-worthy stack system, it is recommended that a fuel cell powered hydrogen eVTOL demonstrator be built and flown. The existing hydrogen infrastructure for cars provide ample opportunity to create a pilot program. About 12 metric tons of retail hydrogen are available for cars every day in California, which is less than 0.05% of the yearly hydrogen production in the U.S.. A hypothetical fleet of 100 aircraft, operating 3 flights a day, would increase the demand by 2.25 tons per day and require 140 MWh of renewable electricity for green hydrogen.

PEM↗

High performance, high density hydrocarbon fuels

The fuels were selected from 77 original candidates on the basis of estimated merit index and cost effectiveness. The ten candidates consisted of 3 pure compounds, 4 chemical plant streams and 3 refinery streams. Critical physical and chemical properties of the candidate fuels were measured including heat of combustion, density, and viscosity as a function of temperature, freezing points, vapor pressure, boiling point, thermal stability. The best all around candidate was found to be a chemical plant olefin stream rich in dicyclopentadiene. This material has a high merit index and is available at low cost. Possible problem areas were identified as low temperature flow properties and thermal stability. An economic analysis was carried out to determine the production costs of top candidates. The chemical plant and refinery streams were all less than 44 cent/kg while the pure compounds were greater than 44 cent/kg. A literature survey was conducted on the state of the art of advanced hydrocarbon fuel technology as applied to high energy propellents. Several areas for additional research were identified.

Frankenfeld, J. W.↗

Foaming-electrolyte fuel cell

Foam structure feeds fuel gas solution into electrolyte. Fuel gas reacts at static, three-phase interface between fuel gas, electrolyte, and electrode material. The foam forms an electrical contact between main body of electrolyte and the electrode, and aids in removal of by-products of the chemical reaction.

Nanis, L.↗

Experimental investigation of combustor effects on rocket thrust chamber performance

A design and experimental program to develop special instrumentation systems, design engine hardware, and conduct tests using LOX/GH2 propellants in which the propellant flow stratification was controlled is described. The mixture ratio was varied from 4.6 to 6 overall. The mixture ratios in the core and outer zone were varied from 3.5 to 6 and 5 to 8, respectively. The range in boundary layer coolant was from 0 to 10 percent of the fuel. The nominal chamber pressure and thrust were 225 psia and 7000 pounds, respectively. Pressure and heat flux profiles as well as gas sampling of the exhaust products were obtained. Specific impulse efficiencies of approximately 94 percent and characteristic velocity efficiencies of approximately 97 percent were obtained during the experiments.

Source record↗

Energy resources of the developing countries and some priority markets for the use of solar energy

Energy consumption for the developed and non-developed world is expressed as a function of GNP. An almost straight-line graph results when energy consumption statistics are treated in this manner. The richest countries consume the most energy, and the poorest countries the least. It therefore follows that greater energy production in the developing countries (leading to greater energy consumption) will contribute to their economic growth. Energy resources in the developing countries are compared, including: solid fossil fuels, crude oil, natural gas, oil shale, and uranium. Mention is also made of the potential of renewable energy resources, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, in the underdeveloped world; and it is these resources which offer the greatest possibilities for economic improvement if the money is forthcoming, i.e., from the world bank, to fund the necessary technology.

Siddiqi, T. A.↗

Advanced Gas Turbine (AGT) powertrain system development for automotive applications

Progress in the development of a gas turbine engine to improve fuel economy, reduce gaseous emissions and particulate levels, and compatible with a variety of alternate fuels is reported. The powertrain is designated AGT101 and consists of a regenerated single shaft gas turbine engine, a split differential gearbox and a Ford Automatic Overdrive production transmission. The powertrain is controlled by an electronic digital microprocessor and associated actuators, instrumentation, and sensors. Standard automotive accessories are driven by engine power provided by an accessory pad on the gearbox. Component/subsystem development progress is reported in the following areas: compressor, turbine, combustion system, regenerator, gearbox/transmission, structures, ceramic components, foil gas bearing, bearings and seals, rotor dynamics, and controls and accessories.

Source record↗

Hydrogen uses and demands through the year 2025

The magnitude and markets for applications of hydrogen produced by water-splitting through thermal or electrolytic means are projected up to the year 2025. Uses are divided into energy and nonenergy categories, with U.S. synfuels programs accounting for 65% of the increased demand for hydrogen. Applications for transportation fuel, as a natural gas supplement, in fuel cells, in refinery and synfuels industries, for synthesizing chemicals, and for manufacturing semiconductors are summarized. Electrolytic processes are noted to be more suitable for smaller scale production, where use is on-site or local. An annual growth of 8.4-9.2% is foreseen in the energy sector and 3-3.6% in the nonenergy sector, with a total contribution to the primary energy uses of 12-13% by the year 2025. Hydrogen's negligible environmental impact and the ability to interface hydrogen systems with existing equipment are seen as factors encouraging hydrogen-use growth.

Kelley, J. H.↗

Coculture Production of Butanol by Clostridium Bacteria

Production of butanol by anaerobic fermentation of sugars enhanced by use of two Clostridium species, one of which feeds on metabolic product of other. Renewed interest in fermentation process for making butanol stimulated by potential use of butanol as surfactant in enhanced oil recovery. Butanol also used as fuel or as chemical feedstock and currently produced synthetically from petroleum.

Bergstrom, S. L.↗

Combustion/particle sizing experiments at the Naval Postgraduate School Combustion Research Laboratory

Particle behavior in combustion processes is an active research area at NPS. Currently, four research efforts are being conducted: (1) There is a long standing need to better understand the soot production and combustion processes in gas turbine combustors, both from a concern for improved engine life and to minimize exhaust particulates. Soot emissions are strongly effected by fuel composition and additives; (2) A more recent need for particle sizing/behavior measurements is in the combustor of a solid fuel ramjet which uses a metallized fuel. High speed motion pictures are being used to study rather large burning particles; (3) In solid propellant rocket motors, metals are used to improve specific impulse and/or to provide damping for combustion pressure oscillations. Particle sizing experiments are being conducted using diode arrays to measure the light intensity as a function of scattering angle; (4) Once a good quality hologram is attained, a need exists for obtaining the particle distributions from hologram in a short period of time. A Quantimet 720 Image Analyzer is being used to reconstruct images.

Powers, John↗

Preliminary design of two transpacific high-speed civil transport

Two high-speed civil transport (HSCT) design concepts are presented. Both transports are designed for a 5500-n.m. range with 300 passengers. The first design concept is a Mach 2.5, joined-wing, single-fuselage transport. The second design concept is a Mach-4.0, twin-fuselage, variable-sweep wing transport. The use of conventional hydrocarbon fuels is emphasized to reduce the amount of change required in current airport facilities. Advanced aluminums are used in the designs when possible to reduce material and production costs over more exotic materials. Methods to reduce airport noise, community noise, and fly-over noise are incorporated into the designs. In addition, requirements set forth by the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) have been addressed.

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Experiment to Characterize Aircraft Volatile Aerosol and Trace-Species Emissions (EXCAVATE)

The Experiment to Characterize Aircraft Volatile and Trace Species Emissions (EXCAVATE) was conducted at Langley Research Center (LaRC) in January 2002 and focused upon assaying the production of aerosols and aerosol precursors by a modern commercial aircraft, the Langley B757, during ground-based operation. Remaining uncertainty in the postcombustion fate of jet fuel sulfur contaminants, the need for data to test new theories of particle formation and growth within engine exhaust plumes, and the need for observations to develop air quality models for predicting pollution levels in airport terminal areas were the primary factors motivating the experiment. NASA's Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project (AEAP) and the Ultra Effect Engine Technology (UEET) Program sponsored the experiment which had the specific objectives of determining ion densities; the fraction of fuel S converted from S(IV) to S(VI); the concentration and speciation of volatile aerosols and black carbon; and gas-phase concentrations of long-chain hydrocarbon and PAH species, all as functions of engine power, fuel composition, and plume age.

Anderson, B. E.↗

Case Studies for Lunar ISRU Systems Utilizing Polar Water

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is key to long term presence at any extraterrestrial destination. Current NASA direction is to achieve a sustainable presence on the lunar surface by 2028. Mission plans currently target the lunar South Pole to leverage the extended periods of solar illumination and allows for potential access to water ice in the permanently shadowed areas around the poles. With water, it is possible to produce both fuel and oxidizer to fully refuel a vehicle. In order to address ISRU infusion into mission planning, a study of an end-to-end ISRU propellant production system was initiated to assess ISRU architectures and obtain mass and power estimates for each. The results of these case studies will be presented.

In situ Resource Utilization↗

Case Study for Lunar ISRU Systems Utilizing Polar Water

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is key to long term presence at any extraterrestrial destination. Current NASA direction is to achieve a sustainable presence on the lunar surface by 2028. Mission plans currently target the lunar South Pole to leverage the extended periods of solar illumination and allows for potential access to water ice in the permanently shadowed areas around the poles. With water, it is possible to produce both fuel and oxidizer to fully refuel a vehicle. In order to address ISRU infusion into mission planning, a study of an end-to-end ISRU propellant production system was initiated to assess ISRU architectures and obtain mass and power estimates for each. The results of these case studies will be presented. For this study, The ISRU system architecture involved two sites; the mine site in a shadowed crater where water ice is excavated and extracted from the regolith and the propellant production site at an illuminated ridge where the water is processed into liquefied O2 and H2 propellants. Fixed hardware would be emplaced at each site, with two alternating water tankers to transport water between them. Notional lunar sites were identified for this architecture for baseline environmental parameters. Technology solutions for each subsystem were selected based on those with the highest fidelity models or those that have empirical laboratory data to anchor to. While power needs were identified for each location, a power solution was not prescribed, therefore the masses presented do not include surface power systems. The baseline case in this study assumed that 10 mT of oxygen, along with enough hydrogen to support a propulsion mixture ratio of 6, must be produced in 225 days. Therefore 15 mT of water would need to be collected and processed. The baseline solution resulted in a system mass of5 mT and a total required power of 68kW. The majority of the mass was split between the ridge site system and the two water tankers (2.6 mTand 1.8mTrespectively). The majority of the required power was with three subsystems at approximately 20 kW each: hydrogen liquefaction, electrolysis, and the water extractor subsystem. Trades for four key variables are also presented, namely production rate, water concentration, dry overburden depth, and number of water transport trips. This can be compared to a system that targets oxygen from the minerals in the surface regolith material. A carbothermal reduction reactor system was used for this comparison. The use of direct solar thermal energy to process the regolith and the ease of access of the resource resulted in significantly lower values for the oxygen case: approximately 2.7 mT and 11.8 kW. However, the mass trade would favor the water case over successive missions where the hydrogen up-mass of 2 mT per mission will accrue against the oxygen system.1Aerospace Research Engineer, Chemical and Thermal Propulsion Systems Branch, Senior Member.2Mechanical Engineer, Propulsion and Power Division/Energy Conversion Systems, 2101 Nasa Pkwy/Mailcode EP3 Houston, TX 77058, AIAA member.

Lunar↗

International Symposium on Combustion, 15th, Tokyo, Japan, August 25-31, 1974, Proceedings

Recent theoretical and experimental studies concerned with detonation and pressure wave combustion interaction, fire and explosion research and safety, heterogeneous combustion, flame-flow interactions, kinetics of elementary reactions, pollution control in and by combustion systems, and ignition are presented. Some of the topics covered include critical power density for direct initiation of unconfined gaseous detonations, extinction of laminar diffusion flames for liquid fuels, combustion of bulk titanium in oxygen, flame propagation in small spheres of unconfined and slightly confined flammable mixtures, kinetics of the reaction of nitric oxide with hydrogen, production of chemi-ions and formation of CH and CH2 radicals in methane-oxygen and ethylene-oxygen flames, NOx emission characteristics in two-stage combustion, and spherical ignition of oxyhydrogen behind a reflected shock wave. Individual items are announced in this issue.

Source record↗

Thermochemical water decomposition

At present, nearly all of the hydrogen consumed in the world is produced by reacting hydrocarbons with water. As the supply of hydrocarbons diminishes, the problem of producing hydrogen from water alone will become increasingly important. Furthermore, producing hydrogen from water is a means of energy conversion by which thermal energy from a primary source, such as solar or nuclear fusion of fission, can be changed into an easily transportable and ecologically acceptable fuel. The attraction of thermochemical processes is that they offer the potential for converting thermal energy to hydrogen more efficiently than by water electrolysis. A thermochemical hydrogen-production process is one which requires only water as material input and mainly thermal energy, or heat, as an energy input. Attention is given to a definition of process thermal efficiency, the thermodynamics of the overall process, the single-stage process, the two-stage process, multistage processes, the work of separation and a process evaluation.

Funk, J. E.↗

Volcanoes and global catastrophes

The search for a single explanation for global mass extinctions has let to polarization and the controversies that are often fueled by widespread media attention. The historic record shows a roughly linear log-log relation between the frequency of explosive volcanic eruptions and the volume of their products. Eruptions such as Mt. St. Helens 1980 produce on the order of 1 cu km of tephra, destroying life over areas in the 10 to 100 sq km range, and take place, on the average, once or twice a decade. Eruptions producing 10 cu km take place several times a century and, like Krakatau 1883, destroy life over 100 to 1000 sq km areas while producing clear global atmospheric effects. Eruptions producting 10,000 cu km are known from the Quaternary record, and extrapolation from the historic record suggests that they occur perhaps once in 20,000 years, but none has occurred in historic time and little is known of their biologic effects. Even larger eruptions must also exist in the geologic record, but documentation of their volume becomes increasingly difficult as their age increases. The conclusion is inescapable that prehistoric eruptions have produced catastrophes on a global scale: only the magnitude of the associated mortality is in question. Differentiation of large magma chambers is on a time scale of thousands to millions of years, and explosive volcanoes are clearly concentrated in narrow belts near converging plate margins. Volcanism cannot be dismissed as a producer of global catastrophes. Its role in major extinctions is likely to be at least contributory and may well be large. More attention should be paid to global effects of the many huge eruptions in the geologic record that dwarf those known in historic time.

Simkin, Tom↗