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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 1,009 records · Page 56
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

Entry, Descent, and Landing with Propulsive Deceleration: Supersonic Retropropulsion Wind Tunnel Testing and Shock Phenomena

The future exploration of the Solar System will require innovations in transportation and the use of entry, descent, and landing (EDL) systems at many planetary landing sites. The cost of space missions has always been prohibitive, and using the natural planetary and planet's moon atmospheres for entry, and descent can reduce the cost, mass, and complexity of these missions. This paper will describe some of the EDL ideas for planetary entry and survey the overall technologies for EDL that may be attractive for future Solar System missions. Future EDL systems may include an inflatable decelerator for the initial atmospheric entry and an additional supersonic retropropulsion (SRP) rocket system for the final soft landing. A three engine retropropulsion configuration with a 2.5 in. diameter sphere-cone aeroshell model was tested in the NASA Glenn Research Center's 1- by 1-ft (1×1) Supersonic Wind Tunnel (SWT). The testing was conducted to identify potential blockage issues in the tunnel, and visualize the rocket flow and shock interactions during supersonic and hypersonic entry conditions. Earlier experimental testing of a 70deg Viking-like (sphere-cone) aeroshell was conducted as a baseline for testing of a SRP system. This baseline testing defined the flow field around the aeroshell and from this comparative baseline data, retropropulsion options will be assessed. Images and analyses from the SWT testing with 300- and 500-psia rocket engine chamber pressures are presented here. In addition, special topics of electromagnetic interference with retropropulsion induced shock waves and retropropulsion for Earth launched booster recovery are also addressed.

Palaszewski, Bryan↗
DOE OSTI2026

Regulatory and Technical Challenges and Barriers to Adoption of Distributed Wind Energy in Agricultural Settings

Distributed wind (DW) energy development can benefit agricultural landowners through the possibility of improved resilience of electrical service from onsite generation and associated economic benefits. DW development currently faces technical and regulatory challenges related to interconnection of projects with distribution or transmission equipment on the main electrical grid. A review was conducted of barriers to adoption for agricultural DW projects and potential roles of various stakeholders in addressing them. One major barrier is that the unique characteristics of wind energy generation such as its variability and intermittency, may require upgrades for the whole power line, which can lead to prohibitive cost burdens on individual interconnection customers. Another barrier is compliance with federal, state, or utility-level regulations that require technology-agnostic, industry-standard equipment that is often not technically realistic for DW projects. DW developers, grid infrastructure owner-operators, regulators, and standards publishers can work together to address these challenges and facilitate DW development.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Biomimetic Ultrasonic Whistle for Use as a Bat Deterrent on Wind Turbines

Our project goal was to design a novel mechanical ultrasonic deterrent for use on wind turbines in order to reduce bat fatalities around these structures. Our proposed deterrent design would be composed of a series of ultrasonic pulse generators, or whistles, affixed to a wind turbine blade, which produce ultrasound through mechanical means. The whistles would produce sounds mimicking the spectrotemporal patterns of bat echolocation pulses, thereby enhancing the bats’ ability to detect, localize and avoid the moving blades. These whistles are intended to be operated passively, blown by the wind, and to be positioned at intervals along a turbine blade. Because the source of sound generation will be mechanical in nature, these devices will require no external power source, should require little maintenance, and will be small and cost-effective.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1996

Design Methodology for Multi-Element High-Lift Systems on Subsonic Civil Transport Aircraft

The choice of a high-lift system is crucial in the preliminary design process of a subsonic civil transport aircraft. Its purpose is to increase the allowable aircraft weight or decrease the aircraft's wing area for a given takeoff and landing performance. However, the implementation of a high-lift system into a design must be done carefully, for it can improve the aerodynamic performance of an aircraft but may also drastically increase the aircraft empty weight. If designed properly, a high-lift system can improve the cost effectiveness of an aircraft by increasing the payload weight for a given takeoff and landing performance. This is why the design methodology for a high-lift system should incorporate aerodynamic performance, weight, and cost. The airframe industry has experienced rapid technological growth in recent years which has led to significant advances in high-lift systems. For this reason many existing design methodologies have become obsolete since they are based on outdated low Reynolds number wind-tunnel data and can no longer accurately predict the aerodynamic characteristics or weight of current multi-element wings. Therefore, a new design methodology has been created that reflects current aerodynamic, weight, and cost data and provides enough flexibility to allow incorporation of new data when it becomes available.

Pepper, R. S.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of smart charging for electric vehicle-to-building integration: A case study

Higher electric vehicle (EV) adoption will stress the importance of demand flexibility to achieve more economic, efficient, and reliable grid operation. Charging technologies will be paramount in shifting temporally to better fit the variable generation of wind and solar. As such, analysis is warranted on the benefits of EV charge scheduling with respect to installation cost, operation cost, difficulty of implementation, and grid flexibility. We tackle this by analyzing the cost savings of implementing an EV charge scheduling infrastructure to reduce demand charges and installation costs. In this paper, we analyze a case study for operation of 16 level 2 chargers and 1 fast charger for two different building types. We then evaluate various test phases for controlling building and charging loads using an adaptive charging network (ACN) algorithm to characterize the ACN’s potential to reduce overall project cost.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2022

On the operational characteristics and economic value of pumped thermal energy storage

Pumped thermal energy storage (PTES) systems use an electrically-driven heat pump to store electricity in the form of thermal energy, and subsequently dispatch the stored thermal energy to generate electricity using a thermodynamic heat engine. Optimal day-ahead operational scheduling and annual value of a PTES system based on Joule-Brayton thermodynamic cycles and two-tank molten salt hot thermal storage is evaluated in this work. Production cost models, which simultaneously optimize commitment and dispatch schedules for an entire set of generators to minimize the cost of satisfying electricity demand, are employed to determine system-optimal operation and day-ahead energy value of the PTES system within each of six hypothetical near-future grid scenarios intended to approximately represent the U.S. Western Interconnection or the Texas Interconnection. Sensitivity to grid scenario (including the contribution of variable renewable energy sources), thermal storage capacity, relative heat pump and heat engine capacities, and startup/shutdown cycling costs are evaluated. PTES energy value and heat engine annual capacity factor increase strongly as the contribution of variable renewable resources increases, heat pump capacity increases relative to heat engine capacity, or PTES cycling costs decrease. Grid scenarios in which the contribution of variable renewable energy is dominated by solar photovoltaics (PV) vs. wind produce inherently different PTES operational patterns. Annual PTES energy value within PV-dominated scenarios increased with storage capacity only up to approximately seven hours of full-load discharge capacity, whereas that within wind-dominated scenarios exhibited a continual increase with storage duration up to at least 16 hours.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

GODEEEP-hydro: Historical and projected power system ready hydropower data for the United States

Hydropower is a critical electricity resource in the United States which, in addition to low-cost electricity generation, provides valuable ancillary grid services, and supports the integration of nondispatchable weather-dependent resources (e.g., wind and solar). Despite its value to the grid, there are very few comprehensive datasets available from which to study both historical and future impacts of climate, weather driven energy droughts, and integration of other weather driven generation. In this paper, we present a hydropower generation dataset covering 1,452 hydroelectric plants in the contiguous U.S. The dataset contains monthly and weekly hydropower generation estimates for both historical (1982–2019) and future (2020–2099) periods which includes 4 future climate scenarios. In addition, this dataset provides weekly and monthly constraints such as minimum and maximum power which are particularly useful in power system models which are used to study grid reliability, transmission planning and capacity expansion.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrating Clean Energy in Mining Operations: Opportunities, Challenges, and Enabling Approaches

The mining industry is a major source of raw materials for several industries such as manufacturing, transportation, construction, energy, and mining industry itself. It is anticipated that demand for raw materials is going to increase as the population growth and many low-income economies shift to middle-income countries. The increase in mineral demand accompanies by falling mineral ore grade is expected to increase energy demand raising concern of greenhouse gas emission (GHG). Renewable energy can provide mine operators with solutions to several of the challenges they face today, including energy costs, fossil fuel volatility, social license to operate, and meeting environmental, societal, and governance goals. However, the integration of wind, solar, storage, and other renewable technologies face several barriers that are generally not well understood. Many of these barriers will require further research, development, demonstration, and deployment before we see higher levels of renewables adoption in the mining industry. Thus, this report highlights renewable opportunities, barriers, and enabling approaches.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Operating Reserves in ReEDS

This presentation provides an overview of the formulation for operating reserves in the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS), a capacity expansion model. It describes the three reserve products modeled in ReEDS--regulation, spinning (contingency), and flexibility--and highlights recent updates to the modeling approach, including modifications to how storage provides reserves, the constraints on commitment for generators that provide reserves, and the costs for thermal units to provide spinning reserve. The presentation benchmarks operating reserve provision in ReEDS against comparable simulations in PLEXOS, finding that the improved formulation is different but yields results that are holistically similar to those in production cost modeling. In this presentation we also investigate the impact of different reserve options in the model (e.g., allowing wind and solar to provide operating reserves) on the solution. The results thus far indicate that most switches related to operating reserves exert little influence on the outcome on the results. Future work will continue to explore operating reserves in capacity expansion models, particularly for models with different temporal resolution.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Environmental Permitting and Compliance Cost Reduction Strategies for the MHK Industry: Lessons Learned from Other Industries

The marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) industry plays a vital role in the U.S. clean energy strategy by providing a renewable, domestic energy source that may offset the need for traditional energy sources. The first MHK deployments in the U.S. have incurred very high permitting costs and long timelines for deploying projects, which increases project risk and discourages investment. A key challenge to advancing an economically competitive U.S. MHK industry is reducing the time and cost required for environmental permitting and compliance with government regulations. Other industries such as offshore oil and gas, offshore wind energy, subsea power and data cables, onshore wind energy, and solar energy facilities have all developed more robust permitting and compliance pathways that provide lessons for the MHK industry in the U.S. and may help inform the global consenting process. Based on in-depth review and research into each of the other industries, we describe the environmental permitting pathways, the main environmental concerns and types of monitoring typically associated with them, and factors that appear to have eased environmental permitting and compliance issues.

other industries↗
NASA NTRS1981

Dish concentrators for solar thermal energy - Status and technology development

Comparisons are presented of point-focusing, or 'dish' solar concentrator system features, development status, and performance levels demonstrated to date. In addition to the requirements of good optical efficiency and high geometric concentration ratios, the most important future consideration in solar thermal energy dish concentrator design will be the reduction of installed and lifetime costs, as well as the materials and labor costs of production. It is determined that technology development initiatives are needed in such areas as optical materials, design wind speeds and wind loads, structural configuration and materials resistance to prolonged exposure, and the maintenance of optical surfaces. The testing of complete concentrator systems, with energy-converting receivers and controls, is also necessary. Both reflector and Fresnel lens concentrator systems are considered.

Jaffe, L. D.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrating Renewable Energy into Mining Operations

The mining industry is a major source of raw materials for several industries such as manufacturing, transportation, construction, energy, and mining industry itself. It is anticipated that demand for raw materials is going to increase as the population growth and many low-income economies shift to middle-income countries. The increase in mineral demand accompanies by falling mineral ore grade is expected to increase energy demand raising concern of greenhouse gas emission (GHG). Renewable energy can provide mine operators with solutions to several of the challenges they face today, including energy costs, fossil fuel volatility, social license to operate, and meeting environmental, societal, and governance goals. However, the integration of wind, solar, storage, and other renewable technologies face several barriers that are generally not well understood. Many of these barriers will require further research, development, demonstration, and deployment before we see higher levels of renewables adoption in the mining industry. Thus, this report highlights renewable opportunities, barriers, and enabling approaches.

clean energy↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrating Renewable Energy in the Iron and Steel Industry: Challenges, Opportunities, and Enabling Approaches

Renewable energy can help mine operators with several challenges they face today, including energy costs, fossil fuel volatility, social license to operate, and meeting environmental, societal, and governance goals. However, the integration of wind, solar, storage, and other renewable technologies face several barriers that are generally not well understood. Many of these barriers will require further research, development, demonstration, and deployment before we see higher levels of renewables adoption in the mining industry. Thus, this poster highlights renewable opportunities, barriers, and enabling approaches.

energy demands↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Renewable Opportunity in Mining

Renewable energy can provide mine operators with solutions to several of the challenges they face today, including energy costs, fossil fuel volatility, social license to operate, and meeting environmental, societal, and governance goals. However, the integration of wind, solar, storage, and other renewable technologies presents several technical barriers that are generally not well understood by the mining industry. Many of these barriers will require further research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) before we see higher levels of renewables adoption in the mining industry.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS1982

Evaluation of wind tunnel performance testings of an advanced 45 deg swept 8-bladed propeller at Mach numbers from 0.45 to 0.85

The increased emphasis of fuel conservation in the world and the rapid increase in the cost of jet fuel has stimulated a series of studies of both conventional and unconventional propulsion systems for commercial aircraft. The results of these studies indicate that a fuel saving of 15 to 30 percent may be realized by the use of an advanced high-speed turboprop (Prop-Fan) compared to aircraft equipped with high bypass turbofan engines of equivalent technology. The Prop-Fan propulsion system is being investigated as part of the NASA Aircraft Energy Efficient Program. This effort includes the wind tunnel testing of a series of 8 and 10-blade Prop-Fan models incorporate swept blades. Test results indicate efficiency levels near the goal of 80 percent at Mach 0.8 cruise and an altitude of 10.67 km (35,000 ft). Each successive swept model has shown improved efficiency relative to the straight blade model. The fourth model, with 45 deg swept blades reported herein, shows a net efficiency of 78.2 at the design point with a power loading of 301 kW/sq meter and a tip speed of 243.8 m/sec (800 ft/sec.).

Rohrbach, C.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Quantification of Uncertainty and Risk Sensitivity for Safety of Emerging Operations

The growing need to develop and deploy small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs) for various applications in the airspace necessitates reliable tools to accurately predict the flight trajectories of the sUAVs. The knowledge of the predicted trajectories help decision makers anticipate potential conflict, assess the risk, and take appropriate risk mitigation actions. In addition, uncertainties in vehicle models, weather, and controller action further highlights the need for reliable prediction tools. In this project, the application of mixed sparse grid-based quadrature and generalized polynomial chaos(gPC) expansion method for uncertainty quantification and collision assessment in air traffic consisting of fixed-wing small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAV) was studied. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that this provides a reliable framework to carry out quantitative conflict assessment in an unmanned air traffic, which when employed, can improve the functionalities of the unmanned traffic management system. It was observed that the results from the gPC expansion framework developed in the project can be utilized to conduct rapid probabilistic collision assessment for near real-time unmanned traffic management in the airspace. From the vehicle models, position updates, and wind-field data, a priori gPC based 3-σcon-fidence ellipses can provide estimates of potential conflict at some future instants. The computational costs scaled linearly when the uncertain inputs were fewer. Further, the largest allowable distribution of para-metric uncertainties that leads to the smallest risk of collision in traffic of small unmanned aerial vehicles could be calculated. The time of closest approach between two sUAVs can be established paving way for development of proactive mitigation strategies. The separation between the sUAVs was found to be most significantly affected by uncertainties in the maximum available thrusts, zero-lift drag coefficients, and wing planform areas of the sUAVs. The study of uncertain wind-fields indicated that a heterogeneous traffic mix resulted in an increased probability of conflict. Increased measurement update rate reduced the uncertain-ties in the trajectories of the vehicles, further reducing the probability of conflict but rapid updates of all vehicles in the airspace poses a stringent communication limitation. The gPC framework also provided the means to analyze vehicle impact (crash region) due to loss of control resulting from actuator failure in sUAS traffic, essentially to predict impact and crash zones for representative vehicles. The predicted regions when compared with non-participant density, provides a means to develop an early mitigation strategy, should the sUAV detect an imminent actuator failure.

Rajnish Bhusal↗
DOE OSTI2024

Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study

The Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study (AOSWTS) is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) efforts to understand and facilitate the transmission of electricity from wind in the Atlantic Ocean. It was informed by the Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Literature Review and Gaps Analysis (Bothwell et al. 2021) and the convening workshops hosted in 2022-2023 by DOE and the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The study results help to inform An Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. Atlantic Region (Baker et al. 2023). DOE's Wind Energy Technologies Office funded AOSWTS. The AOSWTS identifies and evaluates pathways to enable offshore wind energy deployment in the Atlantic Ocean through coordinated offshore transmission solutions in the near term (by 2030) and long term (by 2050). The study fills gaps in prior analyses by providing a multiregional planning perspective that evaluates offshore wind generation development with transmission planning. It incorporates environmental, ocean co-use, and other siting considerations into defining potential offshore transmission routes. The study also compares different multiregional offshore transmission topologies and their associated costs (using potential cable routes) and benefits (in terms of production cost savings and enhanced resource adequacy). In addition, the AOSWTS analyzes reliability impacts from a multiregional perspective. The study provides guidance for policymakers and transmission stakeholders on possible outcomes resulting from a proactive, coordinated, and interregional approach to transmission planning for offshore wind energy development in the Atlantic. While this study presents possibilities, additional work following system operator methods and procedures can help build on this analysis.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study: Executive Summary

The Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study (AOSWTS) is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) efforts to understand and facilitate the transmission of electricity from wind in the Atlantic Ocean. It was informed by the Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Literature Review and Gaps Analysis (Bothwell et al. 2021) and the convening workshops hosted in 2022-2023 by DOE and the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The study results help to inform An Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. Atlantic Region (Baker et al. 2023). DOE's Wind Energy Technologies Office funded AOSWTS. The AOSWTS identifies and evaluates pathways to enable offshore wind energy deployment in the Atlantic Ocean through coordinated offshore transmission solutions in the near term (by 2030) and long term (by 2050). The study fills gaps in prior analyses by providing a multiregional planning perspective that evaluates offshore wind generation development with transmission planning. It incorporates environmental, ocean co-use, and other siting considerations into defining potential offshore transmission routes. The study also compares different multiregional offshore transmission topologies and their associated costs (using potential cable routes) and benefits (in terms of production cost savings and enhanced resource adequacy). In addition, the AOSWTS analyzes reliability impacts from a multiregional perspective. The study provides guidance for policymakers and transmission stakeholders on possible outcomes resulting from a proactive, coordinated, and interregional approach to transmission planning for offshore wind energy development in the Atlantic. While this study presents possibilities, additional work following system operator methods and procedures can help build on this analysis.

17 WIND ENERGY↗