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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

Acceleration of charged particles in magnetic reconnection Solar flares, the magnetosphere, and solar wind

A possible source of free energy available for accelerating charged particles is conversion of magnetic energy to particle energy in reconnecting magnetic fields. Recent simulations using test particles suggests that reconnection may efficiently accelerate particles to the maximum energies that are observed in several astrophysical contexts. A simple analytic formula is used in conjunction with the simulation results to predict the maximum energy achievable in a particular plasma environment with the result that in solar flares reconnection is capable of accelerating particles to several GeV. In magnetospheric substorms the predicted maximum can reach several hundred keV, and near magnetic sector crossings in the solar wind the maximum energy can approach 100 keV.

Goldstein, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Inter-Relationship Between Subtropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, Arctic Sea Ice Concentration, and the North Atlantic Oscillation in Recent Summers and Winters

The inter-relationship between subtropical western-central Pacific sea surface temperatures (STWCPSST), sea ice concentration in the Beaufort Sea (SICBS), and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are investigated for the last 37 summers and winters (1980-2016). Lag-correlation of the STWCPSST×(-1) in spring with the NAO phase and SICBS in summer increases over the last two decades, reaching r = 0.4-0.5 with significance at 5 percent, while winter has strong correlations in approximately 1985-2005. Observational analysis and the atmospheric general circulation model experiments both suggest that STWCPSST warming acts to increase the Arctic geopotential height and temperature in the following season. This atmospheric response extends to Greenland, providing favorable conditions for developing the negative phase of the NAO. SIC and surface albedo tend to decrease over the Beaufort Sea in summer, linked to the positive surface net shortwave flux. Energy balance considering radiative and turbulent fluxes reveal that available energy that can heat surface is larger over the Arctic and Greenland and smaller over the south of Greenland, in response to the STWCPSST warming in spring. XXXX Arctic & Atlantic: Positive upper-level height/T anomaly over the Arctic and Greenland, and a negative anomaly over the central-eastern Atlantic, resembling the (-) phase of the NAO. Pacific: The negative height/T anomaly over the mid-latitudes, along with the positive anomaly over the STWCP, where 1degC warming above climatology is prescribed. Discussion: It is likely that the Arctic gets warm and the NAO is in the negative phase in response to the STWCP warming. But, there are other factors (e.g., internal variability) that contribute to determination of the NAO phase: not always the negative phase of the NAO in the event of STWCP warming (e.g.: recent winters and near neutral NAO in 2017 summer).

Lim, Young-Kwon↗
NASA NTRS2001

Solar-Powered Refrigeration System

A solar powered vapor compression refrigeration system is made practicable with thermal storage and novel control techniques. In one embodiment, the refrigeration system includes a photovoltaic panel, a variable speed compressor, an insulated enclosure. and a thermal reservoir. The photovoltaic (PV) panel converts sunlight into DC (direct current) electrical power. The DC electrical power drives a compressor that circulates refrigerant through a vapor compression refrigeration loop to extract heat from the insulated enclosure. The thermal reservoir is situated inside the insulated enclosure and includes a phase change material. As heat is extracted from the insulated enclosure, the phase change material is frozen, and thereafter is able to act as a heat sink to maintain the temperature of the insulated enclosure in the absence of sunlight. The conversion of solar power into stored thermal energy is optimized by a compressor control method that effectively maximizes the compressor's usage of available energy. A capacitor is provided to smooth the power voltage and to provide additional current during compressor start-up. A controller monitors the rate of change of the smoothed power voltage to determine if the compressor is operating below or above the available power maximum, and adjusts the compressor speed accordingly. In this manner, the compressor operation is adjusted to convert substantially all available solar power into stored thermal energy.

Ewert, Michael K.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Solar Powered Refrigeration System

A solar powered vapor compression refrigeration system is made practicable with thermal storage and novel control techniques. In one embodiment, the refrigeration system includes a photovoltaic panel, a variable speed compressor, an insulated enclosure, and a thermal reservoir. The photovoltaic (PV) panel converts sunlight into DC (direct current) electrical power. The DC electrical power drives a compressor that circulates refrigerant through a vapor compression refrigeration loop to extract heat from the insulated enclosure. The thermal reservoir is situated inside the insulated enclosure and includes a phase change material. As heat is extracted from the insulated enclosure, the phase change material is frozen, and thereafter is able to act as a heat sink to maintain the temperature of the insulated enclosure in the absence of sunlight. The conversion of solar power into stored thermal energy is optimized by a compressor control method that effectively maximizes the compressor's usage of available energy. A capacitor is provided to smooth the power voltage and to provide additional current during compressor start-up. A controller monitors the rate of change of the smoothed power voltage to determine if the compressor is operating below or above the available power maximum, and adjusts the compressor speed accordingly. In this manner, the compressor operation is adjusted to convert substantially all available solar power into stored thermal energy.

Michael K Ewert↗
NASA NTRS2002

Solar-Powered Refrigeration System

A solar powered vapor compression refrigeration system is made practicable with thermal storage and novel control techniques. In one embodiment, the refrigeration system includes a photovoltaic panel, a variable speed compressor, an insulated enclosure, and a thermal reservoir. The photovoltaic (PV) panel converts sunlight into DC (direct current) electrical power. The DC electrical power drives a compressor that circulates refrigerant through a vapor compression refrigeration loop to extract heat from the insulated enclosure. The thermal reservoir is situated inside the insulated enclosure and includes a phase change material. As heat is extracted from the insulated enclosure, the phase change material is frozen, and thereafter is able to act as a heat sink to maintain the temperature of the insulated enclosure in the absence of sunlight. The conversion of solar power into stored thermal energy is optimized by a compressor control method that effectively maximizes the compressor's usage of available energy. A capacitor is provided to smooth the power voltage and to provide additional current during compressor start-up. A controller monitors the rate of change of the smoothed power voltage to determine if the compressor is operating below or above the available power maximum, and adjusts the compressor speed accordingly. In this manner, the compressor operation is adjusted to convert substantially all available solar power into stored thermal energy.

Michael K Ewert↗
DOE OSTI2024

Long-term impact of electrification and retrofits of the U.S residential building in diverse locations

The U.S. buildings sector contributes 30% of operational carbon emissions, with residential buildings accounting for 56%. Reducing residential carbon emissions is crucial for achieving net-zero carbon goal. While many studies examine energy efficiency retrofit (EER) and electrification, few explore their long-term impacts across diverse climates and dynamic grid clean energy penetrations, as well as their economic effects on households. Here, this study proposes a method to assess how EER and electrification affect long-term decarbonization and economics across different climates, focusing on carbon emissions, energy burden (the percentage of household income spent on energy), and payback period in four locations: Tampa, San Diego, Denver, and Great Falls. The study also introduces the concept of implicit energy burden by considering investment costs. Results show that while electrification can reduce long-term emissions with increased clean energy penetration, it may not always achieve decarbonization due to mismatches between clean energy availability and demand. In cooling-dominant locations, electrification lowers energy burden and peak demand, but in heating-dominant locations, it increases energy burden to 8.24%, raises peak demand by 632.78%, and shifts it from summer to winter. After integrating investment costs, the implicit energy burden can reach 8.35% in cold climates. For already highly electrified buildings in Denver and Great Falls, the payback period of EER measures can be shortened by up to 48.98%. The study highlights a tradeoff between decarbonization and energy burden alleviation, showing that while EER measures can reduce the energy burden, they only achieve one-quarter of the carbon emission reduction of electrification.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1988

Radiative surface temperatures of the burned and unburned areas in a tallgrass prairie

This study was conducted in a natural tallgrass prairie area in the Flint Hills of Kansas. The objective was to evaluate the surface radiative temperatures of burned and unburned treatments of the grassland as a means of delineating the areas covered by each treatment. Burning is used to remove the senescent vegetation resulting from the previous year's growth. Surface temperatures were obtained in situ and by an airborne scanner. Burned and unburned grass canopies had distinctly different diurnal surface radiative temperatures. Measurements of surface energy balance components revealed a difference in partitioning of the available energy between the two canopies, which resulted in the difference in their measured surface temperatures. The magnitude of this difference is dependent on the time of measurements and topographic conditions.

Asrar, G.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Finite-size effects on small- x evolution and saturation in proton and nuclear targets

Within the color glass condensate effective field theory, we assess the importance of including a finite size for the target on observables sensitive to small- x evolution. To this end, we study the Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) equation with impact-parameter dependence in the initial condition. We demonstrate that neglecting the dependence on the impact parameter can result in overestimated saturation effects for protons, while it has little effect for heavy nuclei at the energies available at current experiments. When fixing the nonperturbative parameters to the energy dependence of the exclusive J / ψ photoproduction cross section with proton targets, predictions for lead targets are not sensitive to the applied running-coupling prescription, the scheme chosen to resum large transverse logarithms in the BK equation, or the infrared regulator in the evolution. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measurement of the Triple Differential Muon-Antineutrino Charged-Current Inclusive Cross Section in the NOvA Near Detector

NOvA is a long-baseline accelerator-based internationally collaborated neutrino experiment based in the USA. NOvA uses an intense neutrino beam produced at Fermilab’s accelerator complex to make physics measurements of neutrino oscillations, neutrino cross sections, and other high quality neutrino analyses. For its physics goals, NOvA uses two functionally-identical detectors. The Near Detector (ND) is situated at Fermilab, 1 km from the neutrino target and the Far Detector (FD) is located at Ash River, MN, a distance of 810 km from the neutrino source. The ND sees high intensity of the neutrino beam due to its close proximity to the neutrino target. This gives us a unique opportunity for high-precision neutrino cross-section measurements. In this talk, we present our latest results of the muon antineutrino charge current inclusive cross section measurement in the NOvA ND. The new measurement is a triple differential cross section in antimuon kinematic phase-space and in the total energy of all observable final state hadrons, also known as the available energy. We compare different GENIE configuration to our data. We also compare our data results to various neutrino generator predictions, for example, comparisons to GENIE, NuWro, NEUT, and GiBUU neutrino generators are presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Role of On-Site Generation in Carbon Emissions and Utility Bill Savings under Different Electric Grid Scenarios

Energy-efficient and sustainable technologies are necessary to lower energy and carbon footprints. Many technologies are being pursued to meet the increasing energy demand in buildings. An attractive option is efficient utilization of available energy resources, including renewables, to support current and future building energy needs while targeting grid resiliency, energy, and environmental security at an affordable cost via on-site cogeneration-based approaches. This must include energy-efficient technologies with lower greenhouse gas emissions and optimized cost, performance, and reliability. This paper presents the economic and environmental benefits associated with power technologies such as thermionics and solid oxide fuel cells. Hybrid configurations consisting of heat pumps, power systems, and renewable photovoltaics in cogeneration and trigeneration modes of operation are presented. The role of such technologies in lowering CO2 emissions while improving energy resiliency and serving the needs of underprivileged communities is discussed. The key barriers of affordability and potential solutions for large-scale implementation of these promising technologies are reviewed. Case studies demonstrating the influence of power rating, electrical efficiency, design configuration, carbon dioxide intensity of the grid, and fuel on annual greenhouse gas emissions are presented for residential and commercial buildings.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1975

A laboratory study of the diffuse reflectance spectra of frosts occurring on astronomical objects

Mechanical, optical, and operating properties of an experiment chamber are examined and possible sample contamination difficulty is explained. The mechanical and operational characteristics of this apparatus are well suited for the study of the reflectance spectra of frosts. The infrared energy available at the detector is low and steps to increase the energy and the responsivity of the detector were taken. The problem of a standard diffuse reflector which is useful in the far ultraviolet region is considered and it is suggested that bright gold be used as the standard.

Glaser, F. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Thermodynamic limits to the conversion of blackbody radiation by quantum systems

Using general thermodynamic arguments, we analyze the conversion of the energy contained in the radiation from a blackbody to useful work by a quantum system. We show that the energy available for conversion is bounded above by the change in free energy in the incident and reradiated fields and that this free energy change depends upon the temperature of the receiving device. Universal efficiency curves giving the ultimate thermodynamic conversion efficiency of the quantum system are presented in terms of the blackbody temperature and the temperature and threshold energy of the quantum system. Application of these results is made to a variety of systems including biological photosynthetic, photovoltaic, and photoelectrochemical systems.

Buoncristiani, A. M.↗
NASA NTRS1997

High-temperature life without photosynthesis as a model for Mars

Discoveries in biology and developments in geochemistry over the past two decades have lead to a radical revision of concepts relating to the upper temperature at which life thrives, the genetic relationships among all life on Earth, links between organic and inorganic compounds in geologic processes, and the geochemical supply of metabolic energy. It is now apparent that given a source of geochemical energy, in the form of a mixture of compounds that is far from thermodynamic equilibrium, microorganisms can take advantage of the energy and thrive without the need for photosynthesis as a means of primary productivity. This means that life can exist in the subsurface of a planet such as Mars without necessarily exhibiting a surface expression. Theoretical calculations quantify the geochemically provided metabolic energy available to hyperthermophilic organisms in submarine hydrothermal systems on the Earth, and help to explain the enormous biological productivity of these systems. Efforts to place these models in the context of the early Earth reveal that substantial geochemical energy would have been available and that organic synthesis would have been thermodynamically favored as hydrothermal fluids mix with seawater.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1971

Review of Orbital Propellant Transfer Techniques and the Feasibility of a Thermal Bootstrap Propellant Transfer Concepts

This study was performed in support of the NASA Task B-2 Study Plan for Space Basing. The nature of space-based operations implies that orbital transfer of propellant is a prime consideration. The intent of this report is (1) to report on the findings and recommendations of existing literature on space-based propellant transfer techniques, and (2) to determine possible alternatives to the recommended methods. The reviewed literature recommends, in general, the use of conventional liquid transfer techniques (i.e., pumping) in conjunction with an artificially induced gravitational field. An alternate concept that was studied, the Thermal Bootstrap Transfer Process, is based on the compression of a two-phase fluid with subsequent condensation to a liquid (vapor compression/condensation). This concept utilizes the intrinsic energy capacities of the tanks and propellant by exploiting temperature differentials and available energy differences. The results indicate the thermodynamic feasibility of the Thermal Bootstrap Transfer Process for a specific range of tank sizes, temperatures, fill-factors and receiver tank heat transfer coefficients.

Yoshikawa, H. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Radio and X-ray variability of the nucleus of Centaurus A /NGC 5128/

Centaurus A (NGC 5128) has been observed at radio frequencies of 10.7, 31.4, 85.2, and 89 GHz and at X-ray energies greater than 20 keV. These observations, together with results reported by other workers, are interpreted in terms of models of the nucleus of this radio galaxy. The radio observations cover the period from 1973 through early 1977. The X-ray observations cover two 10-day intervals, one in July and August (1975) and the other in July and August 1976. The source exhibits significant variability in all the observed radio frequencies. The observed radio and X-ray intensities show some concurrent variations but do not track one another throughout the observations. A model of the source in which X-rays are produced by inverse Compton scattering of blackbody photons by relativistic electrons is proposed to explain these observations. The observed variations in the electromagnetic spectrum are shown to be consistent with adiabatic expansion of a trapped plasma in conjunction with turbulent accelerations of the relativistic electrons. Upper limits obtained with the model indicate that there may be sufficient energy available in the nucleus to form radio lobes with the same total energy as those already present.

Beall, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Study of fuel cell powerplant with heat recovery

It was shown that heat can be recovered from fuel cell power plants by replacing the air-cooled heat exchangers in present designs with units which transfer the heat to the integrated utility system. Energy availability for a 40-kW power plant was studied and showed that the total usable energy at rated power represents 84 percent of the fuel lower heating value. The effects of design variables on heat availability proved to be small. Design requirements were established for the heat recovery heat exchangers, including measurement of the characteristics of two candidate fuel cell coolants after exposure to fuel cell operating conditions. A heat exchanger test program was defined to assess fouling and other characteristics of fuel cell heat exchangers needed to confirm heat exchanger designs for heat recovery.

King, J. M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Physical Controls on the Hydrology of Perennially Ice-Covered Lakes, Taylor Valley, Antarctica (1996–2013)

The McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are a polar desert populated with numerous closed-watershed, perennially ice-covered lakes primarily fed by glacial melt. Lake levels have varied by as much as 8 m since 1972 and are currently rising after a decade of decreasing. Precipitation falls as snow, so lake hydrology is dominated by energy available to melt glacier ice and to sublimate lake ice. To understand the energy and hydrologic controls on lake level changes and to explain the variability between neighboring lakes, only a few kilometers apart, we model the hydrology for the three largest lakes in Taylor Valley. Here, we apply a physically based hydrological model that includes a surface energy balance model to estimate glacial melt and lake sublimation to constrain mass fluxes to and from the lakes. Results show that lake levels are very sensitive to small changes in glacier albedo, air temperature, and wind speed. We were able to balance the hydrologic budget in two watersheds using meltwater inflow and sublimation loss from the ice-covered lake alone. A third watershed, closest to the coast, required additional inflow beyond model uncertainties. We hypothesize a shallow groundwater system within the active layer, fed by dispersed snow patches, contributes 23% of the inflow to this watershed. The lakes are out of equilibrium with the current climate. If the climate of our study period (1996–2013) persists into the future, the lakes will reach equilibrium starting in 2300, with levels 2–17 m higher, depending on the lake, relative to the 2020 level.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2016

Exergy Based Analysis for the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems of the International Space Station

When optimizing the performance of complex systems, a logical area for concern is improving the efficiency of useful energy. The energy available for a system to perform work is defined as a system's energy content. Interactions between a system's subsystems and the surrounding environment can be accounted for by understanding various subsystem energy efficiencies. Energy balance of reactants and products, and enthalpies and entropies, can be used to represent a chemical process. Heat transfer energy represents heat loads, and flow energy represents system flows and filters. These elements allow for a system level energy balance. The energy balance equations are developed for the subsystems of the Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) system aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The use of these equations with system information would allow for the calculation of the energy efficiency of the system, enabling comparisons of the ISS ECLS system to other systems as well as allows for an integrated systems analysis for system optimization.

Clem, Kirk A.↗