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At least 1,459 records · Page 81

Demonstration of the Human and Technology Integration Guidance for the Design of Plant-Specific Advanced Automation and Data Visualization Techniques

Nuclear power continues to be a safe, reliable, and carbon-free electricity generating source for the United States, though the cost of operating and maintaining the current United States nuclear power plant fleet has become uncompetitive with other sources. This gap is attributed to the advent of new digital instrumentation and control technologies that other electricity generating industries are currently leveraging to streamline work and greatly reduce operating, maintenance, and support costs. Digital instrumentation and control systems and control room modernization offers significant opportunities to reduce operating and maintenance costs to ensure the continued operation of the existing United States light-water reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Mitigation documentation for the removal of hazardous materials from the engine installation vehicle and manned control car area 25, Nevada national security site, NYE county, Nevada

The purpose of this letter report is to document the mitigation of adverse effects of a proposed undertaking that would remove hazardous materials from the Engine Installation Vehicle (EIV) in Area 25 of the Nevada National Security Site (NNNSS) in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the terms of the 2024 Programmatic Agreement among the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Concerning the Protection of Historic Properties on the Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada, hereafter referred to as the NNSS PA. The EIV (State Historic Preservation Office [SHPO] Resource No. S3057) has been determined individually eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criteria A and C and as a contributing element to the Nuclear Rocket Development Station (NRDS) Historic District, which is eligible for the NRHP under all four Significance Criteria (Reno et al. 2023; Reed 2024).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Controlling Charged-Particle Fluxes in the Erosive Laser Plasma of a Graphite Target in Vacuum

Parameters of the erosive laser plasma of a graphite target on exposure to Nd{sup 3+}:YAG-laser pulses with a wavelength λ = 1064 nm and a pulse duration τ ~ 20 ns have been investigated. Two zones of glow have been found. One zone is quiescent and is located at the target surface at the site of exposure to laser radiation. The other glow zone moves opposite to a laser beam with a velocity of ~10 km/s. A method to control charged-particle fluxes in the erosive laser torch has been proposed.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Synchronous Hydromechanical Drive of a Mobile Machine

A model is developed for the synchronous brush drive of an airfield sweeper. This machine is equipped with a throttle flow divider that is not of gate-valve type, and employs a plunger-type control system. Methods are proposed for improving the static and dynamic properties of the synchronized system.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Defect-induced discriminative modulation of the highest occupied molecular orbital energies of graphene

Defects are capable of modulating various properties of graphene, and thus controlling defects is useful in the development of graphene-based devices. Here we present first-principles calculations, which reveal a new avenue for defect engineering of graphene: the modulation by defects on the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy of a charged monolayer graphene quantum dot (GQD) is discriminative. When the charge of a GQD increases its HOMO energy also increases. Importantly, when the GQD contains one particular class of defects its HOMO energy is sometimes higher and sometimes lower than that of the corresponding GQD without any defects, but when the GQD contains another class of defects its HOMO energy is always higher or lower than that of the corresponding intact GQD as its excess charge reaches a critical value. This discriminative modulation could allow defect engineering to control secondary electron ejection in graphene, leading to a new way to develop graphene-based devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Rotorcraft flight-propulsion control integration

The parallel development of digital engine and flight controls for U.S. Army helicopters has made possible the future derivation of a fully integrated digital flight/propulsion control system. A NASA/Army research program has been undertaken to exploit these possibilities, ultimately yielding a generation of helicopters with exceptional agility and maneuverability in military roles and low pilot workloads in all-weather civil aviation missions. The program's three phases respectively address system modeling and analysis, flight hardware and software development, and flight evaluations aboard a research vehicle.

Mihaloew, J. R.↗

Designing low bandwidth propulsive-only flight controllers

Results from an investigation of using engine commands to control flight attitude are described. In-flight operation with simulated failed flight controls is reviewed and ground simulations of piloted propulsive-only control to touchdown are analyzed. A design of an optimal control law to assist the pilot is presented. Recommendations are made for more robust design and implementation. Results to date indicate that simple and effective augmented control can be achieved in a wide variety of failed configurations.

Biezad, Daniel J.↗

Designing Low Bandwidth Propulsive-Only Flight Controllers

Results from an investigation of using engine commands to control flight attitude are described. In-flight operation with simulated failed flight controls is reviewed and ground simulations of piloted propulsive-only control to touchdown are analyzed. A design of an optimal control law to assist the pilot is presented. Recommendations are made for more robust design and implementation. Results to date indicate that simply and effective augmented control can be achieved in a wide variety of failed configurations.

Biezad, Daniel J.↗

Predictive modeling and reducing cyclic variability in autoignition engines

Methods and systems are provided for controlling a vehicle engine to reduce cycle-to-cycle combustion variation. A predictive model is applied to predict cycle-to-cycle combustion behavior of an engine based on observed engine performance variables. Conditions are identified, based on the predicted cycle-to-cycle combustion behavior, that indicate high cycle-to-cycle combustion variation. Corrective measures are then applied to prevent the predicted high cycle-to-cycle combustion variation.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Independent temperature and humidity control of a precooled desiccant air cooling system with proportional and fuzzy logic + proportional based controllers

Providing room comfort quickly by using less energy in cooling systems is important both in terms of efficiency and environment. In this study, independent temperature/humidity control strategies are designed for precooled desiccant based evaporative cooling system to provide room comfort quickly with less energy. Therefore, the speed controls of the system's actuators become important depending on the room, cooler and atmosphere conditions. The mathematical models are obtained to determine the relation between voltages of actuators and the variations in the room's temperature and humidity. After that, new control strategies are developed based on Proportional and Fuzzy+Proportional techniques and the control performance is increased by adding extra modes to the operation of the actuators. The effects of the control techniques on the cooling performance and energy consumption were investigated for different cases. It has been observed that the room temperature and relative humidity reach the set values in a short time for both techniques and are successfully kept at these values under the disturbances. By using Fuzzy+Proportional controller, the robustness of the cooler increases due to more precisely adjustment of controller's parameter depending the system conditions. Finally, both control strategies provide more than 20% energy savings compared to the traditional ON/OFF control.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Pressure-Sensitive System for Gas-Temperature Control

A thermodynamic relation is derived and simplified for use as a temperature-limiting control equation involving measurement of gas temperature before combustion and gas pressures before and after combustion. For critical flow in the turbine nozzles of gas-turbine engines, the control equation is further simplified to require only measurements upstream of the burner. Hypothetical control systems are discussed to illustrate application of the control equations.

Cesaro, Richard S↗

Gaseous fuel engine system and operating method for same

Operating a gaseous hydrogen fuel engine includes controlling an injection timing of a gaseous hydrogen fuel injected into a flow of pressurized intake air so as to produce a leading cooling flow of pressurized intake air into a cylinder in an engine, a trailing purging flow through an intake conduit, and a middle flow of both pressurized intake air and gaseous hydrogen fuel into the cylinder. Undesired combustion such as preignition and/or backfire can be limited. Related apparatus and control logic is also disclosed.

Singh, Jaswinder↗

Neutron Irradiation Effects on the Graphitic Structure of a Fine-Grain Graphite

Multiple programs are being performed worldwide that investigate the neutron irradiation-induced property changes in graphite. Similar programs have been performed for over 60 years, and still there is little understanding about why different graphite grades respond differently to the same irradiation conditions. The current thought is that there are multiple microstructural features that evolve during neutron irradiation and different features control the different physical property evolutions. Multiple neutron irradiation campaigns are underway at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). All of these campaigns utilize a comprehensive irradiation matrix that will allow investigation of the physical and microstructure changes, and will provide insight into which microstructure changes are controlling different physical property changes. (authors)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Top 13 Blendstocks Derived from Biomass for Mixing-Controlled Compression-Ignition (Diesel) Engines: Bioblendstocks with Potential for Decreased Emissions and Improved Operability

Reducing the impacts of medium- and heavy-duty (MD/HD) ground transportation can be enabled by fuel-engine combinations that use lower compression ignition liquid fuels and reduce criteria pollutant emissions. Fuels and blendstocks combined with advanced engine technologies could reduce the cost of ownership and the emission of pollutants, including soot, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and greenhouse gases (GHGs), from MD/HD vehicles. This report describes the evaluation and screening of MD/HD mixing-controlled compression ignition (MCCI) biofuel candidates for further development and commercialization. The report is aimed at 1) biofuel researchers looking to better understand options to reduce criteria pollutant and GHG emissions while maintaining efficiency and meeting requirements for engine operability and 2) engine researchers who want to evaluate biofuels that meet diesel fuel properties for their impact on conventional and advanced diesel combustion strategies.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Simulation study of an automatic trim system for reducing the control forces on a light twin after an engine failure

An automatic trim system for reducing the control forces after an engine failure on a light twin has been investigated on the Langley General Aviation Simulator. The system schedules open-loop trim tab deflections as a function of differential propeller slipstream dynamic pressure and freestream dynamic pressure. The system is described and the airplane-system static and dynamic characteristics are documented. Three NASA research pilots evaluated the effectiveness of the system for takeoff and landing maneuvers. A variety of off-nominal system characteristics were studied. The system was judged to be generally beneficial, providing a 2 to 3 point improvement in pilot rating for the tasks used in the evaluations.

Stewart, E. C.↗

Effects of an in-flight thrust reverser on the stability and control characteristics of a single-engine fighter airplane model

The changes in thrust minus drag performance as well as longitudinal and directional stability and control characteristics of a single-engine jet aircraft attributable to an in-flight thrust reverser of the blocker-deflector door type were investigated in a 16-foot transonic wind tunnel. The longitudinal and directional stability data are presented. Test conditions simulated landing approach conditions as well as high speed maneuvering such as may be required for combat or steep descent from high altitude.

Mercer, C. E.↗