SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “remediation”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 109 records · Page 6

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2020

Software for Transformative Remedial Action Scheme Tool (TRAST)

The transformative remedial action scheme tool (TRAST) can be applied to improve and validate the power system remedial action scheme (RAS), and further improve the performance of power system operation and control. This tool provides a full suite of advanced functionalities, which are given as follows: 1. Advanced statistical data analysis; 2. OPF-based automated power flow case generation; 3. Customized dynamic simulation in HPC/cloud platform; 4. Machine learning based RAS coefficient prediction; 5. A reliable RAS validation strategy in multiple commercial platforms.

Fan, Xiaoyuan↗

DOE OSTI2021

Biota Modeling in EPA’s Preliminary Remediation Goal and Dose Compliance Concentration Calculators for Use in EPA Superfund Risk Assessment: Explanation of Intake Rate Derivation, Transfer Factor Compilation, and Mass Loading Factor Sources

The Preliminary Remediation Goal (PRG) and Dose Compliance Concentration (DCC) calculators are screening level risk assessment tools that set forth the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recommended approaches and currently available risk assessment guidance for response actions at Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) sites, commonly known as Superfund. The environmental screening levels derived by the PRG and DCC calculators are used to identify isotopes contributing the highest risk and dose as well as establish preliminary remediation goals. Each calculator has residential gardening and subsistence farmer exposure scenarios that model transfer of contaminants from soil and water into various types of biota (crops and animal products). New publications of human intake rates of biota; farm animal intakes of water, soil, and fodder; and soil to plant interactions require updates be implemented into the PRG and DCC calculators. Recent improvements in the biota modeling for these calculators include newly derived biota intake rates, enhanced soil mass loading factors (MLFs), and more comprehensive soil to plant transfer factors (BV’s) and soil to tissue transfer factors (TFs) for animals. New biota have been added in both the produce and animal products categories that greatly improve the accuracy and utility of the PRG and DCC calculators and encompass greater geographic diversity on a national and international scale.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

An e-beam irradiation beamline at Jefferson Lab for 1,4-dioxane and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remediation in wastewater

The Upgraded Injector Test Facility (UITF) at Jefferson Lab, providing a beam energy up to 10 MeV, is suitable for wastewater remediation research. To investigate the degradation of 1,4-dioxane and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), widespread in wastewater and potential to be regulated in near future, a beamline for electron-beam irradiation has been designed, installed and successfully commissioned at the UITF. A solenoid with a peak axial magnetic field of up to 0.28 T and a raster were used to obtain a Gaussian beam profile with a transverse standard deviation of 15 mm. It was applied to irradiate 1,4-dioxane sample filled in the target cell that was designed to let the entire sample receive significant irradiation doses. The dose distribution and absorbed dose, few studied in the current publications, are necessary measures for the degradation mechanism investigation and have been innovatively achieved in this work using simulations which were calibrated with opti-chromic dosimeter rods directly exposed to the electron beam. This approach provides an important way for investigating the environmental remediation impact of electron-beam irradiation.

Li, Xi↗

DOE OSTI2026

Innovative Biomonitoring and Remediation of Heavy Metals Using Phytotechnologies at the Savannah River Site (SRS) Coal Combustion Product (CCP) Impoundment Sites

The Savannah River Site (SRS) contains legacy coal combustion product (CCP) impoundments that are impacted by elevated concentrations of heavy metals and radionuclides, posing long-term risks to soil health, ecosystem functioning, and environmental sustainability. Traditional environmental monitoring approaches rely primarily on chemical analyses to quantify contaminant concentrations but often provide limited information regarding biological responses or ecosystem recovery. This project addressed these limitations by integrating environmental chemistry, microbial ecology, artificial intelligence (AI), and bioremediation into a comprehensive framework for environmental diagnostics and restoration of contaminated soils. The overarching goal of this collaborative project between Florida A&M University (FAMU) and the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) was to develop innovative biomonitoring and remediation strategies for heavy metal-contaminated CCP impoundment sites at the Savannah River Site. Specifically, the project sought to (i) characterize heavy metal contamination, (ii) determine microbial responses to contamination, (iii) isolate indigenous heavy metal-resistant microorganisms for remediation applications, (iv) develop a microbial ecological health index using machine learning, and (v) optimize fungal-mediated bioremediation using artificial intelligence.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

NASA NTRS1987

Remedial training: Will CRM work for everyone

The subject of those pilots who seem unresponsive to Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) training is addressed. Attention is directed to the need and opportunity for remedial action. Emphasis is given to the requirement for new perspectives and additional training resources. It is also argued that, contrary to conventional training wisdom, such individuals do not represent a hard core which is beyond assistance. Some evidence is offered that such a new perspective will lend itself to a wider appreciation of certain specific training needs. The role of appropriately trained specialists is briefly outlined, and a selected bibliography is attached. The combined experiences of several Pilot Advisory Groups (PAG's) within IFALPA member association form the basis for this discussion. It does not purport to desribe the activities of any one PAG. While much of the activities of PAG's have no relevance to CRM, there are clearly some very important points of intersection. The relevance of these points to diagnostic skills, and remedial training in the general domain of CRM is made obvious.

Johnston, A. N.↗

NASA NTRS2001

RFI to CMS: An Approach to Regulatory Acceptance of Site Remediation Technologies

Lockheed Martin made a smooth transition from RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations'(NASA) Michoud Assembly Facility (MA-F) to its Corrective Measures Study (CMS) phase within the RCRA Corrective Action Process. We located trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination that resulted from the manufacture of the Apollo Program Saturn V rocket and the Space Shuttle External Tank, began the cleanup, and identified appropriate technologies for final remedies. This was accomplished by establishing a close working relationship with the state environmental regulatory agency through each step of the process, and resulted in receiving approvals for each of those steps. The agency has designated Lockheed Martin's management of the TCE-contamination at the MAF site as a model for other manufacturing sites in a similar situation. In February 1984, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) issued a compliance order to begin the clean up of groundwater contaminated with TCE. In April 1984 Lockheed Martin began operating a groundwater recovery well to capture the TCE plume. The well not only removes contaminants, but also sustains an inward groundwater hydraulic gradient so that the potential offsite migration of the TCE plume is greatly diminished. This effort was successful, and for the agency to give orders and for a regulated industry to follow them is standard procedure, but this is a passive approach to solving environmental problems. The goal of the company thereafter was to take a leadership, proactive role and guide the MAF contamination clean up to its best conclusion at minimum time and lowest cost to NASA. To accomplish this goal, we have established a positive working relationship with LDEQ, involving them interactively in the implementation of advanced remedial activities at MAF as outlined in the following paragraphs.

Rowland, Martin A.↗

NASA NTRS2006

ISS Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) Coolant Remediation Project -2006 Update

The IATCS coolant has experienced a number of anomalies in the time since the US Lab was first activated on Flight 5A in February 2001. These have included: 1) a decrease in coolant pH, 2) increases in inorganic carbon, 3) a reduction in phosphate concentration, 4) an increase in dissolved nickel and precipitation of nickel salts, and 5) increases in microbial concentration. These anomalies represent some risk to the system, have been implicated in some hardware failures and are suspect in others. The ISS program has conducted extensive investigations of the causes and effects of these anomalies and has developed a comprehensive program to remediate the coolant chemistry of the on-orbit system as well as provide a robust and compatible coolant solution for the hardware yet to be delivered. This paper presents a status of the coolant stability over the past year as well as results from destructive analyses of hardware removed from the on-orbit system and the current approach to coolant remediation.

Morrison, Russell H.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Space Debris Environment Remediation Concepts

Long-term projections of the space debris environment indicate that even drastic measures, such as an immediate, complete halt of launch and release activities, will not result in a stable environment of man-made space objects. Collision events between already existing space hardware will within a few decades start to dominate the debris population, and result in a net increase of the space debris population, also in size regimes which may cause further catastrophic collisions. Such a collisional cascading will ultimately lead to a run-away situation ("Kessler syndrome"), with no further possibility of human intervention. The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has been investigating the status and the stability of the space debris environment in several studies by first looking into space traffic management possibilities and then investigating means of mitigating the creation of space debris. In an ongoing activity, an IAA study group looks at ways of active space debris environment remediation. In contrast to the former mitigation study, the current activity concentrates on the active removal of small and large objects, such as defunct spacecraft, orbital stages, and mission-related objects, which serve as a latent mass reservoir that fuels initial catastrophic collisions and later collisional cascading. The paper will outline different mass removal concepts, e.g. based on directed energy, tethers (momentum exchange or electrodynamic), aerodynamic drag augmentation, solar sails, auxiliary propulsion units, retarding surfaces, or on-orbit capture. Apart from physical principles of the proposed concepts, their applicability to different orbital regimes, and their effectiveness concerning mass removal efficiency will be analyzed. The IAA activity on space debris environment remediation is a truly international project which involves more than 23 contributing authors from 9 different nations.

Johnson, Nicholas L.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Solutions Remediate Contaminated Groundwater

During the Apollo Program, NASA workers used chlorinated solvents to clean rocket engine components at launch sites. These solvents, known as dense non-aqueous phase liquids, had contaminated launch facilities to the point of near-irreparability. Dr. Jacqueline Quinn and Dr. Kathleen Brooks Loftin of Kennedy Space Center partnered with researchers from the University of Central Florida's chemistry and engineering programs to develop technology capable of remediating the area without great cost or further environmental damage. They called the new invention Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron (EZVI). The groundwater remediation compound is cleaning up polluted areas all around the world and is, to date, NASA's most licensed technology.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2014

The Orbital Debris Problem and the Challenges for Environment Remediation

LEO debris population will continue to increase even with a good implementation of the commonly-adopted mitigation measures. The root-cause of the increase is catastrophic collisions involving large/massive intact objects (rocket bodies or spacecraft). The major mission-ending risks for most operational spacecraft, however, come from impacts with debris just above the threshold of the protection shields (~5-mm to 1-cm). A solution-driven approach is to seek: Concepts for removal of massive intacts with high P(collision); Concepts capable of preventing collisions involving intacts; Concepts for removal of 5-mm to 1-cm debris; Enhanced impact protection shields for valuable space assets. Key questions for remediation consideration of orbital debris: What is the acceptable threat level? What are the mission objectives? What is the appropriate roadmap/timeframe for remediation? Support advanced technology development when an economically viable approach is identified. Address non-technical issues, such as policy, coordination, ownership, legal, and liability at the national and international levels.

Liou, J.-C.↗

NASA NTRS2023

Cost and Benefit Analysis of Orbital Debris Remediation

This report describes a cost-benefit analysis of approaches for debris remediation, which is defined as any action taken to reduce the risks posed by orbital debris by moving, removing, or reusing it. A better understanding of the near-term costs and benefits of the different approaches to remediation can support decision-making about R&D investment and policy creation in this area.

Thomas J. Colvin↗

NASA NTRS2023

Orbital Debris Remediation: Should We Move, Remove, or Reuse Debris?

One way of reducing the risks orbital debris poses to spacecraft operators is to remediate or “clean up” debris. A piece of debris can be remediated by removing it from space, moving it to avoid collision, or finding a way to recycle it. It is unclear which is the best option, so this panel will explore the trade-offs and move toward developing the best possible portfolio to clean up the orbital environment.

Thomas Colvin↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cost Benefit Analysis of Space Debris Remediation

These slides provide a high-level summary of a cost-benefit analysis of approaches for debris remediation, which is defined as any action taken to reduce the risks posed by orbital debris by moving, removing, or reusing it. A better understanding of the near-term costs and benefits of the different approaches to remediation can support decision-making about R&D investment and policy creation in this area.

Tom Colvin↗

DOE OSTI2021

Transformative remedial action scheme tool (TRAST)

Techniques and apparatuses are described that enable transformative Remedial Action Scheme (RAS) analyses and methodologies for a bulk electric power system, including methods of designing, reviewing, revising, testing, implementing, verifying, or validating a RAS. An improved RAS improves operation of the power system, including performance, reliability, control, and asset utilization. The example methodologies discussed—also referred to as a transformative Remedial Action Scheme tool (TRAST)—provide an end-to-end solution for adaptively setting RAS parameters based on realistic and near real-time operation conditions to improve power grid reliability and grid asset utilization, by leveraging utility data analysis and employing dynamic simulations and machine learning to significantly simplify and shorten the entire RAS process.

Fan, Xiaoyuan↗

DOE OSTI2020

Multi-hydrophilic functional network enables porous membranes excellent anti-fouling performance for highly efficient water remediation

Membrane technology is believed as a cost-effective approach for solving the water issues, where as it suffers from serious membrane fouling. Surface grafting and surface coating have been proved to be effective in abating the membrane fouling; however, these processes always need additional procedures and compromise the initial permeance of the membranes. Herein, we developed a kind of highly permeable polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membranes with excellent anti-fouling performance through one-step phase inversion of the PAN casting solution containing water-soluble active additives. During the process, the water-soluble active additives could segregate towards the membrane surface and pore walls; thereby finely tailoring the pore structures of the PAN-based membranes. Moreover, the active additives could react with each other to form crosslinked networks containing multi-hydrophilic functional groups including CH2-O-CH2, -OH or-Si-OH. Consequently, the PAN-based membranes exhibited surprising superhydrophilicity with water contact angle below 10. even after soaking in water for one week and the anti-fouling permeance of the membranes increased significantly with permeance recovery rate above 93%. Interestingly, the modified membranes also demonstrated both high permeances and high separation efficiency, thereby showing strong promise in water environmental remediation including wastewater treatment and oil/water emulsion separation.

Anti-fouling↗

DOE OSTI2024

Fundamental data for modeling electron-induced processes in plasma remediation of perfluoroalkyl substances

Plasma treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminated water is a potentially energy efficient remediation method. In this treatment, an atmospheric pressure plasma interacts with surface-resident PFAS molecules. Developing a reaction mechanism and modeling of plasma–PFAS interactions requires fundamental data for electron–molecule reactions. In this paper, we present results of electron scattering calculations, potential energy landscapes and their implications for plasma modelling of a dielectric barrier discharge in PFAS contaminated gases, a first step towards modelling of plasma–water–PFAS intereactions. It is found that the plasma degradation of PFAS is dominated by dissociative electron attachment with the importance of other contributing processes varying depending on the molecule. All molecules posses a large number of shape resonances – transient negative ion states – from near-threshold up to ionization threshold. These states lie in the region of the most probable electron energies in the plasma (4–5 eV) and consequently are expected to further enhance the fragmentation dynamics in both dissociative attachment and dissociative excitation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Multi-Analytical Investigation of Arsenical Transfer and Remediation on Nineteenth-Century Green Books

Books containing heavy metals, specifically nineteenth-century green arsenical books, have been identified at Northwestern University Libraries, raising health and safety concerns related to handling. Copper acetoarsenite pigments, such as emerald green, were detected on book covers, decorative page edges, labels, and other components using noninvasive analytical techniques including X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Further examination of selected volumes using synchrotron radiation (SR) techniques revealed pigment migration, degradation, and arsenic transfer to adjacent books. This paper expands on initial findings through two related experiments. The first explored the transfer of arsenic using mechanical friction; Staedtler Mars® white vinyl erasers rubbed on arsenical books generated crumbs which were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Results confirmed the transfer of arsenic, copper, and lead, with decorative page edges being particularly prone to shedding arsenic onto other materials. The second experiment tested remediation methods on a book contaminated by prolonged exposure to an arsenical neighbor. Surface cleaning using erasers and a vacuum removed flecks of pigment but did not eliminate non-chromophoric arsenic as confirmed by SR analyses, which highlights its presence either as a degradation product embedded within the paper or present in the paper as part of its production process. Findings demonstrate the acute toxicity risk posed by arsenical books and support the need for safe handling protocols. However, materials with only trace levels of arsenic embedded during production may pose a lower risk of transfer. Cross contamination beyond prolonged direct contact appears limited. These results highlight critical considerations for library preservation practices and future research on arsenic in historical materials.

arsenic↗

DOE OSTI2023

Vadose Zone Soil Flushing for Chromium Remediation: A Laboratory Investigation to Support Field‐scale Application

Cr(VI) flushing from the vadose zone to the groundwater (with subsequent Cr(VI) removal in groundwater by pump-and-treat system) is a promising remedial technique that has recently been used at field scale. This laboratory study was conducted to provide the technical basis to design a field soil flushing strategy. The objectives were to (1) quantify the relationship between sediment Cr(VI) and Cr(III) mass and release rates and subsequent Cr(VI) leaching; (2) investigate different methodologies to maximize Cr(VI) leaching, and (3) investigate methods to minimize leaching of remaining residual Cr. Characterization of Cr-contaminated sediments (Hanford Site, WA) exhibited Cr(VI) showed that leach rates that were correlated to different Cr surface phases. Sediments with low leachable Cr(VI) (<2 μg/g) leached Cr rapidly, so slow infiltration of water in a single pulse was sufficient to leach most Cr. In contrast, sediments with high Cr (2 to 200 μg/g) released some Cr(VI) quickly but 10 to 50% Cr(VI) slowly (tens to hundreds of hours). Efficient unsaturated leaching of these sediments required a different infiltration strategy that includes: multiple slow leach pulses with time between flushing cycles; the use of a surfactant to increase Cr leaching from low-permeability zones, and the use of a reductant (Na-dithionite or Ca-polysulfide) in the final leach water was highly effective at decreasing residual Cr leaching. This study clearly demonstrated that the methodology of basing laboratory Cr flushing on parameters such as Cr release mass and rates could be used to improve the efficiency of soil flushing at field scale.

Accelerated Cr Flushing↗