Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Shell Solar”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Fabrication and optical properties of multishell InAs quantum dots on GaAs nanowires

Hybrid nanostructures combining nanowires with quantum dots promote the development of nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices with integrated functionalities. In this work, we present a complex nanostructure with multishell quantum dots grown on nanowires. 1–4 shells of Stranski-Krastanov InAs quantum dots are grown on the sidewalls of GaAs nanowires by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Different dot shells are separated by 8 nm GaAs spacer shells. With increasing the number of shells, the quantum dots become sparser and tend to align in one array, which is caused by the shrinkage of facets on which dots prefer to grow as well as the strain fields produced by the lower set of dots which influences the migration of In adatoms. The size of quantum dots increases with the increase of shell number due to enhanced strain fields coupling. The spectra of multishell dots exhibit multiwavelength emission, and each peak corresponds to a dot shell. This hybrid structure may serve as a promising element in nanowire intermediate band solar cells, infrared nanolasers, and photodetectors.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fe-rich ejecta in the supernova remnant G352.7–0.1 with Suzaku

In this work, we present results from a ∼201.6 ks observation of G352.7–0.1 using the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer on board Suzaku X-ray Observatory. The X-ray emission from the remnant is well described by two-temperature thermal models of non-equilibrium ionization with variable abundances with a column density of N{sub H} ∼ 3.3 × 10{sup 22} cm{sup –2}. The soft component is characterized by an electron temperature of kT{sub e} ∼ 0.6 keV, an ionization timescale of τ ∼ 3.4 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup –3} s, and enhanced Si, S, Ar, and Ca abundances. The hard component has kT{sub e} ∼ 4.3 keV, τ ∼ 8.8 × 10{sup 9} cm{sup –3} s, and enhanced Fe abundance. The elemental abundances of Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe are found to be significantly higher than the solar values that confirm the presence of ejecta. We detected strong Fe K-shell emission and determined its origin to be the ejecta for the first time. The detection of Fe ejecta with a lower ionization timescale favors a Type Ia origin for this remnant.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Differential rotation in magnetized and non-magnetized stars

The effects of magnetic field on stellar differential rotation (DR) are studied by comparing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models and their hydrodynamic (HD) counterparts in the broad range of rotation rates and across varying initial rotation profiles. Fully compressible MHD simulations of rotating penetrative convection are performed in a full-spherical shell geometry. Critical conditions for the transition of the DR between a faster equator (solar type) and a slower equator (anti-solar type) are explored by focusing on the “Rossby number (Ro)” and the “convective Rossby number (Ro{sub conv}).” It is confirmed that the transition is more gradual and the critical value for it is higher in the MHD model than in the HD model in view of the Ro{sub conv} dependence. As observed in earlier studies, the rotation profile shows a bistability near the transition in the HD model, whereas it disappears when allowing the growth of magnetic fields except in the model taking the anti-solar-type solution as the initial condition. We find that the transition occurs at Ro≃1 both in the MHD and HD models independently of the hysteresis. Not only the critical value but also the sharpness of the transition is similar between the two models in view of the Ro dependence. The influences of the dynamo-generated magnetic field and/or the hysteresis on convective motion are reflected by Ro. This is why the transition is unified in view of the Ro dependence. We also discuss the Ro dependence of magnetic dynamo activities with emphasis on their possible relation to the kinetic helicity profile.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Coupled Experimental/Computational Investigation of the Dynamics of Interacting Magnetized Plasmas

The interaction, or interpenetration, of magnetized plasmas of different density and/or pressure occurs in a wide variety of natural and man-made systems. Such systems include extragalactic jets propagating into the intergalactic medium, solar coronal mass ejections into background solar wind, compact toroid (CT) fueling of magnetic fusion plasmas, and jets of capsule shell impurities into DT fusion fuel, which can lead to enhanced impurity mix in inertial fusion implosions. These plasmas may take the form of jets, with open, helical magnetic structure, or plasma “bubbles” with closed magnetic fields (B-fields), such as spheromaks or CT’s. Such structures, both open and closed B-field cases, can transport heat, particles and magnetic flux or magnetic helicity into background plasma regions. For example, the origin of extragalactic magnetic fields may be due, at least in part, to transport by astrophysical jets. The goal of this proposed work was to elucidate the detailed plasma and magnetic field dynamics of high-density plasma jets (open B-field) and bubbles (closed B-field) propagating into lower density background magnetized plasma through controlled laboratory experiments and closely coupled nonlinear MHD modeling. These experiments were conducted in the HelCat (Helicon-Cathode) linear plasma device at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Plasma jets and bubbles were launched via an existing compact coaxial plasma gun, mounted on the HelCat device. This gun produced plasmas tens of cm in scale and lasting tens of microseconds, thereby allowing detailed multipoint, space- and time-resolved measurements to be made routinely. The experiments were directly modeled using the extended magnetohydrodynamic (XMHD) PERSEUS code, developed at Cornell University [23,24]. Both experimental and numerical modeling work are ongoing. The main results to date are reported here. Additional supplemental funding for one year (8/1/2019 – 7/31/2020) supported numerical investigation of photoionization processes important in many low temperature plasmas, including the HelCat device. Initial results of this modeling work is also reported.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Dense nanoimprinted silicon nanowire arrays with passivated axial p-i-n junctions for photovoltaic applications

We report on the fabrication and photovoltaic characteristics of vertical arrays of silicon axial p-i-n junction nanowire (NW) solar cells grown by vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) epitaxy. NW surface passivation with silicon dioxide shell is shown to enhance carrier recombination time, open-circuit voltage (V{sub OC}), short-circuit current density (J{sub SC}), and fill factor (FF). The photovoltaic performance of passivated individual NW and NW arrays was compared under 532 nm laser illumination with power density of ∼10 W/cm{sup 2}. Higher values of V{sub OC} and FF in the NW arrays are explained by enhanced light trapping. In order to verify the effect of NW density on light absorption and hence on the photovoltaic performance of NW arrays, dense Si NW arrays were fabricated using nanoimprint lithography to periodically arrange the gold seed particles prior to epitaxial growth. Compared to sparse NW arrays fabricated using VLS growth from randomly distributed gold seeds, the nanoimprinted NW array solar cells show a greatly increased peak external quantum efficiency of ∼8% and internal quantum efficiency of ∼90% in the visible spectral range. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations of Si NW periodic arrays with varying pitch (P) confirm the importance of high NW density. Specifically, due to diffractive scattering and light trapping, absorption efficiency close to 100% in the 400–650 nm spectral range is calculated for a Si NW array with P = 250 nm, significantly outperforming a blanket Si film of the same thickness.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Preparation of morphology-controlled TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals for the excellent photocatalytic activity under simulated solar irradiation

Graphical abstract: Morphology-controlled TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals with excellent photocatalytic activity under simulated solar irradiation were successfully synthesized. - Highlights: • TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals (NCs) with different morphologies were synthesized. • The growth mechanism of morphology-controlled TiO{sub 2} NCs was proposed. • The core-shell structured TiO{sub 2} NCs (co-TiO{sub 2}) had a narrow band gap (2.67 eV). • The co-TiO{sub 2} NCs possessed excellent photocatalytic activity and recyclability. - Abstract: A simple synthetic approach based on solvothermal technique and hydrogenation was developed for preparation of TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals with different morphologies such as elongated rhombic, dog-bone, oval and core-shell structured oval. The effect of oleic acid (OA) and oleylamine (OM) as two capping surfactants on the growth of TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals was investigated. The physicochemical properties of the obtained samples were characterized by various techniques including TEM, XRD, UV–vis absorption, Raman, XPS, BET, PL and photocurrent measurement. In photodegradation of RhB under simulated solar irradiation, the oval-shaped TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals with core-shell structure (co-TiO{sub 2}) was superior to other TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals in catalytic activity. Moreover, the co-TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals exhibited well recyclability during multiple photocatalytic tests. These excellent properties of co-TiO{sub 2} were attributed to its special structure, including lattice-disordered surface layer and well-crystallized lattice core, and narrow band gap (2.67 eV).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Photoinduced Surface Oxidation and Its Effect on the Exciton Dynamics of CdSe Quantum Dots

With increased interest in semiconductor nanoparticles for use in quantum dot solar cells there comes a need to understand the long-term photostability of such materials. Colloidal CdSe quantum dots (QDs) were suspended in toluene and stored in combinations of light/dark and N{sub 2}/O{sub 2} to simulate four possible benchtop storage environments. CdSe QDs stored in a dark, oxygen-free environment were observed to better retain their optical properties over the course of 90 days. The excited state lifetimes, determined through femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, of air-equilibrated samples exposed to light exhibit a decrease in average lifetime (0.81 ns) when compared to samples stored in a nitrogen/dark environment (8.3 ns). A photoetching technique commonly used for controlled reduction of QD size was found to induce energetic trap states to CdSe QDs and accelerate the rate of electron-hole recombination. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analysis confirms surface oxidation, the extent of which is shown to be dependent on the thickness of the ligand shell.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

LINE BROADENING AND THE SOLAR OPACITY PROBLEM

The calculation of line widths constitutes theoretical and computational challenges in the calculation of opacities of hot, dense plasmas. Opacity models use line broadening approximations that are untested at stellar interior conditions. Moreover, calculations of atomic spectra of the Sun indicate a large discrepancy in the K-shell line widths between several atomic codes and the Opacity-Project (OP). In this work, the atomic code STAR is used to study the sensitivity of solar opacities to line broadening. Variations in the solar opacity profile due to an increase of the Stark widths resulting from discrepancies with OP, are compared, in light of the solar opacity problem, with the required opacity variations of the present day Sun, as imposed by helioseismic and neutrino observations. The resulting variation profile is much larger than the discrepancy between different atomic codes, agrees qualitatively with the missing opacity profile, recovers about half of the missing opacity nearby the convection boundary, and has a little effect in the internal regions. Since it is hard to estimate quantitatively the uncertainty in the Stark widths, we show that an increase of all line widths by a factor of about ∼100 recovers quantitatively the missing opacity. These results emphasize the possibility that photoexcitation processes are not modeled properly, and more specifically, highlight the need for a better theoretical characterization of the line broadening phenomena at stellar interior conditions, and of the uncertainty due to the way it is implemented by atomic codes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Building America Case Study: The Impact of Thermostat Placement in Low-Load Homes in Sunny Climates, Denver, Colorado

Modern, energy-efficient homes conforming to the Zero Energy Ready Home standard face the challenge of meeting high customer expectations for comfort. Traditional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) sizing and control strategies may be insufficient to adequately condition each zone due to unique load patterns in each room caused by a number of factors. These factors include solar heat gains, occupant-related gains, and gains associated with appliances and electronics. Because of shrinking shell loads, these intermittent factors are having an increasingly significant impact on the thermal load in each zone. Consequently, occupant comfort can be compromised. To evaluate the impact of climate and house geometry, as well as HVAC system and control strategies on comfort conditions, IBACOS analyzed the results of 99 TRNSYS multiple-zone simulations. The results of this analysis indicate that for simple-geometry and single-story plans, a single zone and thermostat can adequately condition the entire house. Demanding house geometry and houses with multiple stories require the consideration of multiple thermostats and multiple zones.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Risk Assessment of Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning Strategies in Low-Load Homes

"Modern, energy efficient homes conforming to the Zero Energy Ready Home standard face the challenge of meeting high customer expectations for comfort. Traditional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) sizing and control strategies may be insufficient to adequately condition each zone due to unique load patterns in each room caused by a number of factors. These factors include solar heat gains, occupant-related gains, and gains associated with appliances and electronics. Because of shrinking shell loads, these intermittent factors are having an increasingly significant impact on the thermal load in each zone. Consequently, occupant comfort can be compromised. To evaluate the impact of climate and house geometry, as well as HVAC system and control strategies on comfort conditions, IBACOS analyzed the results of 99 TRNSYS multiple-zone simulations. The results of this analysis indicate that for simple-geometry and single-story plans, a single zone and thermostat can adequately condition the entire house. Demanding house geometry and houses with multiple stories require the consideration of multiple thermostats and multiple zones.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Optimizing Distributed Energy Resources and building retrofits with the strategic DER-CAModel

The pressuring need to reduce the import of fossil fuels as well as the need to dramatically reduce CO 2 emissions in Europe motivated the European Commission (EC) to implement several regulations directed to building owners. Most of these regulations focus on increasing the number of energy efficient buildings, both new and retrofitted, since retrofits play an important role in energy efficiency. Overall, this initiative results from the realization that buildings will have a significant impact in fulfilling the 20/20/20-goals of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, increasing energy efficiency by 20%, and increasing the share of renewables to 20%, all by 2020. The Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM) is an optimization tool used to support DER investment decisions, typically by minimizing total annual costs or CO 2 emissions while providing energy services to a given building or microgrid site. This document shows enhancements made to DER-CAM to consider building retrofit measures along with DER investment options. Specifically, building shell improvement options have been added to DER-CAM as alternative or complementary options to investments in other DER such as PV, solar thermal, combined heat and power, or energy storage. The extension of the mathematical formulation required by the new features introduced in DER-CAM is presented and the resulting model is demonstrated at an Austrian Campus building by comparing DER-CAM results with and without building shell improvement options. Strategic investment results are presented and compared to the observed investment decision at the test site. Results obtained considering building shell improvement options suggest an optimal weighted average U value of about 0.53 W/(m 2 K) for the test site. This result is approximately 25% higher than what is currently observed in the building, suggesting that the retrofits made in 2002 were not optimal. Furthermore, the results obtained with DER-CAM illustrate the complexity of interactions between DER and passive measure options, showcasing the need for a holistic optimization approach to effectively optimize energy costs and CO 2 emissions. Lastly, the simultaneous optimization of building shell improvements and DER investments enables building owners to take one step further towards nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB) or nearly zero carbon emission buildings (nZCEB), and therefore support the 20/20/20 goals.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Arrays of ZnO/CuIn{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}Se{sub 2} nanocables with tunable shell composition for efficient photovoltaics

Arrays of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure are receiving much attention for their optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications due to their advantages in light absorption, charge separation, and transportation. In this work, arrays of ZnO/CuIn{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}Se{sub 2} core/shell nanocables with tunable shell compositions over the full range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 have been controllably synthesized. Chemical conversions of ZnO nanorods to a series of ZnO-based nanocables, including ZnO/ZnSe, ZnO/CuSe, ZnO/CuSe/In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}, ZnO/CuSe/(In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}){sub 2}Se{sub 3}, and ZnO/CuIn{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}Se{sub 2}, are well designed and successfully achieved. Composition-dependent influences of the CuIn{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}Se{sub 2} shells on photovoltaic performance are investigated. It is found that the increase in indium content (x) leads to an increase in short-circuit current density (J{sub SC}) but a decrease in open-circuit voltage (V{sub OC}) for the ZnO/CuIn{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}Se{sub 2} nanocable solar cells. An array of ZnO/CuIn{sub 0.67}Ga{sub 0.33}Se{sub 2} nanocables with a length of ∼1 μm and a shell thickness of ∼10 nm exhibits a bandgap of 1.20 eV, and yields a maximum power conversion efficiency of 1.74% under AM 1.5 G illumination at an intensity of 100 mW/cm{sup 2}. It dramatically surpasses that (0.22%) of the ZnO/CuIn{sub 0.67}Ga{sub 0.33}Se{sub 2} planar thin-film device. Our work reveals that 1D nanoarray allows efficient photovoltaics without using toxic CdS buffer layer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Demonstration of a multi-channel fluidized bed particle–supercritical carbon dioxide heat exchanger for concentrating solar applications

High-temperature thermal energy storage in oxide particles at temperatures above 600°C can couple concentrated solar energy with high-efficiency thermal power cycles to provide dispatchable solar-driven electricity. Challenges remain in developing cost-effective primary heat exchangers, which require expensive alloys, to extract the high-temperature thermal energy from the particles to power cycle fluids, such as supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2 ) in recuperated Brayton cycles. To explore one pathway for cost-effective, high-temperature particle heat exchangers, the current study demonstrates a shell-and-plate, particle–sCO 2 heat exchanger with narrow- channel fluidized beds coupled with micro-channel sCO 2 flows in the heat exchanger walls. This study evaluates the feasibility of multiple parallel, narrow-channel fluidized beds in shell-and-plate particle–sCO 2 HXs, to achieve high bed-wall heat fluxes at elevated temperatures. A reduced-order model simulates the narrow- channel, fluidized-bed particle–sCO 2 heat exchanger to design the fluidized bed geometry, in terms of depth, height, and number of channels,for a nominal 40-kWth heat exchanger at particle and sCO 2 inlet temperatures up to 600 °C and 400 °C respectively. The resulting shell-and-plate heat exchanger design operates with bubbling fluidization of the downward-flowing oxide particles to enhance bed-wall heat transfer. The heat exchanger core is fabricated with etched sCO 2 micro-channels in thin wall plates that are diffusion bonded to spacer frames to form the shell-and-plate structure with 12 parallel, fluidized bed channels, 10.4 mm deep. The heat exchanger is tested at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia National Laboratories with CARBOBEAD HSP particles at design particle flow rates of 0.20 kg s –1 and inlet temperatures up to 525 °C. Results show that fluidization across multiple parallel channel beds can maintain uniform particle inventory with a common freeboard zone above the heat exchanger core. Bubbling fluidization improves particle–wall heat transfer coefficients but also increases axial dispersion of particle thermal energy, which lowers the log- mean temperature difference such that total heat transfer remains relatively constant to within ±10% over a broad range of fluidization gas velocities. The axial dispersion required particle and sCO 2 flow rates to be increased by 25% over model-designed conditions to achieve the targeted 40 kWth, which indicates the importance of incorporating axial dispersion into heat exchanger design models and of deploying bed structures to suppress it. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the feasibility and preferred fluidizing gas conditions for particle heat exchangers for releasing high-temperature thermal energy storage systems.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

THEORETICAL WAVELENGTHS OF Fe XVI L-SHELL TRANSITIONS AND COMPARISON WITH LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS AND CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF CAPELLA

We have used the relativistic multi-reference Moller-Plesset perturbation theory to calculate the energy levels of Fe XVI, including those of the autoionizing levels with a hole state in the L shell. Comparison of the resulting L-shell transition wavelengths with those from recent laboratory measurements shows remarkable agreement, i.e., agreement within the experimental uncertainties. Our calculation allows us to predict the wavelength of the second strongest 2p-3d Fe XVI line, which has not yet been directly observed in the laboratory, to be 15.266 A. This wavelength is within 0.0042 A of the strong Fe XVII line commonly labeled 3D. Relying on the high accuracy of our calculations, we have reassigned two previously identified lines and predict a different location than previously thought for the strongest Fe XVI magnetic quadrupole transition. Inspection of the spectra of Capella recorded with the transmission grating spectrometers on the Chandra X-ray Observatory yields features corresponding to the predicted location of the innershell excited Fe XVI lines. These features have not been identified before. Our analysis shows that these features are most likely from Fe XVI.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Luminescent solar concentrators and related methods of manufacturing

Luminescent solar concentrators in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can be designed to minimize photon thermalization losses and incomplete light trapping using various components and techniques. Cadmium selenide core, cadmium sulfide shell (CdSe/CdS) quantum dot (“QD”) technology can be implemented in such devices to allow for near-unity QDs and sufficiently large Stokes shifts. Many embodiments of the invention include a luminescent solar concentrator that incorporates CdSe/CdS quantum dot luminophores. In further embodiments, anisotropic luminophore emission can be implemented through metasurface/plasmonic antenna coupling. In several embodiments, red-shifted luminophores are implemented. Additionally, top and bottom spectrally-selective filters, such as but not limited to selectively-reflective metasurface mirrors and polymeric stack filters, can be implemented to enhance the photon collection efficiency. In some embodiments, luminescent solar concentrator component is optically connected in tandem with a planar Si subcell, forming a micro-optical tandem luminescent solar concentrator.

Needell, David R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

High-Fidelity and High-Performance Computational Simulations for Rapid Design Optimization of Sulfur Thermal Energy Storage

Industrial process heating (IPH) accounts for approximately 70% of US manufacturing energy use and is primarily produced by fossil fuel combustion. Approximately 1500 TWht (approximately 60%) of IPH demand is in the temperature range of 100-300. Industrial applications in this temperature range include drying, hydrothermal processing, thermal enhanced oil recovery, food and beverage, bioethanol production, etc. Cost-effective thermal energy storage (TES) that increases the utilization of waste and renewable heat (solar, geothermal, etc.) could provide significant energy savings and reliable heat sources, decrease emissions, and increase US manufacturing competitiveness through reductions in fuel consumption. TES development has historically been dominated by technologies suitable for deployment with concentrating solar power (CSP). State-of-the-art thermal storage deployed commercially with power tower CSP plants uses a 60%/40% NaNO3/KNO3 molten salt and operates between temperatures of approximately 280 degrees Celsius and 570 degrees Celsius using a two-tank configuration. However, these nitrate salts are unsuitable for operation outside of this temperature range due to a high freezing point of approximately 220 degrees Celsius, and limits on high-temperature salt stability and corrosion resistance of containment alloys. Other materials being investigated for TES include those based on: (1) sensible energy storage (various molten salt compositions, inert solid particles, rocks or pebble beds, sulfur, water, concrete, graphite, etc.), (2) latent energy storage in materials that undergo solid-liquid phase change at relevant temperatures (organic materials for low-temperature applications, inorganic salts and/or metals for high-temperature applications), or (3) thermochemical energy storage (hydrides, hydroxides, carbonates, metal oxides, etc.). The application temperature and challenges pertaining to storage material and/or containment cost, energy density, long-term thermal and cyclic stability, and charge/discharge heat transfer effectiveness drive material selection for a given IPH or electricity generation application. Sulfur is a cheap commodity at $80/ton compared to $1100 - 1300/ton for conventional salts. When using a metric of storage cost per kWh, sulfur costs around 2-3 $/kWh. Previous sulfur TES development focused on high temperature (>600 degrees) concentrated solar power applications with sulfur encapsulated in pipes and flow of gaseous HTF (air) in the shell side. However, for lower-temperature IPH applications in the range of approximately 100-300 degrees Celsius Element 16 adopted a compact and scalable TES design with molten sulfur in the shell and HTF pipes submerged in the molten sulfur bath. The low-cost molten sulfur TES for dispatchable IPH has deployment potential for broad applications. The spatial and temporal evolution of the HTF and sulfur temperature is critical to the TES system performance, and thus detailed modeling can improve understanding of the performance and facilitate design improvements. Using high performance computing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) a low-cost molten sulfur thermal energy storage (TES) system for industrial process heating (IPH) applications was developed. The unique challenges in CFD modeling of sulfur TES are the sharp property changes of sulfur relevant to the working temperatures. Above 159, liquid sulfur undergoes polymerization, and the viscosity of sulfur rapidly increases by several orders of magnitude between 159 degrees Celsius and 188 degrees Celsius, followed by a decrease in viscosity beyond 188 degrees Celsius due to thermal bound dissociation. In addition, various concentrations of H2S impurities can also modify sulfur viscosity. This numerical challenge is especially relevant to transient simulation of the sulfur TES charging and discharging processes as the extreme property variations limit the applicability of traditional heat transfer correlations. Transient CFD simulations including the temperature-dependent sulfur properties and geometric complexity of the TES design were used to predict the effect of natural convection during charging and discharging on the heat transfer process, sulfur temperature uniformity, charge/discharge rates, and performance of the storage devices. The CFD model was validated with experimental results for a full charge and discharge cycle. The work will show 3D and 2D simulation comparisons aimed to facilitate rapid design iterations and a machine learning based design optimization approach.

CFD↗
DOE OSTI2015

DYNAMO EFFECTS NEAR THE TRANSITION FROM SOLAR TO ANTI-SOLAR DIFFERENTIAL ROTATION

Numerical MHD simulations play an increasingly important role for understanding the mechanisms of stellar magnetism. We present simulations of convection and dynamos in density-stratified rotating spherical fluid shells. We employ a new 3D simulation code for obtaining the solution of a physically consistent anelastic model of the process with a minimum number of parameters. The reported dynamo simulations extend into a “buoyancy-dominated” regime where the buoyancy forcing is dominant while the Coriolis force is no longer balanced by pressure gradients, and strong anti-solar differential rotation develops as a result. We find that the self-generated magnetic fields, despite being relatively weak, are able to reverse the direction of differential rotation from anti-solar to solar-like. We also find that convection flows in this regime are significantly stronger in the polar regions than in the equatorial region, leading to non-oscillatory dipole-dominated dynamo solutions, and to a concentration of magnetic field in the polar regions. We observe that convection has a different morphology in the inner and the outer part of the convection zone simultaneously such that organized geostrophic convection columns are hidden below a near-surface layer of well-mixed highly chaotic convection. While we focus our attention on the buoyancy-dominated regime, we also demonstrate that conical differential rotation profiles and persistent regular dynamo oscillations can be obtained in the parameter space of the rotation-dominated regime even within this minimal model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Electrochemical synthesis of p-Cu{sub 2}O/n-ZnO nanorods hetero-junction for photovoltaic application

Development of high performance visible light responsive solar cell materials has attracted wide interest due to their potential applications in the energy industries. In this work, ZnO nanorods films were successfully prepared on the ITO coated glass substrates via simple three electrode electrochemical deposition route. The Cu{sub 2}O nanoparticles were then electrodeposited on the surface of ZnO nanorods to form p-Cu{sub 2}O/n-ZnO core-shell hetero-structure. The synthesized ZnO, Cu{sub 2}O films and p-Cu{sub 2}O/n-ZnO hetero-structure were characterized by low angle x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Due to the hierarchical morphologies and core-shell structure, p-Cu{sub 2}O/n-ZnO hetero-structure shows a prominent visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance under the low intensity light irradiation. The obtained results suggest that it is possible to synthesize ZnO nanorods, Cu{sub 2}O films and p-Cu{sub 2}O/n-ZnO core-shell hetero-structure by a simple, cost effective and environment friendly electrodeposition process which can be useful for water splitting and solar cell device fabrication.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗