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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Alternative Water Processor Test Development

The Next Generation Life Support Project is developing an Alternative Water Processor (AWP) as a candidate water recovery system for long duration exploration missions. The AWP consists of biological water processor (BWP) integrated with a forward osmosis secondary treatment system (FOST). The basis of the BWP is a membrane aerated biological reactor (MABR), developed in concert with Texas Tech University. Bacteria located within the MABR metabolize organic material in wastewater, converting approximately 90% of the total organic carbon to carbon dioxide. In addition, bacteria convert a portion of the ammonia-nitrogen present in the wastewater to nitrogen gas, through a combination of nitrification and denitrification. The effluent from the BWP system is low in organic contaminants, but high in total dissolved solids. The FOST system, integrated downstream of the BWP, removes dissolved solids through a combination of concentration-driven forward osmosis and pressure driven reverse osmosis. The integrated system is expected to produce water with a total organic carbon less than 50 mg/l and dissolved solids that meet potable water requirements for spaceflight. This paper describes the test definition, the design of the BWP and FOST subsystems, and plans for integrated testing.

Pickering, Karen D.↗
NASA NTRS2014

From Earth to Space: Application of Biological Treatment for the Removal of Ammonia from Water

Managing ammonia is often a challenge in both drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities. Ammonia is unregulated in drinking water, but its presence may result in numerous water quality issues in the distribution system such as loss of residual disinfectant, nitrification, and corrosion. Ammonia concentrations need to be managed in wastewater effluent to sustain the health of receiving water bodies. Biological treatment involves the microbiological oxidation of ammonia to nitrate through a two‐step process. While nitrification is common in the environment, and nitrifying bacteria can grow rapidly on filtration media, appropriate conditions, such as the presence of dissolved oxygen and required nutrients, need to be established. This presentation will highlight results from two ongoing research programs - one at NASA's Johnson Space Center, and the other at a drinking water facility in California. Both programs are designed to demonstrate nitrification through biological treatment. The objective of NASA's research is to be able to recycle wastewater to potable water for spaceflight mission. To this end, a biological water processor (BWP) has been integrated with a forward osmosis secondary treatment system (FOST). Bacteria mineralize organic carbon to carbon dioxide as well as ammonia‐nitrogen present in the wastewater to nitrogen gas, through a combination of nitrification and denitrification. The effluent from the BWP system is low in organic contaminants, but high in total dissolved solids. The FOST system, integrated downstream of the BWP, removes dissolved solids through a combination of concentration‐driven forward osmosis and pressure driven reverse osmosis. The integrated system testing planned for this year is expected to produce water that requires only a polishing step to meet potable water requirements for spaceflight. The pilot study in California is being conducted on Golden State Water Company's Yukon wellsthat have hydrogen sulfide odor, color, total organic carbon, bromide, iron and manganese in addition to ammonia. A treatment evaluation, conducted in 2011, recommended the testing of biological oxidation filtration for the removal of ammonia and production of biologically stable water. A 8‐month pilot testing program was conducted to develop and optimize key design and operational variables. Steadystate operational data was collected to demonstrate long‐term performance and inform California Department of Public Health permitting of the full‐scale process. As ammonia continues to present challenges to water and wastewater systems, innovative strategies such as biological treatment can be applied to successfully manage it. This presentation will discuss application of cutting‐age research being conducted by NASA that will bridge existing information gaps, and benefit municipal utilities.

Ghosh, Amlan↗
NASA NTRS2014

From Earth to Space: Application of Biological Treatment for the Removal of Ammonia from Water

Managing ammonia is often a challenge in both drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities. Ammonia is unregulated in drinking water, but its presence may result in numerous water quality issues in the distribution system such as loss of residual disinfectant, nitrification, and corrosion. Ammonia concentrations need to be managed in wastewater effluent to sustain the health of receiving water bodies. Biological treatment involves the microbiological oxidation of ammonia to nitrate through a two‐step process. While nitrification is common in the environment, and nitrifying bacteria can grow rapidly on filtration media, appropriate conditions, such as the presence of dissolved oxygen and required nutrients, need to be established. This presentation will highlight results from two ongoing research programs - one at NASA's Johnson Space Center, and the other at a drinking water facility in California. Both programs are designed to demonstrate nitrification through biological treatment. The objective of NASA's research is to be able to recycle wastewater to potable water for spaceflight missions. To this end, a biological water processor (BWP) has been integrated with a forward osmosis secondary treatment system (FOST). Bacteria mineralize organic carbon to carbon dioxide as well as ammonia‐nitrogen present in the wastewater to nitrogen gas, through a combination of nitrification and denitrification. The effluent from the BWP system is low in organic contaminants, but high in total dissolved solids. The FOST system, integrated downstream of the BWP, removes dissolved solids through a combination of concentration‐driven forward osmosis and pressure driven reverse osmosis. The integrated system testing planned for this year is expected to produce water that requires only a polishing step to meet potable water requirements for spaceflight. The pilot study in California is being conducted on Golden State Water Company's Yukon wells that have hydrogen sulfide odor, color, total organic carbon, bromide, iron and manganese in addition to ammonia. A treatment evaluation, conducted in 2011, recommended the testing of biological oxidation filtration for the removal of ammonia and production of biologically stable water. An 8‐month pilot testing program was conducted to develop and optimize key design and operational variables. Steadystate operational data was collected to demonstrate long‐term performance and inform California Department of Public Health permitting of the full‐scale process. As ammonia continues to present challenges to water and wastewater systems, innovative strategies such as biological treatment can be applied to successfully manage it. This presentation will discuss application of cutting‐age research being conducted by NASA that will bridge existing information gaps, and benefit municipal utilities.

Pickering, Karen↗
NASA NTRS2016

FOST 2 Upgrade with Hollow-Fiber CTA FO Module and Generation of Osmotic Agent for Microorganism Growth Studies

FOST 2 is an integrated membrane system that incorporates a forward osmosis subsystem and a reverse osmosis subsystem working in series. It has been designed as a post treatment system to process the effluent from the Membrane Aerated Biological Reactor developed at NASA Johnson Space Center and Texas Tech University. Its function is to remove dissolved solids residual such as ammonia and suspended solids, as well as to provide a physical barrier to microbial and viral contamination. A tubular CTA membrane module from HTI and a flat-sheet lipid-base membrane module from Porifera were integrated and tested on FOST 2 in the past, using both a bioreactor's effluent and greywater as the feed solution. This paper documents the performance of FOST 2 after its upgrade with a hollow-fiber CTA membrane module from Toyobo, treating real black-water to generate the osmotic agent solution necessary to conduct growth studies of genetically engineered microorganism for the Synthetic Biological Membrane project.

Water treatment↗
NASA NTRS2017

Water Walls for Life Support

A method and associated system for processing waste gases, liquids and solids, produced by human activity, to separate (i) liquids suitable for processing to produce potable water, (ii) solids and liquids suitable for construction of walls suitable for enclosing a habitat volume and for radiation shielding, and (iii) other fluids and solids that are not suitable for processing. A forward osmosis process and a reverse osmosis process are sequentially combined to reduce fouling and to permit accumulation of different processable substances. The invention may be used for long term life support of human activity.

Flynn, Michael T.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Cleaner Landfills

Osmotek, Inc. developed the Direct Osmosis treatment system through SBIR funding from Ames Research Center. Using technology originally developed for flight aboard the Space Station, the company brought it to their commercial water purification treatment system, Direct Osmosis. This water purification system uses a direct osmosis process followed by a reverse osmosis treatment. Because the product extracts water from a waste product, Osmotek is marketing the unit for use in landfills. The system can treat leachate (toxic chemicals leached into a water source), by filtering the water and leaving behind the leahcate. The leachate then becomes solidified into substance that can not seep into water.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

HERO WEC V1.0 - Electrical PTO Deployment Data and Analysis

This submission includes the processed and raw field electrical data from NREL's August 2022 HERO WEC (hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis wave energy converter) deployment at Jennette's Pier for the electrical PTO (power take-off).

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2022

HERO WEC V1.0 - WEC-Sim Detailed Simulation Runs and Summary Data

Data sets from simulation runs include 144 wave cases that were run based on the WEC-Sim model (https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/483). The 144 wave cases represent waves with the following wave height and wave period ranges: - Significant Wave Height: 0.25 - 4.0m in 0.25m increments - Wave Period: 5 - 13 sec in 1 sec increments Each run was simulated using a Pierson-Moskowitz irregular wave spectrum with a 200 second ramp time and a total simulation time of 2,200 seconds. Summary data set includes a spreadsheet and image files with matrices that are associated with data from simulation runs. All matrices cover the same significant wave height and wave periods from the sim runs, in the same increments. The following matrices are included: - Mechanical Power Input: Absorbed power calculated using linear input velocity at PTO (power take-off) multiplied by winch tension. - Mechanical Power Output: The hydraulic power calculated at the pump output prior to the pressure relief valve dump. - Feed Pressure: Average pressure at RO (reverse osmosis) input prior to pre-filters - RO Power Input: The hydraulic power calculated at the RO system inlet, accounts for flow loss due to pressure relief valve - Water Production: Average clean water flow at RO output

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2020

Techno-economic analysis of converting oil & gas produced water into valuable resources

Managing produced water from oil and gas wells constitutes a significant portion of the costs of operating a well. Here, in this work, we have designed two different centralized water treatment facilities capable of managing produced water from oil and gas wells in Texas and Louisiana, both of which convert the produced water into the following valuable resources: ten-pound brine and fresh water. The two main designs each use commercially available technology with varying levels of establishment in treating produced water. Both treatment processes remove oil and grease and suspended solids, reduce the divalent ion concentrations, and concentrate the brines to a near-saturation state. The baseline design uses chemical precipitation to remove the divalent ions to meet the reuse specifications, whereas the advanced design uses nanofiltration (NF) membranes to separate divalent ions and uses reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to partially concentrate the brine. Both models use mechanical vapor recompression to concentrate the brine up to NaCl saturation. The baseline process is shown to be cost-effective for low-hardness brines. In the case of high hardness, the chemical precipitation step is cost-prohibitive. We find that NF membranes are a promising alternative to chemical precipitation as a means of separating monovalent and divalent ions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Desalination metamodels and a framework for cross-comparative performance simulations

There is an opportunity to save energy and reduce operational expenses when choosing a suitable desalination method aided by computational modeling. Existing models are not conducive to generalized comparisons between different desalination methods. Therefore, the work in this study developed metamodels for six desalination methods, grouped them into thermal and molecular transport families, and validated their predictive performance within 9% difference from published data. This validated framework allowed comparisons of desalination methods at their prescribed ranges of operational conditions that they were designed for. These conditions specify feed salinity ranges of 1.6 to 2.4 g/kg for Capacitive Deionization and Reverse Osmosis (RO), 2.8 to 4.2 g/kg for Electrodialysis, 28 to 42 g/kg for Thermovapor Compression and Humidification-Dehumidification, and 37 to 55 g/kg for Multi-Effect Distillation (MED). Despite different operational conditions, all models exhibit non-linear, positive correlation between energy consumption and system size in response to feed salinity and production rate. The framework is also employed in a cross-comparative analysis between MED and RO whose results suggest that energy intensity for MED is an order of magnitude greater than RO for the same operational conditions, but actual operational costs are comparable. Overall, the framework is ready for deployment in case studies of actual desalination plants.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Trends and future outlooks in circularity of desalination membrane materials

Reverse osmosis desalination is one of the most important and increasingly popular technologies to augment available water resources. Central to the technology is a thin-film-composite polyamide membrane capable of separating pure water from seawater or brine. Since its conception and initiation, the membrane industry has followed a linear life-cycle scheme. However, increasing production costs of fossil-based materials and more stringent environmental regulations drive the initiatives to adapt to a circular economy of membrane materials. In this perspective, we briefly summarize the pressing issues in the state-of-the-art membrane industry, then discuss the opportunities in future technology innovations with a focus on sustainable membrane manufacturing and recycling, and lastly provided an outlook for future membrane design and fabrication towards a circular economy.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

HERO WEC V1.0 - WEC-Sim Model

This zip file contains the files that are needed to simulate NREL's HERO WEC (hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis wave energy converter). This requires the user to have already installed WEC-Sim. In addition to the standard toolboxes that are required to run WEC-Sim the user will also need the Simscape Fluids and Simscape Driveline packages. In the zip file you will find the following: - HEROV1_HPTO.slx: Simulink-based WEC Sim model of the first gen (V1.0) Hydraulic PTO (power take-off) that was designed for the HERO WEC - wecSimInputFile.m: Input file needed to run the model - userDefinedFunctionsMCR.m: MCR (multi condition run) script that is needed if a use wants to simulate multiple wave conditions. - geometry (folder): Includes the geometry file that is needed for visualization - hydroData (folder): Includes the required WAMIT data to run WEC-Sim

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2024

Flexible operation of nuclear hybrid energy systems for load following and water desalination

Nuclear hybrid energy systems (NHES) have the potential to provide dependable and emission-free electricity to the grid while also increasing the flexibility and reliability of the electrical grid. Molten salt reactor (MSR) technology can provide consistent, carbon-free electricity while also increasing efficiency, security, and sustainability and reducing nuclear waste. This study investigates the integration of Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) and conventional Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) with desalination technologies: Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD), Multi-Stage Flash Distillation (MSFD), and Reverse Osmosis (RO). Dynamic first-principles models were developed and tested using real grid data from the New York Independent System Operator. The results demonstrate that nuclear power is capable of flexibly responding to changing grid demand while simultaneously producing clean water, particularly during periods of low electricity demand. The MSR-RO system was found to be the most efficient in electricity generation and water production, and all hybrid systems reduced CO2 emissions by 356,000 to 682,000 tons annually. Economic analysis reveals that nuclear desalination technologies are cost-competitive with conventional systems, especially when paired with RO. Finally, these findings confirm the technical feasibility and environmental benefits of nuclear hybrid systems for sustainable electricity and water production.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Alternating, Current-Induced Electromagnetic Field for Membrane Fouling and Scaling Control during Desalination of Secondary Effluent from Municipal Wastewater

Membrane treatment of secondary effluent for reuse applications is a promising approach to expand water supplies and provide flexibility to water resources management. However, effective control of membrane fouling and scaling is crucial for cost-effective treatment and system resilience. This study compared the performance of antiscalants to an alternating, current-induced electromagnetic field (EMF) as an alternative pretreatment method to reverse osmosis. Compared to the no-EMF control experiments, the EMF device resulted in 13% higher water recovery and 366% lower flux decline at 60% of water recovery, along with 2–8 times lower precipitation of fouling and scaling, as evidenced by scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and chemical extraction analysis. The combination of the EMF with antiscalant was more effective for reducing membrane fouling and scaling, increasing water recoveries up to 89.3%, as compared to the EMF (67.5%) and antiscalant-only (73.6%) configurations. This is the first study to demonstrate synergistic effects of using an EMF in combination with antiscalants and could lead to lower pretreatment costs. Additional research is required to quantify the economics of this approach and to fully understand the fundamental mechanisms governing fouling and scaling control by an EMF.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

HERO WEC V1.0 - WEC-Sim Model (July 2024)

**This submission supersedes submission MHKDR-483** This submission file contains the files that are needed to simulate NREL's HERO WEC (hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis wave energy converter). This requires the user to have already installed WEC-Sim. In addition to the standard toolboxes that are required to run WEC-Sim the user will also need the Simscape Fluids and Simscape Driveline packages. The zip file (HERO_V1_WECSim_2024.zip) contains the following: - HERO_HPTO_2024.slx: Simulink-based WEC Sim model of the first gen (V1.0) Hydraulic PTO (power take-off) that was designed for the HERO WEC. This model has been updated since submission #483 based on in-laboratory experimental results. - wecSimInputFile.m: Input file needed to run the model - userDefinedFunctionsMCR.m: MCR (multi condition run) script that is needed if a use wants to simulate multiple wave conditions. - geometry (folder): Includes the geometry file that is needed for visualization - hydroData (folder): Includes the required WAMIT data to run WEC-Sim -HydVisualization.mlx: Visualization script to plot simulation results (not needed to run)

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2024

HERO WEC 2024 - Electrical Configuration Deployment Data

The following submission includes raw and processed electrical configuration deployment data from the in water deployment of NREL's Hydraulic and Electric Reverse Osmosis Wave Energy Converter (HERO WEC), in the form of parquet files, TDMS files, CSV files, bag files, and MATLAB workspaces. This dataset was collected in April 2024 at the Jennette's pier test site in North Carolina. Raw data as TDMS, CSV, and bag files are provided here alongside processed data in the form of MATLAB workspaces and Parquet files. This dataset includes the Python code used to process the data and MATLAB scripts to visualize the processed data. All data types, calculations, and processing is described in the included "Data Descriptions" document. All files in this dataset are described in detail in the included README. This data set has been developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Water Power Technologies Office.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2024

Machine learning models of intermittent operation of RO wellhead water treatment for salinity reduction and nitrate removal

Machine learning models were developed for intermittent multi-mode operation of a wellhead reverse osmosis water purification and desalination system to predict salt passage, nitrate passage, and permeate flux. The models, based on long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture, included an attention mechanism to increase model performance in proximity of the regulatory limit for nitrate. Training and testing of the models for the Startup, Production, Shutdown and Flushing operational modes were based on operational data (consisting of 22 process variables per data sample) acquired every 2–5 s over a six-month period. The significant sets of model input attributes for the different operational modes were assessed via Spearman ranking correlation, Self-Organizing Map (SOM) analysis and feed forward feature selection (FFFS). Although the variability of nitrate passage, salt passage and permeate flux was significant over the four operational modes, prediction performance for the three outcomes were with R2 and Average Absolute Relative Error (AARE) of 0.78–0.95 and 2.96–6.16 %, respectively. Model updates post membrane elements replacement demonstrated similar levels of prediction accuracy. The study results suggest that there is merit in exploring the utility of multi-mode models for sensor fault detection, data imputation, and for potential use in model-predictive control.

Intermittent RO operation↗
DOE OSTI2026

Assessing the Accuracy of Property Model Predictions for Cost Optimization of Desalination Technologies

Accurate modeling of seawater thermophysical and thermodynamic properties is critical for optimizing desalination processes. This study compares three seawater property models, a Reaktoro multicomponent model, the thermophysical seawater properties library from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a simplified sodium chloride model, in the context of levelized cost of water (LCOW) minimization for reverse osmosis (RO) and mechanical vapor compression systems. Process simulations and cost optimizations reveal that although all three models yield comparable LCOW and specific energy consumption (SEC) estimates under baseline conditions, deviations among their predictions increase with salinity. Relative differences in LCOW and SEC reach up to 6% and 8%, respectively. RO results show greater variability due to differences in osmotic pressure predictions, which affect pressure constraints at high recoveries. Computational performance varies substantially; specifically, Reaktoro simulations are up to 28 times slower than empirical models due to their detailed equilibrium calculations. These results suggest that empirical models offer acceptable accuracy for routine desalination process design, while Reaktoro provides advantages in scenarios requiring detailed speciation, such as scaling or pH adjustment studies. These findings underscore the importance of selecting appropriate property models based on the modeling objective of desalination applications and motivate future work integrating thermodynamic rigor with empirical efficiency.

Physical and chemical properties↗