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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 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Ice-Shelf Tidal Flexure and Subglacial Pressure Variations

We develop a model of an ice shelf-ice stream system as a viscoelastic beam partially supported by an elastic foundation. When bed rock near the grounding line acts as a fulcrum, leverage from the ice shelf dropping at low tide can cause significant (approx 1 cm) uplift in the first few kilometers of grounded ice.This uplift and the corresponding depression at high tide lead to basal pressure variations of sufficient magnitude to influence subglacial hydrology.Tidal flexure may thus affect basal lubrication, sediment flow, and till strength, all of which are significant factors in ice-stream dynamics and grounding-line stability. Under certain circumstances, our results suggest the possibility of seawater being drawn into the subglacial water system. The presence of sea water beneath grounded ice would significantly change the radar reflectivity of the grounding zone and complicate the interpretation of grounded versus floating ice based on ice-penetrating radar observations.

tidal↗
NASA NTRS1980

Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage Program

The Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage (STES) Program designed to demonstrate the storage and retrieval of energy on a seasonal basis using heat or cold available from waste or other sources during a surplus period is described. Factors considered include reduction of peak period demand and electric utility load problems and establishment of favorable economics for district heating and cooling systems for commercialization of the technology. The initial thrust of the STES Program toward utilization of ground water systems (aquifers) for thermal energy storage is emphasized.

Minor, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Southwest Water Resources: Monitoring Surface Water Extents of Remote Stock Ponds in the Southwestern United States Using Earth Observing Systems for Enhanced Water Resources Management

Due to increasingly frequent and severe drought conditions in the southwestern US, land managers and livestock producers need to monitor stock ponds with increasing regularity. The ability to assess stock pond water levels with Earth observing satellite systems would enhance monitoring efforts of partners at the US Forest Service, Arizona Department of Game and Fish, and the Diablo Trust. This study employed Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Sentinel-1 C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-SAR), and Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) to monitor surface water extent for hundreds of critical stock ponds in Arizona. Using methods adapted from previously developed image processing workflows, this project conducted a time-series analysis to capture seasonal and interannual variations in surface water area between 2013 to 2021. In addition, end users can monitor the surface water extent of stock ponds through the developed Google Earth Engine software tool called Surface Water Identification and Forecasting Tool (SWIFT). SWIFT incorporates the Automated Water Extraction Index, Modified Normalized Difference Water Index, and Tasseled Cap-Wetness Index for optical imagery and the incidence angle, VV and VH polarization bands for Sentinel-1 imagery to detect small water bodies in the study area with an overall accuracy range of 88-93%. These tools will empower our partners to monitor the extents of water in their stock ponds remotely, enabling them to develop data-informed and sustainable management solutions for decades to come.

Rainey Aberle↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modular, Mobile Systems for the Treatment of Contaminated Water at Three Magnox Sites in the United Kingdom - 20421

Veolia Nuclear Solutions (VNS), and its mitigated entity, Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services (VNSFS), are designing, overseeing the fabrication and installation, and supporting the commissioning of highly mobile and modular skid-based water treatment systems to assist in the decommissioning of three Magnox reactor sites based in the U.K. These Modular Active Effluent Treatment Plants (MAETP) will be deployed at the Chapelcross, Hinkley Point A, and Dungeness A sites to process contaminated water through the use of ion exchange systems and/or filtration units. At the time of writing, two systems have been installed and inactively commissioned, and the third system is expected to be delivered in 2020. Veolia has utilized a multi-national team of engineers, based in the UK and the US, to effectively leverage the best of Veolia expertise in the design and delivery of mobile, modular systems. The VNS team continues to refine the modular, mobile, and scalable approach to water processing system delivery, and has successfully patented the evolving technology for proprietary protection. The intent of this technology investment is to improve the functionality, mobility, and modularity, resulting in a system which can be adapted to a broad range of throughput and isotope removal requirements to achieve the most cost effective, flexible system possible for customers. Designing, fabricating, and factory-testing the modules off site followed by onsite installation, testing, start-up, and commissioning ensures expedited delivery and setup, as well as cost savings for nuclear applications. For the MAETP systems, VNS's previous nuclear site experience and ongoing Research and Development (R and D), combined with the resulting mobile/modular water processing systems developed and successfully deployed by VNS, have proven to be important inputs for the successful end-design of the systems, materials selection, system testing and commissioning. The lessons learned in the development and continued enhancement of the patented systems described in this paper will prove useful in advancing and deploying future systems for other nuclear sites, where rapid customizing and cost-effective implementation are critical factors. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1981

Design description of the Schuchuli Village photovoltaic power system

A stand alone photovoltaic (PV) power system for the village of Schuchuli (Gunsight), Arizona, on the Papago Indian Reservation is a limited energy, all 120 V (d.c.) system to which loads cannot be arbitrarily added and consists of a 3.5 kW (peak) PV array, 2380 ampere-hours of battery storage, an electrical equipment building, a 120 V (d.c.) electrical distribution network, and equipment and automatic controls to provide control power for pumping water into an existing water system; operating 15 refrigerators, a clothes washing machine, a sewing machine, and lights for each of the homes and communal buildings. A solar hot water heater supplies hot water for the washing machine and communal laundry. Automatic control systems provide voltage control by limiting the number of PV strings supplying power during system operation and battery charging, and load management for operating high priority at the expense of low priority loads as the main battery becomes depleted.

Ratajczak, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Solar-powered hot-air system

Solar-powered air heater supplies part or all of space heating requirements of residential or commercial buildings and is interfaced with air to water heat exchanger to heat domestic hot water. System has potential application in drying agricultural products such as cotton, lumber, corn, grains, and peanuts.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2026

Representation and Impact of Water Head on Power System Planning and Operation

Representing water head information in power system model files, can provide a more realistic model of the system and thereby inform operation and planning personnel in the decision-making process. This article describes a procedure for modifying the power system model files (steady-state and dynamic) to represent water head information. Additionally, the impact of representing the water head on power system reliability studies including contingency analysis, cascading failure analysis and dynamic frequency response analysis has been investigated, using the modified power system models. This paper considers the detailed Western Electricity Coordination Council model during summer and winter conditions as the test system for the impact analysis. Results show that under reduced water head: 1) the number of critical voltage and branch flow violations increases; 2) chances of cascading failure and island formation increases; and 3) frequency nadir decreases as compared to those of the base cases where the water head information is not represented.

13 - HYDRO ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1990

Recent experiences with iodine water disinfection in Shuttle

Microbial proliferation in the STS potable water system is prevented by maintaining a 2-5 ppm iodine residual. The iodine is added to fuel cell water by an iodinated ion exchange resin in the Microbial Check Valve (MCV). Crew comments indicated excessive iodine in the potable water. To better define the problem, a method of in-flight iodine analysis was developed. Inflight analysis during STS-30 and STS-28 indicated iodine residuals were generally in the 9-13 ppm range. It was determined that the high iodine residual was caused by MCV influent temperatures in excess of 120 F. This is well above the MCV operating range of 65-90 F. The solution to this problem was to develop a resin suitable for the higher temperatures. Since 8 months were required to formulate a MCV resin suitable for the higher temperatures, a temporary solution was necessary. Two additional MCV's were installed on the chilled and ambient water lines leading into the galley to remove the excess iodine. These reduced the iodine residual to 3-4 ppm during STS-33, STS-34, STS-36 and STS-32. A high-temperature resin was formulated and initially flown on STS-31.

Gibbons, Randall E.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Monitoring of Ionic Silver Biocide with Capacitively-Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection (C4D)

Monitoring of biocide dosing in spacecraft potable water systems is desirable to ensure dosing system operation and resultant microbial control. Electrolytic conductivity is linearly related to the concentration ionic silver (Ag+, the baseline biocide for future NASA missions) chemically dosed into highly purified water, and could serve as a proxy measurement. Traditional conductivity cells rely on immersed metal or graphite electrodes, which may potentially be subject to significant current-induced or auto-galvanic deposition of Ag+. Furthermore, oxide fouling may potentially induce measurement errors. Capacitively-coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) is a promising alternative. C4D uses electrodes placed outside an inert, non-conductive flow path, potentially mitigating such problems. We identified and purchased a commercial C4D system with claimed performance (conductivity range: 20 nS/cm to 4 µS/cm) appropriate for this application. We characterized the instrument’s performance with conductivity standards and Ag+ solutions. We began investigations considering practical and long-term detector operation, including potential current-induced deposition of conductive deposits at the tubing wall. In addition, we designed a side-stream flow system to provide liquid flow through the narrow tubing (1/16” outer diameter) required by the detector and characterized the performance of the combined C4D detector/flow system. Finally, we completed theoretical modeling of expected conductivity change with multiple dosing techniques and water chemistries.

Lance Dean Delzeit↗
NASA NTRS1979

Continuous sterilization of plumbing systems

Continuous sterilization of plumbing, such as in hospitals, clinics, and biological testing laboratories is possible with ethylene oxide/Freon 12 (ETO/F-12) humidifier developed for sterilization of potable water systems.

Bryan, C. J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Assessing Adaptive Irrigation Impacts on Water Scarcity in Nonstationary Environments—A Multi‐Agent Reinforcement Learning Approach

Abstract One major challenge in water resource management is to balance the uncertain and nonstationary water demands and supplies caused by the changing anthropogenic and hydroclimate conditions. To address this issue, we developed a reinforcement learning agent‐based modeling (RL‐ABM) framework where agents (agriculture water users) are able to learn and adjust water demands based on their interactions with the water systems. The intelligent agents are created by a reinforcement learning algorithm adapted from the Q‐learning algorithm. We illustrated this framework in a case study where the RL‐ABM is two‐way coupled with the Colorado River Simulation System (CRSS), a long‐term planning model used for the administration of the Colorado River Basin, for assessing agriculture water uses impacts on water scarcity. Seventy‐eight intelligent agents are simulated, which can be grouped into three categories based on their parameter values: the “aggressive” (swift actions; low regrets), the “forward‐looking conservative” (mild actions; high regrets; fast learning), and the “myopic conservative” (mild actions; median regrets; slow learning). The ABM‐CRSS results showed that the major reservoirs in the Upper Colorado Basin might experience more frequent water shortages due to the increasing water uses compared to the original CRSS results. If the drought continues, the case study also demonstrates that agents can learn and adjust their demands.

Hung, Fengwei↗
DOE OSTI2016

87 Sr/ 86 Sr Concentrations in the Appalachian Basin: A Review

This document reviews 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotope data across the Appalachian Basin from existing literature to show spatial and temporal variation. Isotope geochemistry presents a means of understanding the geochemical effects hydraulic fracturing may have on shallow ground substrates. Isotope fractionation is a naturally occurring phenomenon brought about by physical, chemical, and biological processes that partition isotopes between substances; therefore, stable isotope geochemistry allows geoscientists to understand several processes that shape the natural world. Strontium isotopes can be used as a tool to answer an array of geological and environmental inquiries. In some cases, strontium isotopes are sensitive to the introduction of a non-native fluid into a system. This ability allows strontium isotopes to serve as tracers in certain systems. Recently, it has been demonstrated that strontium isotopes can serve as a monitoring tool for groundwater and surface water systems that may be affected by hydraulic fracturing fluids (Chapman et al., 2013; Kolesar Kohl et al., 2014). These studies demonstrated that 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values have the potential to monitor subsurface fluid migration in regions where extraction of Marcellus Shale gas is occurring. This document reviews publicly available strontium isotope data from 39 sample locations in the Appalachian Basin (Hamel et al., 2010; Chapman et al., 2012; Osborn et al., 2012; Chapman et al., 2013; Capo et al., 2014; Kolesar Kohl et al., 2014). The data is divided into two sets: stratigraphic (Upper Devonian/Lower Mississippi, Middle Devonian, and Silurian) and groundwater. ArcMap™ (ESRI, Inc.) was used to complete inverse distance weighting (IDW) analyses for each dataset to create interpolated surfaces in an attempt to find regional trends or variations in strontium isotopic values across the Appalachian Basin. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr varies up to ~ 0.011 across the Appalachian Basin, but the current publicly available data is limited in frequency and regional extent, causing artifacts and high uncertainty when interpolating data for locations far from sampling sites. These factors highlight the need for additional strontium isotope sampling across the region. Identifying potential contamination from hydraulic fracturing fluid in Appalachian Basin groundwater using strontium isotopes would require additional sampling. For a more comprehensive strontium isotope database, samples would need to be collected during prefracturing, syn-fracturing, and post-fracturing stages. This would add a temporal component to the spatial data and make tracing of fluid migration with strontium isotopes more accurate. Future research and modeling that incorporates subsurface geology and watershed data would also serve to increase the accuracy and certainty of the interpolations of these analyses. Prospective geospatial Appalachian Basin isotope studies would also benefit from the integration of geologic mapping because surface and subsurface geology influences observed strontium isotope values.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1972

Apollo experience report: Command and service module environmental control system

A comprehensive review is presented of the design philosophy of the Apollo environmental control system together with the development history of the total system and of selected components within the system. In particular, discussions are presented relative to the development history and to the problems associated with the equipment cooling coldplates, the evaporator and its electronic control system, and the space radiator system used for rejection of the spacecraft thermal loads. Apollo flight experience and operational difficulties associated with the spacecraft water system and the waste management system are discussed in detail to provide definition of the problem and the corrective action taken when applicable.

Samonski, F. H., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development of Extended Period Pressure-Dependent Demand Water Distribution Models

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has used modeling and simulation of water distribution systems for N-1 contingency analyses to assess criticality of water system assets. Critical components considered in these analyses include pumps, tanks, and supply sources, in addition to critical pipes or aqueducts. A contingency represents the complete removal of the asset from system operation. For each contingency, an extended period simulation (EPS) is run using EPANET. An EPS simulates water system behavior over a time period, typically at least 24 hours. It assesses the ability of a system to respond and recover from asset disruption through distributed storage in tanks throughout the system. Contingencies of concern are identified as those in which some portion of the water system has unmet delivery requirements. A delivery requirement is defined as an aggregation of water demands within a service area, similar to an electric power demand. The metric used to identify areas of unmet delivery requirement in these studies is a pressure threshold of 15 pounds per square inch (psi). This pressure threshold is used because it is below the required pressure for fire protection. Any location in the model with pressure that drops below this threshold at any time during an EPS is considered to have unmet service requirements and is used to determine cascading consequences. The outage area for a contingency is the aggregation of all service areas with a pressure below the threshold at any time during the EPS.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

An integrated modelling framework to assess long-term impacts of water management strategies steering soil subsidence in peatlands

Around the world many peatlands are managed unsustainably. Drainage of the peat causes soil subsidence and a range of negative societal impacts. Integrated strategies are required to ensure more sustainable long-term settings, based on impact assessment models that simulate the interrelated dynamics of water management and soil subsidence, and determine the spatial and temporal range of societal impacts. This paper presents an integrated modelling framework that meets these requirements. We used the framework to assess the impacts of a range of water management strategies in Dutch peatlands. Average soil subsidence rates were shown to range from 0.6 to 4.5 mm·y{sup −1}, resulting in marked differences in societal impacts that affect stakeholders unequally. Moreover, the impacts on real estate damage and water system maintenance revealed inverse trends that result in increasingly unbalanced cost-benefit ratios. The generated insights led the regional water authority to change their current water management strategy, preventing unsustainable future developments. We find the results relevant for improving stakeholders' awareness of long-term impacts of management strategies, and making negotiation processes on goals, means, and possible future pathways more transparent. - Highlights: •We developed an integrated modelling framework to support peatland management. •We used the case of Dutch peatlands to illustrate the added value of the framework. •Spatial patterns and temporal trends show how stakeholders are affected unequally. •The results were used to improve water management strategies.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS1973

Aerodynamic thermal simulation system. Part 1: Radiant array (instruction manual)

An aerodynamic thermal simulation system (ATSS) is presented. The construction of the system, the maintenance, set up, and operations are reported. System description of the radiant array is given along with the array subsystems modular heating unit, adjustable stanchion frame, cooling water system, and the gaseous nitrogen cooling system. The array configuration procedure outlines the set up and the start up. Maintenance procedures involve both lamp maintenance and reflector maintenance along with weather protection. Drawing codes are included. Descriptions of the 36 zone ATSS controls are also given. Each zone is an independent closed loop temperature control circuit. Procedures are presented for starting and stopping the system. The DATA-TRAK programmer and its operation, instruction manuals for the temperature controller and the power regulator and discriptions of peripheral equipment are discussed.

Kitchar, A. F.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Modelica Models for Data Center Cooling Systems

This paper presents a package of Modelica models, which are dedicated to data center cooling systems and recently added to the Modelica Buildings library. To demonstrate the usage of this package, we modeled a chilled water system with an integrated wateside economizer, and an air-cooled direct expansion system with an airside economizer. These models are then applied to evaluate the control performance. After that we performed a detailed comparison in terms of system-level energy efficiency, economizing hours and supply air conditions for the two cooling systems. The advantages and disadvantages of this package are finally summarized and discussed.

Fu, Yangyang↗