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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 OSTI2023

Microreactors Electrify the Future of Mining

This presentation is for the Joint Coeur d’Alene and Columbia Basin meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration on May 12. The presentation briefly defines microreactor technology, potential markets, provide an example of a remote mining case study in Alaska, describes ways to extend the product value chain, presents a concept for a microreactor powered integrated mining operation, and describes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations in mining.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modifications to the Thermal Energy Distribution System (TEDS)

INL installed a new controls system and a flame detection system on TEDS as part of upgrades that will eventually allow unattended operation and integration with accessory systems, such as digital twins, or facilities in other locations. These upgrades resolve some corrective actions that came about when oil was spilled from a high-point vent during system startup testing.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Energy Efficiency Improvement Approaches in Ice Related Processes

Application and development of energy efficient techniques to separate ice from different surfaces and substrates is of significant value in the context of building equipment performance. A hybrid approach to help dislocate the ice layer using advanced materials and ultrasonic vibration to lower ice adhesion strength was investigated. Application of advanced polymer materials in lowering the adhesion strength of ice was confirmed where the measured strength was lowered by 50-70% depending on the material and geometry. Additionally, utilization of induced ultrasonic vibration in further lowering the ice harvesting energy was confirmed on multiple materials and geometries. Durability of the coating enhancement was also confirmed in a thermal cycling test under realistic operating conditions. Integration of these technical approaches was implemented and validated in commercial ice makers showing energy consumption reduction by ~ 15% to 30% depending on the technical enhancement.

Cheekatamarla, Praveen↗
DOE OSTI2025

Pilot-Scale Validation of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors for Underground Pipeline Monitoring

Distributed fiber optic sensing is a cutting-edge technology that has found extensive applications in the monitoring of Ensuring the safety, integrity, and operational efficiency of underground product pipelines is vital for maintaining the nation’s critical infrastructure. Monitoring parameters such as hoop strain, pressure, and acoustic vibrations is key to detecting potential leaks, intrusions, or structural issues. Distributed optical fiber sensor (DOFS) systems provide a compelling solution for continuous, real-time monitoring over long distances. This paper details the development and pilot-scale implementation of DOFS systems for underground pipeline monitoring, evolving from a proof-of-concept stage. Multiple custom-designed DOFS interrogator units—such as optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR), Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA), and multimodal interferometer-based fiber acoustic sensors—were employed to measure key parameters like hoop strain, pressure, and acoustic vibrations. The underground product pipeline's outer diameter is 30 inches, the wall thickness is 1.28 inches, and the 3-foot depth. The fiber deployment strategies, and sensing data acquisition methods for these systems are discussed. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of DOFS in detecting hoop strain, temperature changes, and acoustic vibrations, showcasing their potential for real-time monitoring and enhancing pipeline safety.

distributed fiber sensing↗
DOE OSTI2025

Computational Modeling of Molten Salt Infiltration and Oxidation in Nuclear Graphite

Graphite is utilized as a moderator and reflector in advanced nuclear reactor designs due to its high thermal conductivity, neutron moderation properties, and resistance to radiation damage. However, its longterm performance and reliability are challenged by degradation mechanisms such as molten salt infiltration in molten salt reactors (MSRs) and oxidation in gas-cooled reactors (GCRs). These mechanisms can compromise the structural integrity and operational lifetime of graphite components, necessitating a more detailed assessment of their physical behavior. This report focuses on the development of computational models for molten salt infiltration and oxidation of graphite to aid the design and performance analysis of graphite components. For molten salt infiltration, a computational framework is developed that couples incompressible Navier-Stokes and phase-field model to simulate the penetration of molten salt into graphite?s interconnected pore structure. Initial model verification is performed using two-phase flows in two dimensions, demonstrating the models ability to capture fundamental physical behavior and agree with analytical solution. This framework is then applied to a realistic IG110 nuclear graphite , where a computed tomography extracted pore geometry is used to analyse the infiltration behavior of FLiNaK molten salt. This model provides insights into how the microstructure and other relevant parameters influence the transport pathways of molten salt into graphite, potentially offering a means to rapidly evaluate a graphite grade?s resistance to infiltration. For oxidation, the report details pore-scale mass and heat transport models, describing the diffusion of gases, reaction kinetics, and thermal effects. Additionally, this report highlights inconsistencies in the existing volume-averaged macroscopic model, particularly in upscaling of reaction kinetics and flux terms, and surface to volume transformations. These inconsistencies suggest that current formulations may not accurately capture the experimentally observed graphite oxidation process, highlighting the need for improved model development. This work advances the development of physics-based computational models for graphite degradation, contributing to improved predictive models for next-generation nuclear reactor designs. Future efforts will focus on refining the infiltration model to address non-physical behaviors and enhance its robustness. Additionally, for oxidation, further studies will employ the principles of volume averaging to rigorously derive the upscaled equations, potentially in collaboration with subject matter experts.

Computational Modeling of Molten Salt Infiltration↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data Centers and Digital Assurance Workshop 2 – Prioritizing Digital Assurance Challenges, Session 2

The second session of the TADA (Technical Assistance for Digital Assurance) Data Centers Cohort, held on November 10, 2025, focused on prioritizing digital assurance challenges at the intersection of data centers and the electric grid. Building on the foundational concepts introduced in Workshop 1, this session deepened the application of the Threat–Vulnerability–Consequence (TVC) framework and emphasized the urgency of addressing cybersecurity, supply chain integrity, and operational reliability. Participants explored the growing convergence of digital and physical systems, the expanding attack surface due to global supply chain dependencies, and the implications of AI-driven load behavior. Real-world incidents—including the Volt Typhoon campaign and vulnerabilities in Solarman and Deye platforms—were analyzed to illustrate the risks of unpatched systems, insecure APIs, and inadequate vendor oversight. Key themes included architecture and interface weaknesses, governance gaps, and human and procedural shortcomings. The workshop also examined the evolving regulatory landscape, highlighting new federal mandates around Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) compliance and large-load reliability standards. Through interactive exercises, stakeholders ranked and mapped digital assurance risks from their respective perspectives—utilities, operators, and vendors—laying the groundwork for mitigation strategies and shared accountability models to be developed in Workshop 3. Session 2 of 3.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Usability Evaluation of the Innovation Portal and Integrated Capability Analysis Platform

The usability evaluation of the ICAP and IP tools was conducted as part of the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) ION effort with two evaluators for the Idaho National Laboratory. Many nuclear operations in the United States are facing challenges of increased business, operations, and maintenance costs due to subsidized renewables and natural gas. The commercial NPP industry has looked to other industries to develop methods such as Integrated Operations (IO) to use available technologies to reduce operating costs. One concept for reducing costs that has been developed is the Integrated Operations for Nuclear (ION). A capability Stack model was developed as part of the ION effort to break down information related to People, Technology, Processes, and Governance (PTPG). The Innovation Portal (IP) and Integrated Capability Analysis Platform (ICAP) were created from the Capability Stack model as part of the ION effort to help utilities reduce O&M costs by identifying work reduction opportunities. Two heuristic evaluations and a cognitive walkthrough of the ICAP and IP tools were completed to identify usability issues to further develop the tools for use in the ION effort. Usability issues identified were rated by priority levels and across both tools. The priority levels identified were high (5), medium (11), and low (10). Recommendation were made to help reduce usability issues of the systems and help increase the user response rate of using the systems once they are implemented for utilities. Future work on designs for the IP tool and additional heuristic evaluations and external testing are being developed to continue refinement of the ICAP and IP tools for the ION effort.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS2010

Risk Mitigation Approach to Commercial Resupply to the International Space Station

In August 2006, NASA awarded Space Act Agreements (SAAs) for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) under the Commercial Crew and Cargo Project Office at Johnson Space Center. One of the goals of the SAAs is to facilitate U.S. private industry demonstration of cargo transportation capabilities, ultimately achieving reliable, cost effective access to low-Earth orbit (LEO). Each COTS provider is required to complete International Space Stations (ISS) Integration activities, which includes meeting the physical and functional interfaces and interface requirements between the ISS and COTS vehicles. These requirements focus on the areas of risk to the ISS during rendezvous and proximity operations, as well as the integration operations while the COTS vehicle is berthed to the ISS. On December 23, 2008, NASA awarded Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contracts to provide resupply services to the ISS, following the Shuttle retirement. In addition to performing any ISS Integration activities, NASA will be performing independent assessments of the launch vehicle and orbital vehicle to evaluate the readiness of the contractor to deliver NASA cargo safely to the ISS. This paper will address the activities NASA Centers, both JSC and KSC, in the oversight and insight function over commercial visiting vehicles to the ISS.

Koons, Diane S.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Principles of Sociology in Systems Engineering

Systems engineering involves both the integration of the system and the integration of the disciplines which develop and operate the system. Integrating the disciplines is a sociological effort to bring together different groups, often with different terminology, to achieve a common goal, the system. The focus for the systems engineer is information flow through the organization, between the disciplines, to ensure the system is developed and operated with all relevant information informing system decisions. Robert K. Merton studied the sociological principles of the sciences and the sociological principles he developed apply to systems engineering. Concepts such as specification of ignorance, common terminology, opportunity structures, role-sets, and the reclama (reconsideration) process are all important sociological approaches that should be employed by the systems engineer. In bringing the disciplines together, the systems engineer must also be wary of social ambivalence, social anomie, social dysfunction, insider-outsider behavior, unintended consequences, and the self-fulfilling prophecy. These sociological principles provide the systems engineer with key approaches to manage the information flow through the organization as the disciplines are integrated and share their information. This also helps identify key sociological barriers to information flow through the organization. This paper will discuss this theoretical basis for the application of sociological principles to systems engineering.

Watson, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Practical Application of Sociology in Systems Engineering

Systems engineering involves both the integration of the system and the integration of the disciplines which develop and operate the system. Integrating the disciplines is a sociological effort to bring together different groups, who often have different terminology, to achieve a common goal, the system. The focus for the systems engineer is information flow through the organization, between the disciplines, to ensure the system is developed and operated will all relevant information informing system decisions. The practical application of the sociology in systems engineering brings in various organizational development concepts including the principles of planned renegotiation and the application of principles to address information barriers created by organizational culture. Concepts such as specification of ignorance, consistent terminology, opportunity structures, role-sets, and the reclama (reconsideration) process are all important sociological approaches that help address the organizational social structure (culture). In bringing the disciplines together, the systems engineer must also be wary of social ambivalence, social anomie, social dysfunction, and insider-outsider behavior. Unintended consequences can result when these social issues are present. These issues can occur when localized subcultures shift from the overarching organizational culture, or when the organizational culture prevents achievement of system goals. These sociological principles provide the systems engineer with key approaches to manage the information flow through the organization as the disciplines are integrated and share their information and provides key sociological barriers to information flow through the organization. This paper will discuss the practical application of sociological principles to systems engineering.

Watson, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Autonomous Integrated Receive System (AIRS) requirements definition. Volume 3: Performance and simulation

The autonomous and integrated aspects of the operation of the AIRS (Autonomous Integrated Receive System) are discussed from a system operation point of view. The advantages of AIRS compared to the existing SSA receive chain equipment are highlighted. The three modes of AIRS operation are addressed in detail. The configurations of the AIRS are defined as a function of the operating modes and the user signal characteristics. Each AIRS configuration selection is made up of three components: the hardware, the software algorithms and the parameters used by these algorithms. A comparison between AIRS and the wide dynamics demodulation (WDD) is provided. The organization of the AIRS analytical/simulation software is described. The modeling and analysis is for simulating the performance of the PN subsystem is documented. The frequence acquisition technique using a frequency-locked loop is also documented. Doppler compensation implementation is described. The technological aspects of employing CCD's for PN acquisition are addressed.

Chie, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Space station operations task force. Panel 3 report: User development and integration

The User Development and Integration Panel of the Space Station Operations Task Force was chartered to develop concepts relating to the operations of the Space Station manned base and the platforms, user accommodation and integration activities. The needs of the user community are addressed in the context with the mature operations phase of the Space Station. Issues addressed include space station pricing options, marketing strategies, payload selection and resource allocation options, and manifesting techniques.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1983

A Definition of STS Accommodations for Attached Payloads

An input to a study conducted to define a set of carrier avionics for supporting large structures experiments attached to the Space Shuttle Orbiter is reported. The "baseline" Orbier interface used in developing the avionics concept for the Space Technology Experiments Platform, STEP, which Langley Research Center has proposed for supporting experiments of this sort is defined. Primarily, flight operations capabilities and considerations and the avionics systems capabilities that are available to a payload as a "mixed cargo" user of the Space Transportation System are addressed. Ground operations for payload integration at Kennedy Space Center, and ground operations for payload support during the mission are also discussed.

Echols, F. L.↗
NASA NTRS2005

An Interoperable, Agricultural Information System Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Data

Monitoring global agricultural crop conditions during the growing season and estimating potential seasonal production are critically important for market development of US. agricultural products and for global food security. The Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center Distributed Active Archive Center (GES DISC DAAC) is developing an Agricultural Information System (AIS), evolved from an existing TRMM Online Visualization and Analysis System (TOVAS), which will operationally provide satellite remote sensing data products (e.g., rainfall) and services. The data products will include crop condition and yield prediction maps, generated from a crop growth model with satellite data inputs, in collaboration with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The AIS will enable the remote, interoperable access to distributed data, by using the GrADS-DODS Server (GDS) and by being compliant with Open GIS Consortium standards. Users will be able to download individual files, perform interactive online analysis, as well as receive operational data flows. AIS outputs will be integrated into existing operational decision support systems for global crop monitoring, such as those of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and the U.N. World Food Program.

Teng, William↗
NASA NTRS2010

Geolab 2010 Hardware in NASA's Pressurized Excursion Module

NASA is designing and building the Habitat Demonstration Unit - 1 in a Pressurized Excursion Module (HDU1- PEM) configuration for analog testing at NASA s annual Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) near Flagstaff, Arizona in late summer 2010. The HDU1-PEM design is based on NASA Constellation program s Lunar Scenario 12.1 (nicknamed "Lunabago"). This scenario uses Lunar Electric Rovers (LER) and a PEM for long-distance lunar exploration. The 2010 HDU version 1.0 will be an unpressurized PEM that contains a GeoLab in one of the eight PEM sections. The GeoLab is designed to facilitate sample curation protocol development including such activities as preliminary examination, sample archiving, and high grading of astromaterials for return to Earth. Geolab operations will be integrated with the DRATS science traverses and operations.

Calaway, M. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Preliminary Development of Multi-Vehicle (m:N) Operations with NASA Langley’s Remote Vehicle Operations Center

To achieve the vision of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), a transition from localized operations of aircraft to remote operations is being pursued across many use cases. This transition will allow fewer human operators to manage more increasingly autonomous aircraft (i.e., m operators managing N vehicles, or m:N). To study this operational concept, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) has developed a prototype remote vehicle operations center and ground control station (GCS) software to conduct research with simulated and real flight operations. To date, flight operations at LaRC have been limited to one vehicle per operator. However, the current paper describes initial development and considerations for enabling m:N flight operations at LaRC. Further, the research described in this paper provides the foundation for a concept of operations (ConOps) that will be developed to support remote operators managing multiple increasingly autonomous vehicles, with the goal of exploring human-autonomy teaming (HAT) concepts that enable more advanced m:N operations. Two key enablers have been identified to facilitate successful m:N operations: GCS software updates for multi-vehicle management and procedural updates for vehicle handoffs during off-nominal events. Additionally, specific modifications were identified across five key areas: technology and software, team structure, inter-team communication, contingency plans, and operator decision flows. Next steps in forming the LaRC m:N ConOps will include working with subject-matter experts to identify off-nominal scenarios, implementing the recommended GCS functionality for m:N operations, and performing integration testing of facility capabilities and new operational procedures. Although the future m:N ConOps will be tailored to the NASA LaRC remote operations facility and flight range, it is intended to be a transparent, accessible, and reality-based exemplar for external organizations seeking to create or evaluate their own m:N operational concepts.

m:N↗
DOE OSTI2025

From Theory to Practice: Feasibility Study of a Thermal Microgrid at a DoD Installation: Preprint

Advanced district thermal energy systems, also known as thermal microgrids, can electrify and decarbonize urban districts in a highly efficient way, but adoption of such systems, especially in the US, has been slow. Thermal microgrids use a network circulating water at near-ambient (60-80 degree F) (15- 25 degree C) temperatures, and water-source heat pumps at connected buildings to boost or lower the temperature for space conditioning and domestic hot water. Addressing challenges related to retrofits of existing buildings for integration with such systems, as well as quantifying the benefits of different configurations, will be key to unlocking the full potential of thermal microgrids for energy savings, decarbonization, and resiliency. This paper will do that, by reporting on preliminary results from a feasibility study of a thermal microgrid, and illustrating the process of conceptual design to seek the best possible performance, within the many constraints of existing buildings. The feasibility study focuses on a cluster of existing buildings, including a grocery store, big box style retail store, motel, and clinic, at a US Department of Defense installation in Germany. The study will assess the performance of a pilot-scale thermal microgrid serving those buildings, in terms of energy, emissions, and life cycle cost, and assess practical considerations (such as building retrofits and scalability) for future implementation. A significant opportunity exists for waste heat recovery from refrigeration at the grocery store (more than offsetting the entire building s space heating load in terms of waste heat availability), and modeling of the proposed thermal microgrid will assess the benefits of the waste heat integration. The moderate operating temperatures of thermal microgrids facilitate the integration of waste heat from a variety of sources, and the networks allow waste heat to be shared amongst buildings in proximity. Along with results on expected energy and emissions performance, as well as waste heat integration, the paper will assess implications of load diversity on system performance. The paper will also discuss the process of evaluating existing building HVAC systems for compatibility with a thermal microgrid, including the feasibility of lower heating hot water temperatures compatible with currently-available water-to-water heat pumps. The cluster of buildings under consideration in this study has much in common with commercial buildings in the United States. The process of and results from this feasibility study can inform assessment of the potential for thermal microgrids in other locations and help unlock the benefits of such systems for decarbonization and energy savings.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗