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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 937 records · Page 52
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Modeling fission product diffusion in TRISO fuel particles with BISON

Diffusion of fission products in intact TRISO particles depends on particle geometry, fission product source rates, time, temperature, and temperature-dependent diffusion coefficients. Simulating this diffusion process requires models for source rates and diffusion coefficients, plus computation of the temperature field if not prescribed. In addition, simulation quality depends on discretization of the geometry, appropriate time stepping, and the accuracy of the solution method. In this paper, we explore the simulation of fission product diffusion in TRISO fuel particles using the finite element method via the fuel performance code Bison. Recent material model development has occurred in Bison for each material present in tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles: the buffer, inner pyrolytic carbon, silicon carbide, and outer pyrolytic carbon layers, as well as the fuel kernel. Also, new mesh generation and fission product release fraction capabilities have been added. Diffusion capabilities are shown to converge to the correct solution via formal verification tests. A large number of code benchmarking problems are also given, with good results, showing that Bison’s computed release fractions closely match those of other software tools. Finally, a significant validation effort is detailed in which fission product release, measured as part of the AGR-1 capsule experiments, is compared to Bison outputs. Bison outputs compare very well to the experimental data and to PARFUME results.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

BISON TRISO Modeling Advancements and Validation to AGR-1 Data

BISON is a finite element-based nuclear fuel performance code. Among its unique characteristics are its ability to model 1D, 2D, and 3D geometries and its applicability to a wide variety of nuclear fuels. For the last eight years, BISON has included a beginning capability to model tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel. Recently, interest in TRISO fuel has grown, and a significant effort has been made to improve BISON’s capabilities in this area. Capability development has occurred for each material present in TRISO fuel particles: the buffer, inner pyrolytic carbon, silicon carbide, and outer pyrolytic carbon layers, as well as the fuel kernel. New elastic, creep, swelling, thermal expansion, thermal conductivity, and fission gas release (FGR) models are available. New models for the graphite matrix are also now available. Another important addition is the ability to perform statistical failure analysis of large samples of fuel particles. This new capability, which continues to grow, enables evaluation of failure due to pressure or crack formation by analyzing many thousands of particles. This enables realistic calculations of fission product release from the many particles in a TRISO-fueled reactor. These capabilities were checked via regression and verification tests. A large number of code benchmarking problems were also run, showing that BISON’s results closely match those of other software tools. Finally, a significant validation effort was completed in which fission product release, measured as part of the AGR-1 capsule experiments, was compared to BISON outputs. BISON outputs compared very well to the experimental data and to PARFUME results. Interest in BISON’s TRISO capabilities is growing, with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Westinghouse Electric Company receiving training during the past year. Multiple other entities have expressed interest in or are actively using BISON. Kairos Power, LLC, has a strong partnership with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) regarding the use of BISON for TRISO analysis. While its capabilities still continue to grow, BISON has already become a powerful tool for TRISO analysis.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1988

Response of marine and freshwater algae to nitric acid and elevated carbon dioxide levels simulating environmental effects of bolide impact

One of the intriguing facets of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction is the apparently selective pattern of mortality amongst taxa. Some groups of organisms were severely affected and some remained relatively unscathed as they went through the K/T boundary. While there is argument concerning the exact interpretation of the fossil record, one of the best documented extinctions at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary is that of the calcareous nannoplankton. These organisms include coccolithic algae and foraminiferans. Attempts to explain their decline at the K/T boundary center around chemistry which could affect their calcium carbonate shells while leaving their silica-shelled cousins less affected or unaffected. Two environmental consequences of an extraterrestrial body impact which were suggested are the production of large quantities of nitrogen oxides generated by the shock heating of the atmosphere and the possible rise in CO2 from the dissolution of CaCO3 shells. Both of these phenomena would acidify the upper layers of the oceans and bodies of freshwater not otherwise buffered. The effects of nitric acid, carbon dioxide, or both factors on the growth and reproduction of calcareous marine coccoliths and non-calcareous marine and freshwater species of algae were considered. These experiments demonstrate that nitric acid and carbon dioxide have significant effects on important aspects of the physiology and reproduction of modern algae representative of extinct taxa thought to have suffered significant declines at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Furthermore, calcareous species showed more marked effects than siliceous species and marine species tested were more sensitive than freshwater species.

Boston, P. J.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Method and apparatus for two-layer copy-on-write

A system, apparatus and method are provided in which a range of virtual memory addresses and a copy of that range are mapped to the same first system address range in a data processing system until an address in the virtual memory address range, or its copy, is written to. The common system address range includes a number of divisions. Responsive to a write request to an address in a division of the common address range, a second system address range is generated. The second system address range is mapped to the same physical addresses as the first system address range, except that the division containing the address to be written to and its corresponding division in the second system address range are mapped to different physical addresses. First layer mapping data may be stored in a range table buffer and updated when the second system address range is generated.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Layered Solution for Supercomputing Storage

To solve the supercomputing challenge of memory keeping up with processing speed, a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed two innovative memory management and storage technologies. Burst buffers peel off data onto flash memory to support the checkpoint/restart paradigm of large simulations. MarFS adds a thin software layer enabling a new tier for campaign storage—based on inexpensive, failure-prone disk drives—between disk drives and tape archives.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

High Carrier Lifetimes in Epitaxial Germanium-Tin/Al(In)As Heterostructures with Variable Tin Compositions

Group IV-based germanium-tin (Ge1-ySny) compositional materials have recently shown great promise for infrared detection, light emission and ultra-low power transistors. High carrier lifetimes are desirable for enhancing the detection limit and efficiency of photodetectors, low threshold current density in lasers, and low tunneling barrier height by lowering defects and dislocations at the heterointerface of a source and a channel. Here, carrier lifetimes in epitaxial germanium (Ge) and variable tin (Sn) compositional Ge1-ySny materials were experimentally determined on GaAs substrates using the contactless microwave photoconductive decay (u-PCD) technique at an excitation wavelength of 1500 nm. Sharp (2 x 2) reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns and low surface roughness were observed from the surface of the Ge0.97Sn0.03 epilayer. X-ray rocking curves from Ge0.97Sn0.03 and Ge0.94Sn0.06 layers demonstrated the pseudomorphic and lattice-matched growth on AlAs and In0.12Al0.88As buffers, respectively, further substantiated by reciprocal space maps and abrupt heterointerfaces evident from the presence of Pendellosung oscillations. High effective carrier lifetimes of 150 ns to 450 ns were measured for Ge1-ySny epilayers as a function of Sn composition, surface roughness, growth temperature, and layer thickness. The observed increase in the carrier lifetime with an increasing Ge layer thickness and a reducing surface roughness, by incorporating Sn, were explained. The enhancement of the carrier lifetime with an increasing Sn concentration was achieved by controlling the defects with lattice-matched Ge0.94Sn0.06/In0.12Al0.88As heterointerfaces or the pseudomorphic growth of Ge0.94Sn0.06 on GaAs. Therefore, our monolithic integration of variable Sn alloy compositional Ge1-ySny materials with high carrier lifetimes opens avenues to realize electronic and optoelectronic devices.

carrier lifetimes↗
NASA NTRS2004

[PVFS 2000: An operational parallel file system for Beowulf]

The approach has been to develop Parallel Virtual File System version 2 (PVFS2) , retaining the basic philosophy of the original file system but completely rewriting the code. It shows the architecture of the server and client components. BMI - BMI is the network abstraction layer. It is designed with a common driver and modules for each protocol supported. The interface is non-blocking, and provides mechanisms for optimizations including pinning user buffers. Currently TCP/IP and GM(Myrinet) modules have been implemented. Trove -Trove is the storage abstraction layer. It provides for storing both data spaces and name/value pairs. Trove can also be implemented using different underlying storage mechanisms including native files, raw disk partitions, SQL and other databases. The current implementation uses native files for data spaces and Berkeley db for name/value pairs.

Ligon, Walt↗
DOE OSTI2021

Investigating User Experiences with Data Abstractions on High Performance Computing Systems

Scientific exploration generates expanding volumes of data that commonly require High Performance Computing (HPC) systems to facilitate research. HPC systems are complex ecosystems of hardware and software that frequently are not user friendly. The Usable Data Abstractions (UDA) project set out to build usable software for scientific workflows in HPC environments by undertaking multiple rounds of qualitative user research. Qualitative research investigates how individuals accomplish their work and our interview-based study surfaced a variety of insights about the experiences of working in and with HPC ecosystems. This report examines multiple facets to the experiences of scientists and developers using and supporting HPC systems. We discuss how stakeholders grasp the design and configuration of these systems, the impacts of abstraction layers on their ability to successfully do work, and the varied perceptions of time that shape this work. Examining the adoption of the Cori HPC at NERSC we explore the anticipations and lived experiences of users interacting with this system’s novel storage feature, the Burst Buffer. We present lessons learned from across these insights to illustrate just some of the challenges HPC facilities and their stakeholders need to account for when procuring and supporting these essential scientific resources to ensure their usability and utility to a variety of scientific practices.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Environmental sensitivities of shallow-cumulus dilution – Part 2: Vertical wind profile

This second part of a numerical study on shallow-cumulus dilution focuses on the sensitivity of cloud dilution to changes in the vertical wind profile. Insights are obtained through large-eddy simulations of maritime and continental cloud fields. In these simulations, the speed of the initially uniform geostrophic wind and the strength of geostrophic vertical wind shear in the cloud and subcloud layer are varied. Increases in the cloud-layer vertical wind shear (up to 9 ms -1 km -1 ) lead to 40%–50% larger cloud-core dilution rates compared to their respective unsheared counterparts. When the background wind speed, on the other hand, is enhanced by up to 10 ms -1 and subcloud-layer vertical wind shear develops or is initially prescribed, the dilution rate decreases by up to 25%. The sensitivities of the dilution rate are linked to the updraft strength and the properties of the entrained air. Increases in the wind speed or vertical wind shear result in lower vertical velocities across all sets of experiments with stronger reductions in the cloud-layer wind shear simulation (27%–47%). Weaker updrafts are exposed to mixing with the drier surrounding air for a longer time period, allowing more entrainment to occur (i.e., the “core-exposure effect”). However, reduced vertical velocities, in concert with increased cloud-layer turbulence, also assist in widening the humid shell surrounding the cloud cores, leading to entrainment of more humid air (i.e., the “core–shell dilution effect”). In the experiments with cloud-layer vertical wind shear, the core-exposure effect dominates and the cloud-core dilution increases with increasing shear. Conversely, when the wind speed is increased and subcloud-layer vertical wind shear develops or is imposed, the core–shell dilution effect dominates to induce a buffering effect. The sensitivities are generally stronger in the maritime simulations, where weaker sensible heat fluxes lead to narrower, more tilted, and, therefore, more suppressed cumuli when cloud-layer shear is imposed. Moreover, in the experiments with subcloud wind shear, the weaker baseline turbulence in the maritime case allows for a larger turbulence enhancement, resulting in a widening of the transition zones between the cores and their environment, leading to the entrainment of more humid air.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Chromophore-Catalyst Assembly for Water Oxidation Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition

Visible-light-driven water splitting was explored in a dye sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cell (DSPEC) based on a photoanode with a phosphonic acid-derivatized donor–π–acceptor (D–π–A) organic chromophore, 1, and the water oxidation catalyst [Ru(bda)(4-O(CH 2 ) 3 P(O 3 H 2 ) 2 -pyr)2], 2, (pyr = pyridine; bda = 2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-dicarboxylate). The photoanode was prepared by using a layering strategy beginning with the organic dye anchored to an FTO|core/shell electrode, atomic layer deposition (ALD) of a thin layer (<1 nm) of TiO 2 , and catalyst binding through phosphonate linkage to the TiO 2 layer. Device performance was evaluated by photocurrent measurements for core/shell photoanodes, with either SnO 2 or nanoITO core materials, in acetate-buffered, aqueous solutions at pH 4.6 or 5.7. The absolute magnitudes of photocurrent changes with the core material, TiO 2 spacer layer thickness, or pH, observed photocurrents were 2.5-fold higher in the presence of catalyst. The findings of transient absorption measurements and DFT calculations reflect that electron injection by the photoexcited organic dye is ultrafast promoted by electronic interactions enabled by orientation of the dye’s molecular orbitals on the electrode surface. Rapid injection is followed by recombination with the oxidized dye which is 95% complete by 1.5 ns. While chromophore decomposition limits the efficiency of the DSPEC devices toward O 2 production, the flexibility of the strategy presented here offers a new approach to photoanode design.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetic anisotropy induced by crystal distortion in Ge{sub 1−x}Mn{sub x}Te/PbTe//KCl (001) ferromagnetic semiconductor layers

Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) study of magnetic anisotropy is presented for thin layers of IV-VI diluted magnetic semiconductor Ge{sub 1−x}Mn{sub x}Te with x = 0.14 grown by molecular beam epitaxy on KCl (001) substrate with a thin PbTe buffer. Analysis of the angular dependence of the FMR resonant field reveals that an easy magnetization axis is located near to the normal to the layer plane and is controlled by two crystal distortions present in these rhombohedral Ge{sub 1−x}Mn{sub x}Te layers: the ferroelectric distortion with the relative shift of cation and anion sub-lattices along the [111] crystal direction and the biaxial in-plane, compressive strain due to thermal mismatch.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of surface pretreatment on interfacial chemical bonding states of atomic layer deposited ZrO{sub 2} on AlGaN

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of ZrO{sub 2} on native oxide covered (untreated) and buffered oxide etchant (BOE) treated AlGaN surface was analyzed by utilizing x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Evidenced by Ga–O and Al–O chemical bonds by XPS, parasitic oxidation during deposition is largely enhanced on BOE treated AlGaN surface. Due to the high reactivity of Al atoms, more prominent oxidation of Al atoms is observed, which leads to thicker interfacial layer formed on BOE treated surface. The results suggest that native oxide on AlGaN surface may serve as a protecting layer to inhibit the surface from further parasitic oxidation during ALD. The findings provide important process guidelines for the use of ALD ZrO{sub 2} and its pre-ALD surface treatments for high-k AlGaN/GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor high electron mobility transistors and other related device applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Multidimensional Nova Simulations with an Extended Buffer and Lower Initial Mixing Temperatures

A classical nova is a thermonuclear runaway initiated on a white dwarf accreting solar-like material from its stellar companion. Once the white dwarf accretes enough mass, the pressure at the base of the accreted layer reaches a critical point, leading to the ignition of the hydrogen fuel at their interface. This paper presents a set of two-dimensional CO classical nova simulations with an extended buffer zone of a fixed low density and temperature between the top of the accreted layer and the upper boundary, allowing us to capture the thermonuclear outburst in the domain. Our domain reduces the role of the upper-outflow boundary condition that has affected previous simulations and allows us to explore the nucleosynthesis evolution in detail. We also study the effects of the initial temperature perturbation and buffer size to explore their sensitivity in our simulations. Finally, we start our simulations with a lower temperature at the base of the accreted layer ( 7 × 10 7 K ) than previous work, allowing us to capture mixing earlier in the evolution, reducing the effects of the mixing-length-theory assumptions. This allows for a more realistic description of convective transport in our models.

Smith Clark, Alexander (ORCID:0000000159611680)↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effects of Electrolyte Buffer Capacity on Surface Reactant Species and the Reaction Rate of CO 2 in Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction

In the aqueous electrochemical reduction of CO 2 , the choice of electrolyte is responsible for the catalytic activity and selectivity, although there remains a need for more in-depth understanding of electrolyte effects and mechanisms. In this study, using both experimental and simulation approaches, we report how the buffer capacity of the electrolytes affects the kinetics and equilibrium of surface reactant species and the resulting reaction rate of CO 2 with varying partial CO 2 pressure. Electrolytes investigated include KCl (nonbuffered), KHCO 3 (buffered by bicarbonate), and phosphate-buffered electrolytes. Assuming 100% methane production, the simulation successfully explains the experimental trends in maximum CO 2 flux in KCl and KHCO 3 and also highlights the difference between KHCO 3 and phosphate in terms of pKaas well as the impact of the buffer capacity. To examine the electrolyte impact on selectivity, the model is run with a constant total current density. Using this model, several factors are elucidated, including the importance of local pH, which is not in acid/base equilibrium, the impact of buffer identity and kinetics, and the mass-transport boundary-layer thickness. The gained understanding can help to optimize CO 2 reduction in aqueous environments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Permafrost Promotes Shallow Groundwater Flow and Warmer Headwater Streams

Abstract The presence of permafrost influences the flow paths of water through Arctic landscapes and thereby has the potential to impact stream discharge and thermal regimes. Observations from 11 headwater streams in Alaska showed that July water temperatures were higher in catchments with more near‐surface permafrost. We apply a fully coupled cryohydrology model to investigate if the impact of permafrost on flow path depth could cause the same pattern in temperatures of groundwater discharging from hillslopes to streams. The model simulates surface energy and water balances, snow, and subsurface water and energy balances for two‐dimensional hillslope model cases with varying permafrost extent. We find that hillslopes with continuous permafrost have more shallow flow paths and twice as high rates of evapotranspiration, compared to hillslopes with no permafrost. For our simulated cases, 6.7% of the horizontal water flux moves through the top organic soil layers when there is continuous permafrost, while only 0.5% moves through organic layers without permafrost. The deeper flow paths in permafrost‐free simulations buffer seasonal temperature extremes, so that summer groundwater discharge temperatures are highest with continuous permafrost. Our results suggest that permafrost thawing alters groundwater flow paths and can lead to decreases in summer stream temperatures and reductions in evapotranspiration in headwater catchments. These changes are of potential importance for stream biotic components of ecosystems, however, the full impact remains unknown.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ground surface temperature derived Snow Cover Properties, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 2019-2023

Snow-ground interface temperatures have been collected at the Teller mile marker 27 and Kougarok mile marker 64 field sites on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska from 2019 through 2023 (with data missing from Fall 2020 through Summer 2021 due to COVID). Temperatures were measured using iButton Link DS1921G-F5# Thermochron miniature temperature sensors and Tinytag TGP-4017 internal sensors deployed across the Kougarok 64 and Teller 27 field sites. These sensors are a cost-efficient way to collect snow-ground interface temperatures at a high spatial resolution, and when paired with air temperature data these measurements can provide insight into fine-scale variability in snowpack characteristics across the study sites. From this data, snow process metrics were calculated at each sensor location based on the methods outlined in Staub and Delaloye, 2017. Metrics are calculated daily for each sensor as well as over the entire season. These metrics include ground surface temperature (°C), the number of days under snow cover (number of days), the insulation effect of snow (unitless), the length of the transitional snow periods (number of days), as well as intermediaries such as temperature variability. Calculating these snow processes relies on the assumption that when snow covers a temperature sensor, it is buffered from diurnal fluctuations in air temperature by the insulating snow layer. More information on the calculated metrics can be found in the User Guide of this dataset, as well as in Staub and Delaloye’s 2017 publication Using Near-Surface Ground Temperature Data to Derive Snow Insulation and Melt Indices for Mountain Permafrost Applications. This dataset includes one daily and one seasonal *.csv file of metrics for every year of data, a daily and a seasonal *.csv data dictionary, and one User Guide document (*.pdf) describing data collection and processing.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska.Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cloud water adjustments to aerosol perturbations are buffered by solar heating in non-precipitating marine stratocumuli

Abstract. Marine low-level clouds are key to the Earth's energy budget due to their expansive coverage over global oceans and their high reflectance of incoming solar radiation. Their responses to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations remain the largest source of uncertainty in estimating the anthropogenic radiative forcing of climate. A major challenge is the quantification of the cloud water response to aerosol perturbations. In particular, the presence of feedbacks through microphysical, dynamical, and thermodynamical pathways at various spatial and temporal scales could augment or weaken the response. Central to this problem is the temporal evolution in cloud adjustment, governed by entangled feedback mechanisms. We apply an innovative conditional Monte Carlo subsampling approach to a large ensemble of diurnal large-eddy simulation of non-precipitating marine stratocumulus to study the role of solar heating in governing the evolution in the relationship between droplet number and cloud water. We find a persistent negative trend in this relationship at night, confirming that the role of microphysically enhanced cloud-top entrainment. After sunrise, the evolution in this relationship appears buffered and converges to ∼-0.2 in the late afternoon. This buffering effect is attributed to a strong dependence of cloud-layer shortwave absorption on cloud liquid water path. These diurnal cycle characteristics further demonstrate a tight connection between cloud brightening potential and the relationship between cloud water and droplet number at sunrise, which has implications for the impact of the timing of advertent aerosol perturbations.

Zhang, Jianhao (ORCID:0000000169882935)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development and application of sorption mass transfer models for fission product transport in TRISO fuel systems using BISON

Fission product mass transfer within and between TRISO particle and compact layers is an important phenomenon. It directly impacts fission product release predictions, which are used as source terms for safety and licensing calculations. Modeling fission product transport within layers and across bonded interfaces is relatively straightforward under the assumptions of isotropic Fickian diffusion, concentration continuity, and flux continuity. Modeling fission product transport across gaps and debonded layers is more difficult. Gaps are known to form between the buffer and inner PyC (IPyC), and debonding may occur between the IPyC and silicon carbide (SiC). A new mass transfer model was developed to provide a more accurate and robust fission product release calculation by accounting for interlayer sorptivity. One importance of the new model is to account for temperature and material changes across the gap based on sorption isotherm. This work presents the development of the sorption behavioral model and a fission product trapping model, and analyses the subsequent fission product diffusion behavior, specifically cesium, through TRISO particles and compact materials using the BISON fuel performance code.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗