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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 1,171 records · Page 65
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Neutron diffraction analysis and electrochemical performance of spinel Ni(Mn{sub 2−x}Co{sub x})O{sub 4} as anode materials for lithium ion battery

Highlights: • The reversible capacity and cyclability of Ni(Mn{sub 2−x}Co{sub x})O{sub 4} first increases and then decreases with increasing Co content. • Neutron diffraction and Rielveld refinements are applied to analyze the site occupancies of Mn, Co, O and Ni. • Excessive Co ions in 8a and 16d sites reduce the structure stability leading to poor electrochemical performance. - Abstract: The effects of Co substitution on the structure and electrochemical performances of spinel Ni(Mn{sub 2−x}Co{sub x})O{sub 4} (x = 0, 0.5, and 1.0) have been investigated. With the increase of Co content the lattice parameters decrease owing to the smaller ion radius of Co than Mn. The reversible capacity and cyclability of Ni(Mn{sub 2−x}Co{sub x})O{sub 4} first increase and then decrease with the increase of Co content and NiMn{sub 1.5}Co{sub 0.5}O{sub 4} shows the best electrochemical performance in compared to the other two samples. Neutron diffraction and Rielveld refinement are further applied to analyze the site occupancies of the elements of Mn, Co, O and Ni. A certain amount of Co ions substitution are favorable to enhance the electrochemical performance, but excessive Co ions in 8a and 16d sites reduce the stability of host structure which leads to the poor electrochemical performance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2010

Experimental analysis of thermal performance of flat plate and evacuated tube solar collectors in stationary standard and daily conditions

New comparative tests on two different types of solar collectors are presented in this paper. A standard glazed flat plate collector and an evacuated tube collector are installed in parallel and tested at the same working conditions; the evacuated collector is a direct flow through type with external compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) reflectors. Efficiency in steady-state and quasi-dynamic conditions is measured following the standard and it is compared with the input/output curves measured for the whole day. The first purpose of the present work is the comparison of results in steady-state and quasi-dynamic test methods both for flat plate and evacuated tube collectors. Besides this, the objective is to characterize and to compare the daily energy performance of these two types of collectors. An effective mean for describing and analyzing the daily performance is the so called input/output diagram, in which the collected solar energy is plotted against the daily incident solar radiation. Test runs have been performed in several conditions to reproduce different conventional uses (hot water, space heating, solar cooling). Results are also presented in terms of daily efficiency versus daily average reduced temperature difference: this allows to represent the comparative characteristics of the two collectors when operating under variable conditions, especially with wide range of incidence angles. (author)

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Analysis of performance-limiting defects in $pn$ junction GaAs solar cells grown by water-mediated close-spaced vapor transport epitaxy

Precursor and substrate costs currently limit the adoption of III-V photovoltaics for large scale manufacturing. In this paper we use water-mediated close-spaced vapor transport (CSVT) to produce homojunction GaAs devices with pressed GaAs powder as an alternative to expensive gas-phase precursors. These unpassivated devices reach V oc >910 mV, demonstrating the plausibility of CSVT as an alternative method for growth of III-V epitaxial films for photovoltaic devices. We find that Zn-doping of the absorber films decreases after a number of growths cycles using a single source, which suggests an alternative transport agent should be investigated for p-type doping. Performance of these solar cells is largely limited by formation of macroscopic surface defects which we find to be caused by particulate transfer from the source material and the formation of oxide phases during growth. We present strategies for mitigating these defects and improving device performance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Pilot-scale hydrotreating of catalytic fast pyrolysis biocrudes: process performance and product analysis

Catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) is a technology option for producing advanced biofuels from hydrocarbon-rich biocrude intermediates. The relatively high oxygen content of biocrudes compared to petroleum intermediates increases hydrogen consumption and the lower thermal stability accelerates catalyst deactivation and reactor fouling hindering the adaptation of hydrotreating technology for biocrude upgrading into biofuels. In this study, four chemically different biocrude feeds were upgraded in a pilot scale hydroprocessing unit at similar process conditions using a commercial hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) catalyst. The biocrude feeds and hydrotreated products were characterized using standard ASTM procedures and advanced analytical techniques (GCxGC-FID and GCxGC-MS). HDO catalyst activity was monitored by changes in physical properties and chemical composition of the upgraded products as a function of time on stream. Aliphatic acids, ketones, aldehydes, and furan derivatives were completely converted during the hydrotreating tests while the concentration of aromatics, aliphatic hydrocarbons and phenolics increased during the hydrotreating tests. The oxygen content, nitrogen content, specific gravity, viscosity and the heavy end of the boiling point range (determined by simulated distillation) of the upgraded products increased with increasing time on stream during hydrotreating. The deactivation rate was the lowest for the biocrude feed that contained the most aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and was the highest for the biocrude feed that had the most anhydrosugars. Overall, the HDO deactivation rate correlates with the total amount of oxygen in the feed (17 wt% to 29 wt%, on a wet basis).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

A database and meta-analysis on the performance of exploding pusher implosions conducted at OMEGA

A database of 222 exploding pusher implosions conducted at the OMEGA Laser Facility is presented. The dataset consists of glass-shell capsules filled with varying pressures of D 2 , T 2 , and 3 He, which were imploded using square laser pulses with intensities ranging from 1 to 1 × 10 15 W/cm 2 . The database includes measurements of bang times, ion temperatures, and yields from the DD, D 3 He, and DT fusion reactions. A semi-analytic exploding pusher model is introduced, which effectively captures the observed trends in the data. This model predicts that the measurements scale according to a power-law relation based on the initial capsule and laser conditions. A generalized power-law scaling relation is directly fit to each dataset, providing a useful interpolation of the entire database. Overall, the database provides a valuable resource to estimating bang times, temperatures, and yields for the design of future experiments. Additionally, it provides a diverse set of data for validating more advanced implosion physics models.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Monte Carlo Analysis of the Performance of the ITER Diagnostic Residual Gas Analyzer

The composition of exhausted gas is a key parameter in long-pulse plasma fusion experiments, and its evolution shall be monitored at timescales relevant to plasma dynamics and plasma-wall interactions. A diagnostic residual gas analyzer (DRGA) is a multisensor instrument particularly suited to these studies, and ITER will adopt DRGAs in the equatorial and in the divertor tokamak regions. In this work, we have revisited the design of the ITER divertor DRGA through simple vacuum analytical considerations supported by simulations conducted with Molflow+, a test particle Monte Carlo (TPMC) simulation code commonly used in the particle accelerator community. Here, starting with recommendations on the manufacturing of the vacuum piping of the DRGA, this work is followed by a complete vacuum characterization of the diagnostic vacuum setup (pressure profiles at base pressure and during sampling, orifice diameter, and length optimization), and finally, the in-vessel residence time of the most important gas species is simulated. These studies have allowed us to give insights into some experimental results recently found on the prototype DRGA installed in the Wendelstein W7-X stellarator.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF FERMI GAMMA-RAY BURST DATA. II. E{sub p} EVOLUTION PATTERNS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE OBSERVED SPECTRUM-LUMINOSITY RELATIONS

We present a time-resolved spectral analysis of 51 long and 11 short bright gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed with the Fermi/Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor, paying special attention to E{sub p} evolution within each burst. Among eight single-pulse long GRBs, five show an evolution from hard to soft, while three show intensity tracking. The multi-pulse long GRBs have more complicated patterns. Statistically, the hard-to-soft evolution pulses tend to be more asymmetric than the intensity-tracking ones, with a steeper rising wing than the falling wing. Short GRBs have E{sub p} tracking intensity exclusively with the 16 ms time-resolution analysis. We performed a simulation analysis and suggest that for at least some bursts, the late intensity-tracking pulses could be a consequence of overlapping hard-to-soft pulses. However, the fact that the intensity-tracking pattern exists in the first pulse of the multi-pulse long GRBs and some single-pulse GRBs, suggests that intensity tracking is an independent component, which may operate in some late pulses as well. For the GRBs with measured redshifts, we present a time-resolved E{sub p} - L{sub {gamma},iso} correlation analysis and show that the scatter of the correlation is comparable to that of the global Amati/Yonetoku relation. We discuss the predictions of various radiation models regarding E{sub p} evolution, as well as the possibility of a precessing jet in GRBs. The data pose a great challenge to each of these models, and hold the key to unveiling the physics behind GRB prompt emission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

TRANSMISSION SPECTROSCOPY OF EXOPLANET XO-2b OBSERVED WITH HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE NICMOS

Spectroscopy during planetary transits is a powerful tool to probe exoplanet atmospheres. We present the near-infrared transit spectroscopy of XO-2b obtained with Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS. Uniquely for NICMOS transit spectroscopy, a companion star of similar properties to XO-2 is present in the field of view. We derive improved star and planet parameters through a photometric white-light analysis. We show a clear correlation of the spectrum noise with instrumental parameters, in particular the angle of the spectral trace on the detector. An MCMC method using a decorrelation from instrumental parameters is used to extract the planetary spectrum. Spectra derived independently from each of the three visits have an rms of 430, 510, and 1000 ppm, respectively. The same analysis is performed on the companion star after numerical injection of a transit with a depth constant at all wavelengths. The extracted spectra exhibit residuals of similar amplitude as for XO-2, which represent the level of remaining NICMOS systematics. This shows that extracting planetary spectra is at the limit of NICMOS's capability. We derive a spectrum for the planet XO-2b using the companion star as a reference. The derived spectrum can be represented by a theoretical model including atmospheric water vapor or by a flat spectrum model. We derive a 3{sigma} upper limit of 1570 ppm on the presence of water vapor absorption in the atmosphere of XO-2b. In the Appendix, we perform a similar analysis for the gas giant planet XO-1b.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hemispherical power asymmetry in intensity and polarization for Planck PR4 data

Abstract One of the foundations of the Standard Model of Cosmology is statistical isotropy, which can be tested, among other probes, through the study of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). However, a hemispherical power asymmetry on large scales has been reported for WMAP and Planck data by different works.The statistical significance is above 3σfor temperature, suggesting a directional dependence of the local power spectrum, and thus a feature beyond the ΛCDM model. With the third release of the Planck data (PR3), a new analysis was performed including the E-mode polarization maps, finding an asymmetry at a modest level of significance. In this work, we perform an asymmetry analysis in intensity and polarization maps for the latest Planck processing pipeline (PR4). We obtain similar results to those obtained with PR3, with a slightly lower significance (2.8% for the Sevem method)for the amplitude of the E-mode local variance dipole as well as a significant variability with the considered mask.In addition, a hint of a possible T-E alignment between the asymmetry axes is found at the level of ∼ 5%. For the analysis, we have implemented an alternative inpainting approach in order to get an accurate reconstruction of the E-modes. More sensitive all-sky CMB polarization data, such as those expected from the future LiteBIRD experiment, are needed to reach a more robust conclusion on the possible existence of deviations from statistical isotropy in the form of a hemispherical power asymmetry.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Transport and losses of energetic particles in tokamaks in the presence of Alfvén activity using the new full orbit TAPaS code coupled to FAR3d

Recent developments and tools integrated into the TAPaS code are presented, enabling realistic scenario simulations of particle dynamics within experimental tokamak magnetic equilibria. In particular, the enhanced capabilities of TAPaS enable seamless coupling with external simulations, provided the metric and equilibrium magnetic field of the external code are known. Coupling TAPaS with the gyro-fluid code FAR3d, the transport and losses of energetic particles in the presence Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) in DIII-D plasma discharge #159243 were investigated. Detailed analyses of prompt losses with and without collisions were performed. Then, further analysis was performed in the presence of electromagnetic perturbations resulting from AEs activity. The results indicate that, for the energies and the initial conditions considered here, the presence of AEs enhances the particle losses.

Alfven eigenmodes↗
DOE OSTI2016

Studies of charmed strange baryons in the Λ D final state at Belle

In this report, we discuss the discovery of Ξ c ( 3055 ) 0 , observed by its decay into the final-state Λ D 0 , and present the first observation and evidence of the decays of Ξ c ( 3055 ) + and Ξ c ( 3080 ) + into Λ D + . Furthermore, we perform a combined analysis of the Λ D + with the Σ c + + K - and Σ c * + + K - decay modes to measure the ratios of branching fractions, masses and widths with improved accuracy. We measure the ratios of branching fractions B ( Ξ c ( 3055 ) + → Λ D + ) / B ( Ξ c ( 3055 ) + → Σ c + + K - ) = 5.09 ± 1.01 ± 0.76 , B ( Ξ c ( 3080 ) + → Λ D + ) / B ( Ξ c ( 3080 ) + → Σ c + + K - ) = 1.29 ± 0.30 ± 0.15 , and B ( Ξ c ( 3080 ) + → Σ c * + + K - ) / B ( Ξ c ( 3080 ) + → Σ c + + K - ) = 1.07 ± 0.27 ± 0.04 , where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic. The analysis is performed using a 980 fb - 1 data sample collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e + e - collider.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗