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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 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Refining NEAMS MARVEL Reactor Model Accuracy

This report outlines the progress of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in improving the fidelity of the multiphysics model of the Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) reactor developed in FY24. The multiphysics model firstly developed in FY24 leverages three single-physics models coupled via the MOOSE’s MultiApps and Transfer systems. The first single-physics model, that functions as the driver application, leverages Griffin to model the neutron transport in the core through the discontinuous finite element (DFEM) discrete ordinates solver (SN). The second single-physics model uses BISON to compute the solid temperature in the reactor. Finally, the System Analysis Module (SAM) was used to model the flow of the sodium-potassium eutectic in the primary loop. In this report we detail the following improvement and enhancements: • An updated mesh leveraging the latest feature in the reactor module (see Section 3.1.).

42 - ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Refining Methods to Determine the Isotopic Composition of Uranium Particles by Laser Ablation MC-ICP-MS

We report on efforts to mitigate the generation of isotopic anomalies during the ablation of micrometer-sized uranium oxide particles and analysis by MC-ICP-MS. The results of testing on particles of U200 indicate that laser fluence and frequency can affect isotopic data produced by laser ablation, but no settings were tested that could eradicate the signal spiking effect and generation of anomalous isotopic data for 234U/238U and 236U/238U. These anomalies are more frequent in samples with higher 235U enrichments, which is expected given their higher abundances of 234U and 236U. Of the standards tested here, only U005-A was anomaly-free. Efforts to compare the laser traces for particles with normal and anomalous isotopic compositions showed subtle differences in the behavior of the 234U/238U and 236U/238U ratios. However, it would be challenging to identify anomalous data points from a population of unknowns using this distinction, i.e., this is unlikely to be diagnostic. Thus, using current analytical hardware, we cannot eradicate the signal spiking phenomenon and cannot unambiguously identify isotopic anomalies from laser ablation traces. Ultimately, laser ablation ICP-MS would either require dramatic improvement to the ablation process and generation of more homogenous aerosols and/or improvements to detector electronics to identify and correct for the spiking phenomenon. Even if the reliability of the technique could be improved, a broader question to address is whether current data quality is of a high enough standard for laser ablation MC-ICP-MS to be used as a complementary technique to LG-SIMS for Safeguards.

organic↗
DOE OSTI2026

Development of a Test-Bed for Testing and Refining EarthEn’s Supercritical CO 2 Based Energy Storage System

EarthEn’s energy storage concept leverages supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) as a working fluid and relies on compact, high-performance components operating at elevated pressures and temperatures. To accelerate component development and reduce technical risk prior to larger-scale demonstrations, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) developed a 100 kW-scale sCO 2 test-bed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with EarthEn (CRADA NO. NFE-24-10050). The objective of the work was to design and construct a flexible experimental facility capable of reproducing key thermodynamic state points and heat-transfer conditions relevant to EarthEn’s thermal energy storage (TES) cycle, with particular emphasis on enabling development and evaluation of next-generation heat exchangers and TES concepts. The test-bed consists of a closed-loop sCO 2 circulation system housed within an open-topped enclosure. In its as-installed configuration, dense-phase sCO 2 is recirculated through a printed circuit recuperator, an electrically heated section, a throttling device used to simulate turbine expansion, and a water-cooled printed circuit heat exchanger that rejects heat to the building chilled-water system before returning to the pump. The pump is driven by a variable frequency drive, enabling controlled adjustment of flow and operating point. A comprehensive instrumentation suite was integrated to support both safe operation and high-quality data collection. Installed sensors include Coriolis flow meters for sCO 2 flow rate and density, resistance temperature detectors and thermocouples distributed throughout the loop (including the heated section and key heat exchanger ports), and pressure transducers for absolute and differential pressure measurements. The facility was designed to support high-pressure (19 MPa nominal) and high-temperature (575°C nominal) operation with credited overpressure protection provided by a rupture disk. Nominal operating conditions were selected to support 100 kW-class testing while maintaining flexibility for non-heated and heated shakedown, control development, and future integration of advanced TES test sections. In parallel with facility development, a system-level thermal-hydraulic model was created using Modelica-based tools to support component sizing, anticipate performance over targeted test conditions, and establish a framework for future model calibration against experimental data. At the conclusion of the project performance period, the facility was in final assembly, and the pressure boundary was nearly completed. However, several practical challenges associated with high-pressure/high-temperature systems and specialized component procurement impacted schedule and prevented initial pump-driven operation and full commissioning within the available resources. This report documents the as-built design, operating capabilities, and instrumentation, and it summarizes key lessons learned related to heater fabrication and testing, first-of-a-kind assembly factors, specialty flange supply constraints, and fill pump corrective actions. Finally, it outlines a phased plan for future commissioning and experimental campaigns, including control and instrumentation shakedown, heater characterization, model calibration, and testing at state points representative of EarthEn’s TES cycle.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Refining a Novel Process Monitoring Method to Safeguard Continuously Cycling Designs Using Isotopic Ratios

In advanced reactor (AR) designs, a common feature is continuous chemical processing and circulation of the nuclear material. This work bridges a significant measurement gap in safeguarding reactors with circulating fuel or continuous refueling by leveraging and building on the isotope ratio method first developed by our team under an FY21 Advanced Reactors International Safeguards Engagement (ARISE) project (Uribe et al. 2021). In circulating fuel designs, the radioisotope inventory changes from traditional effects (e.g., radioactive decay, fission) but also includes material transport due to pressure and temperature gradients. Such designs may also require regular or continuous additions or removals during operation, which significantly increases the rate of inventory change compared to traditional pressurized water reactor (PWR)s. Thus, directly tracking the nuclear inventory is ineffective since the isotopes are continuously added and removed. The isotope ratio method instead focuses on detecting changes to the input and output flows of radioisotopes. Previous work showed that for well-chosen pairs of isotopes, the isotopic ratio provides a sensitive and lasting indicator of deviation from normal conditions (e.g., startup, shutdown, diversion). The isotope ratio method is a process monitoring method with potential for application in for forward-looking approaches to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. The original process monitoring method was developed for a specific case—the decay tank of a thorium-fueled molten salt breeder reactor. In this expanded work, we explored other types of reactors and processes with nonstationary (e.g., flowing) nuclear material, which are difficult to safeguard with traditional methods because of the transient nature of the systems. The goal of the present work is to generalize the isotope ratio method for use in processes with continuously flowing nuclear material. All continuous processes have an average time for isotopes to be replaced in the system. The isotope ratio method works by choosing radioisotopes with half-lives both above and below the processing time. The present work seeks to explore which isotopes are suitable for the method by simulating the nuclear inventory, radioisotope emissions, and detector responses for several classes of advanced reactors. While the method can in principle be applied to other processes (e.g., enrichment or reprocessing facilities), the present work limits scope to ARs with continuously flowing fuel. Section 2 details the mathematics supporting the isotope ratio method, and Section 3 introduces the representative ARs selected for this work. Section 4 discusses how each reactor was analyzed, and Section 5 showcases the results for each representative reactor. Finally, Section 6 provides concluding remarks and suggests pathways for further analysis.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2010

Refinements and Tests of an Advanced Controller to Mitigate Fatigue Loads in the Controls Advanced Research Turbine: Preprint

Wind turbines are complex, nonlinear, dynamic systems forced by aerodynamic, gravitational, centrifugal, and gyroscopic loads. The aerodynamics of wind turbines are nonlinear, unsteady, and complex. Turbine rotors are subjected to a complicated 3-D turbulent wind inflow field, with imbedded coherent vortices that drive fatigue loads and reduce lifetime. Design of control algorithms for windturbines must account for multiple control objectives. Future large multi-megawatt turbines must be designed with lighter weight structures, using active controls to mitigate fatigue loads, while maximizing energy capture. Active damping should be added to these dynamic structures to maintain stability for operation in a complex environment. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), wehave designed, implemented, and tested advanced controls to maximize energy extraction and reduce structural dynamic loads. These control designs are based on linear models of the turbine that are generated by specialized modeling software. In this paper, we present field test results of an advanced control algorithm to mitigate blade, tower, and drivetrain loads in Region 3.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Refined Dynamic Calculation of a Diesel-Engine Crank Mechanism

A mathematical model is proposed for the connecting rod of a diesel engine as a deformable component of a crank mechanism. VisSim 6.0 software is used for dynamic simulation of the connecting rod. Vibration is observed when the force exerted by the gas pressure is a maximum.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dynamic New World: Refining Our View of Protein Structure, Function and Evolution

Proteins are crucial to the functioning of all lifeforms. Traditional understanding posits that a single protein occupies a single structure (“fold”), which performs a single function. This view is radically challenged with the recognition that high structural dynamism—the capacity to be extra “floppy”—is more prevalent in functional proteins than previously assumed. As reviewed here, this dynamic take on proteins affects our understanding of protein “structure”, function, and evolution, and even gives us a glimpse into protein origination. Specifically, this review will discuss historical developments concerning protein structure, and important new relationships between dynamism and aspects of protein sequence, structure, binding modes, binding promiscuity, evolvability, and origination. Along the way, suggestions will be provided for how key parts of textbook definitions—that so far have excluded membership to intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs)—could be modified to accommodate our more dynamic understanding of proteins.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Sourcing, Refining and Recycling of Rare-Earth Magnets

Permanent magnets today are used in a wide range of transportation, industrial, residential/commercial, consumer electronics, defense, domestic, data storage, wind energy, and medical markets and applications. There are five classes of commercial permanent magnet materials; however, magnets based on Nd-Fe-B account for over 60% of the global magnet production by value. They typically contain around 31 wt.% of rare earth elements (REEs), principally, Nd and Pr, plus Dy for higher-temperature performance. Nd-Fe-B magnets are forecast to grow throughout this decade, largely driven by the growth in electric vehicles of all types. However, several studies forecast a shortfall of the primary REEs from mined resources. In this paper, the sourcing, processing, and recycling of REEs are discussed. Additionally, presented are the advantages and disadvantages of the major recovery and recycling technologies for REEs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Transiting Exoplanet Monitoring Project (TEMP). II. Refined System Parameters and Transit Timing Analysis of HAT-P-33b

We present 10 R-band photometric observations of eight different transits of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-33b, which has been targeted by our Transiting Exoplanet Monitoring Project. The data were obtained by two telescopes at the Xinglong Station of National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) from 2013 December through 2016 January, and exhibit photometric scatter of 1.6--3.0 mmag. After jointly analyzing the previously published photometric data, radial-velocity (RV) measurements, and our new light curves, we revisit the system parameters and orbital ephemeris for the HAT-P-33b system. Our results are consistent with the published values except for the planet to star radius ratio (R{sub P}/R{sub ∗}), the ingress/egress duration (τ) and the total duration (T {sub 14}), which together indicate a slightly shallower and shorter transit shape. Our results are based on more complete light curves, whereas the previously published work had only one complete transit light curve. No significant anomalies in Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) are found, and we place upper mass limits on potential perturbers, largely supplanting the loose constraints provided by the extant RV data. The TTV limits are stronger near mean-motion resonances, especially for the low-order commensurabilities. We can exclude the existence of a perturber with mass larger than 0.6, 0.3, 0.5, 0.5, and 0.3 M{sub ⊕} near the 1:3, 1:2, 2:3, 3:2, and 2:1 resonances, respectively.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Refined Telluric Absorption Correction for Low-resolution Ground-based Spectroscopy: Resolution and Radial Velocity Effects in the O{sub 2}A-band for Exoplanets and K i Emission Lines

Telluric correction of spectroscopic observations is either performed via standard stars that are observed close in time and airmass along with the science target, or recently growing in importance, by theoretical telluric absorption modeling. Both approaches work fine when the telluric lines are resolved, i.e., at a spectral resolving power larger than about 10,000, and it is sufficient to facilitate the detection of spectral features at lower resolution. However, a meaningful quantitative analysis also requires the reliable recovery of line strengths. Here, we show for the Fraunhofer A-band of molecular O{sub 2} that the standard telluric correction approach fails in this at lower spectral resolutions, as an example for the general problem. Doppler-shift-dependent errors of the restored flux may arise, which can amount to more than 50% in extreme cases, depending on the line shapes of the target spectral features. Two applications are discussed: the recovery of the O{sub 2} band in the reflected light of an Earth analog atmosphere, as facilitated potentially in the future using an orbiting starshade and a ground-based extremely large telescope; and the recovery of the intrinsic ratio of the K i lines in the post-nova V4332 Sgr tracing the optical depth of the emitting region, to exemplify the relevance using present-day instrumentation. We show how one should derive correction functions for the compensation of the error in dependence of radial velocity shift, spectral resolution, and target line-profile function by use of high-resolution atmospheric transmission modeling, which has to be solved for the individual case.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

THE REFINED SHOCK VELOCITY OF THE X-RAY FILAMENTS IN THE RCW 86 NORTHEAST RIM

A precise measurement of shock velocities is crucial for constraining the mechanism and efficiency of cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration at supernova remnant (SNR) shock fronts. The northeastern rim of the SNR RCW 86 is thought to be a particularly efficient CR acceleration site, owing to the recent result in which an extremely high shock velocity of ∼6000 km s{sup −1} was claimed. Here, we revisit the same SNR rim with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, 11 years after the first observation. This longer baseline than previously available allows us to determine a more accurate proper motion of the nonthermal X-ray filament, revealing a much lower velocity of 3000 ± 340 km s{sup −1} (and even slower at a brighter region). Although the value has dropped to one-half of that from the previous X-ray measurement, it is still higher than the mean velocity of the Hα filaments in this region (∼1200 km s{sup −1}). This discrepancy implies that the filaments bright in nonthermal X-rays and Hα emission trace different velocity components, and thus a CR pressure constrained by combining the X-ray kinematics and the Hα spectroscopy can easily be overestimated. We also measure the proper motion of the thermal X-ray filament immediately to the south of the nonthermal one. The inferred velocity (720 ± 360 km s{sup −1}) is significantly lower than that of the nonthermal filament, suggesting the presence of denser ambient material, possibly a wall formed by a wind from the progenitor, which has drastically slowed down the shock.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Bistable dynamics and Hopf bifurcation in a refined model of early stage HIV infection

Recent clinical studies have shown that HIV disease pathogenesis can depend strongly on many factors at the time of transmission, including the strength of the initial viral load and the local availability of CD4+ T-cells. In this article, a new within-host model of HIV infection that incorporates the homeostatic proliferation of T-cells is formulated and analyzed. Due to the effects of this biological process, the influence of initial conditions on the proliferation of HIV infection is further elucidated. The identifiability of parameters within the model is investigated and a local stability analysis, which displays additional complexity in comparison to previous models, is conducted. The current study extends previous theoretical and computational work on the early stages of the disease and leads to interesting nonlinear dynamics, including a parameter region featuring bistability of infectious and viral clearance equilibria and the appearance of a Hopf bifurcation within biologically relevant parameter regimes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Lignin-Derived Carbon Fiber as a Co-Product of Refining Cellulosic Biomass

Lignin by-products from biorefineries has the potential to provide a low-cost alternative to petroleum-based precursors to manufacture carbon fiber, which can be combined with a binding matrix to produce a structural material with much greater specific strength and specific stiffness than conventional materials such as steel and aluminum. The market for carbon fiber is universally projected to grow exponentially to fill the needs of clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and to improve the fuel economies in vehicles through lightweighting. In addition to cellulosic biofuel production, lignin-based carbon fiber production coupled with biorefineries may provide $2,400 to $3,600 added value dry Mg-1 of biomass for vehicle applications. Compared to producing ethanol alone, the addition of lignin-derived carbon fiber could increase biorefinery gross revenue by 30% to 300%. Using lignin-derived carbon fiber in 15 million vehicles per year in the US could reduce fossil fuel consumption by 2-5 billion liters year-1, reduce CO2 emissions by about 6.7 million Mg year-1, and realize fuel savings through vehicle lightweighting of $700 to $1,600 per Mg biomass processed. The value of fuel savings from vehicle lightweighting becomes economical at carbon fiber price of $6.60 kg-1 under current fuel prices, or $13.20 kg-1 under fuel prices of about $1.16 l-1.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗