Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Scale down”

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.

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

At least 1,549 records · Page 86

Predictive Modeling of Carbon Ablators Using Micro and Macro-Scale Modeling

Efforts to build a Predictive Material Modeling (PMM) framework from the micro-scale to the macro-scale are presented in this abstract. To reduce the need for extensive testing, accelerate the design cycle process, and reduce uncertainty margins applied to final designs, NASA is developing simulation and modeling tools that enable characterization of material properties and response to high-enthalpy environments. The Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) code has been developed for computing macroscale (volume averaged) properties of porous materials using microscale images from micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Microscale modeling requires a realistic representation of a material microstructure; these are obtained either synthetically during the design of the material or through X-ray micro-CT. Volume averaged properties are then used to inform macroscale material response models, such as those implemented in the Porous-material Analysis Toolbox based on OpenFOAM (PATO) software, also actively developed by NASA. The computational model in PATO is a generic heat and mass transfer model for porous reactive materials containing several solid phases and a single gas phase. The detailed chemical interactions occurring between the solid phases and the gas phase are modeled at the pore scale assuming local thermal equilibrium. These tools were developed to efficiently interface with other pre-existing codes such as SPARTA (direct simulation Monte Carlo), DPLR (hypersonic CFD), NEQAIR (radiative transport) and DAKOTA (uncertainty quantification and optimization). Detailed flight data (Mars Science Laboratory [MSL] Entry Descent and Landing Instrument [MEDLI]) is critical for validating these computational tools for NASA applications. Examples of modeling ablative material response using these codes will be presented including 3D simulations of the full-scale heatshield of the MSL capsule. The simulations demonstrate the ability of the modern material response code, PATO, to handle the material response of geometrically complex and large domains, through the use of massively parallel computations.

Thermal Protection Systems↗

Large-Scale High-Resolution Coastal Mangrove Forests Mapping Across West Africa With Machine Learning Ensemble and Satellite Big Data

Coastal mangrove forests provide important ecosystem goods and services, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and hazard mitigation. However, they are being destroyed at an alarming rate by human activities. To characterize mangrove forest changes, evaluate their impacts, and support relevant protection and restoration decision making, accurate and up-to-date mangrove extent mapping at large spatial scales is essential. Available large-scale mangrove extent data products use a single machine learning method commonly with 30 m Landsat imagery, and significant inconsistencies remain among these data products. With huge amounts of satellite data involved and the heterogeneity of land surface characteristics across large geographic areas, finding the most suitable method for large-scale high-resolution mangrove mapping is a challenge. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of a machine learning ensemble for mangrove forest mapping at 20 m spatial resolution across West Africa using Sentinel-2 (optical) and Sentinel-1 (radar) imagery. The machine learning ensemble integrates three commonly used machine learning methods in land cover and land use mapping, including Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM), and Neural Network (NN). The cloud-based big geospatial data processing platform Google Earth Engine (GEE) was used for pre-processing Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 data. Extensive validation has demonstrated that the machine learning ensemble can generate mangrove extent maps at high accuracies for all study regions in West Africa (92%–99% Producer’s Accuracy, 98%–100% User’s Accuracy, 95%–99% Overall Accuracy). This is the first-time that mangrove extent has been mapped at a 20 m spatial resolution across West Africa. The machine learning ensemble has the potential to be applied to other regions of the world and is therefore capable of producing high-resolution mangrove extent maps at global scales periodically.

coastal environment↗

Multi-Scale Analysis of Effective Mechanical Properties of Porous 3D Woven Composite Materials

This work aims to compute and analyze the mechanical properties of 3D woven composite materials that share the same yarn structure but differ in their matrix porosity and yarn's fiber volume fraction. Assuming linear elastic behavior, NASA's PuMA software was used to characterize the different composites from their constituents' data, averaging their elastic properties in three main directions to obtain their effective orthotropic mechanical properties. This was performed in three steps: firstly, the porous matrix phase was analyzed at the micro-scale; then, these results were used, along with the mechanical properties of the fibers, to model the yarns at the meso-scale; finally, results from the constituents were homogenized and used to model the mechanical behavior of the unit cell at the macro-scale. The 3D woven composite materials selected for this study are made of a mixture of phenolic resin with porosity values between 0 and 0.6, and infiltrated carbon fiber yarns with fiber volume fractions between 0.5 and 0.8. Results from this study show the effect of different matrix porosities and fiber volume fractions on the macro-scale mechanical properties, and were validated through theoretical and semi-empirical expressions found in the literature.

3D woven materials↗

The electron diffusion region and its relation to the larger-scale environment

The electron diffusion region forms the inner core of the magnetic reconnection machine. In this region, physical processes act to sustain a reconnection electric field, they accelerate to provide current density, and the heat to provide particle pressure in the current layer. The relative roles of these processes depend on whether the overall geometry is anti-parallel or asymmetric, and whether a guide field is present of not, but the overall concept applies in each case. The EDR is embedded in successively larger regions, starting with the ion diffusion region to even larger scales, where the plasma increasingly behaves like an anisotropic MHD plasma. With our new understanding of how the EDR works, it is of great interest to study how EDR processes couple to the larger scale environment. The ultimate efficacy of the magnetic reconnection is shaped by this interesting example of micro-macro coupling. In this presentation, we present some thoughts pertaining to this topic. In particular, we will discuss how information transport between scales is mediated, and how the very small scales can reach balance with the larger, overall system. We will review any pertinent research and present a set of questions inviting future research.

Michael Hesse↗

Cloud Adjustments From Large-Scale Smoke–Circulation Interactions Strongly Modulate the Southeastern Atlantic Stratocumulus-to-Cumulus Transition

Smoke from southern Africa blankets the southeastern Atlantic Ocean from June to October, producing strong and competing aerosol radiative effects. Smoke effects on the transition between overcast stratocumulus and scattered cumulus clouds are investigated along a Lagrangian (air-mass-following) trajectory in regional climate and large eddy simulation models. Results are compared with observations from three recent field campaigns that took place in August 2017: ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES), CLouds and Aerosol Radiative Impacts and Forcing: Year 2017 (CLARIFY), and Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC). The case study is set up around the joint ORACLES–CLARIFY flight that took place near Ascension Island on 18 August 2017. Smoke sampled upstream on an ORACLES flight on 15 August 2017 likely entrained into the marine boundary layer later sampled during the joint flight. The case is first simulated with the WRF-CAM5 regional climate model in three distinct setups: (1) FireOn, in which smoke emissions and any resulting smoke–cloud–radiation interactions are included; (2) FireOff, in which no smoke emissions are included; (3) RadOff, in which smoke emissions and their microphysical effects are included but aerosol does not interact directly with radiation. Over the course of the Lagrangian trajectory, differences in free tropospheric thermodynamic properties between FireOn and FireOff are nearly identical to those between FireOn and RadOff, showing that aerosol–radiation interactions are primarily responsible for the free tropospheric effects. These effects are non-intuitive: in addition to the expected heating within the core of the smoke plume, there is also a “banding” effect of cooler temperature (∼1–2 K) and greatly enhanced moisture (>2 g kg−1) at the plume top. This banding effect is caused by a vertical displacement of the former continental boundary layer in the free troposphere in the FireOn simulation resulting from anomalous diabatic heating due to smoke absorption of sunlight that manifests primarily as a few hundred meters per day reduction in large-scale subsidence over the ocean. A large eddy simulation (LES) is then forced with free tropospheric fields taken from the outputs for the WRF-CAM5 FireOn and FireOff runs. Cases are run by selectively perturbing one variable (e.g., aerosol number concentration, temperature, moisture, vertical velocity) at a time to better understand the contributions from different indirect (microphysical), “large-scale” semi-direct (above-cloud thermodynamic and subsidence changes), and “local” semi-direct (below-cloud smoke absorption) effects. Despite a more than 5-fold increase in cloud droplet number concentration when including smoke aerosol concentrations, minimal differences in cloud fraction evolution are simulated by the LES when comparing the base case with a perturbed aerosol case with identical thermodynamic and dynamic forcings. A factor of 2 decrease in background free tropospheric aerosol concentrations from the FireOff simulation shifts the cloud evolution from a classical entrainment-driven “deepening–warming” transition to trade cumulus to a precipitation-driven “drizzle-depletion” transition to open cells, however. The thermodynamic and dynamic changes caused by the WRF-simulated large-scale adjustments to smoke diabatic heating strongly influence cloud evolution in terms of both the rate of deepening (especially for changes in the inversion temperature jump and in subsidence) and in cloud fraction on the final day of the simulation (especially for the moisture “banding” effect). Such large-scale semi-direct effects would not have been possible to simulate using a small-domain LES model alone.

southeast Atlantic Ocean↗

SORCE and TSIS-1 SIM Comparison: Absolute Irradiance Scale Reconciliation

The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) and Total and Spectral Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1) conducted an intercomparison for the two Spectral Irradiance Monitors (SIM) spanning 704 days from 23 March 2018 to 25 February 2020 and permitted 554 time-matched pairs of observations. This comparison was conducted during the extremely quiescent Solar Cycle 24 minimum, so all observed differences and drifts between the two sensors are instrumental in nature. The TSIS-1 SIM benefitted from advanced calibration capabilities based on SI standards that were not available during the preflight calibration time period of SORCE. For this reason, a revision of the SORCE SIM absolute scale is appropriate. As expected, wavelength dependent differences in absolute agreement are a function of detector sensitivity and local changes in spectral slope. At the time of the comparison SORCE SIM has been on-orbit for 17 years while TSIS-1 observations commenced immediately after a 100-day outgassing and commissioning period. Peak-to-peak absolute scale differences are about 12% with a mean fractional difference of 0.7% ± 2.9%. The greatest scale differences occur at the change-over between the UV and visible photodiodes in the 310 nm region, and a systematic disagreement is present in the 850–1,600 nm range. A multiplicative scale correction factor has been developed to reconcile the TSIS-1 and SORCE difference with a wavelength dependent error on the mean typically less than 0.01% derived from every matched pair of observations.

Jerald Harder↗

Revisiting Empirical Solar Energetic Particle Scaling Relations. I. Solar Flares

Aims. The possible influence of solar superflares on the near-Earth space radiation environment are assessed through the investigation of scaling laws between the peak proton flux and fluence of solar energetic particle (SEP) events with the solar flare soft X-ray peak photon flux. Methods. We compiled a catalog of 65 well-connected (W20-90) SEP events during the last three solar cycles covering a period of ∼34 yr (1984–2020) that were associated with flares of class ≥C6.0, and investigated the statistical relations between the recorded peak proton fluxes (I p ) and the fluences (F p ) at a set of integral energies from E > 10, > 30, and > 60 to > 100 MeV versus the associated solar flare peak soft X-ray flux in the 1–8 Å band (F SXR ). Based on the inferred relations, we calculated the integrated energy dependence of the peak proton flux (I p ) and fluence (F p ) of the SEP events, assuming that they follow an inverse power law with respect to energy. Finally, we made use of simple physical assumptions, combining our derived scaling laws, and estimated the upper limits for I p and F p focusing on the flare associated with the strongest ground level enhancement (GLE) directly observed to date (GLE 05 on 23 February 1956), and that inferred for the cosmogenic radionuclide-based SEP event of AD774/775. Results. A scaling law relating I p and F p to the solar soft X-ray peak intensity (F SXR ) as ∝ F 5/6 SXR for a flare with a F SXR = X600 (in the revised scale) is consistent with values of FP inferred for the cosmogenic nuclide event of AD774/775.

Athanasios Papaioannou↗

Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Ignition Overpressure and Plume-Water Interaction in the SLS Scale Model Acoustics Test

The solid rocket boosters (SRBs) on the Space Launch System (SLS) generate powerful ignition overpressure (IOP) waves that can potentially damage the vehicle and surrounding ground structures. Based on historical Shuttle experience, the IOP will be mitigated by utilizing an IOP/Sound Suppression (SS) water system which sprays water in and around the SRB and RS-25 engine plumes. However, the complex multiphase physics of the resulting plume-water interaction can lead to undesirable effects, such as high velocity water spray onto the engine nozzles and SRB nozzle side loads. Prior to launch, insight into this environment can be achieved through scale model testing and predictive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. The Scale Model Acoustic Test (SMAT) was conducted at Marshall Space Flight Center to provide the data necessary to develop the SLS liftoff acoustic environments by using a 5% scale SLS vehicle, fully integrated with a scaled IOP/SS water system, mobile launcher (ML), and tower. NASA engineers have put forth significant effort in validating the Loci/CHEM-Real Fluids multiphase CFD solver on a wet hold down test from the SMAT series. In this paper, the IOP acoustics and plume-water interactions predicted by the CFD model are compared and validated against the experiment, enabling relatively inexpensive, rapid turnaround for multiphase launch environment analyses to support future flights and design evolutions of SLS and other launch vehicles.

John E. Soto↗

CFD Simulation of Ignition Overpressure and Plume-Water Interaction in the SLS Scale Model Acoustics Test

The solid rocket boosters (SRBs) on the Space Launch System (SLS) generate powerful ignition overpressure (IOP) waves that can potentially damage the vehicle and surrounding ground structures. Based on historical Shuttle experience, the IOP will be mitigated by utilizing an IOP/Sound Suppression (SS) water system which sprays water in and around the SRB and RS-25 engine plumes. However, the complex multiphase physics of the resulting plume-water interaction can lead to undesirable effects, such as high velocity water spray onto the engine nozzles and SRB nozzle side loads. Prior to launch, insight into this environment can be achieved through scale model testing and predictive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. The Scale Model Acoustic Test (SMAT) was conducted at Marshall Space Flight Center to provide the data necessary to develop the SLS liftoff acoustic environments by using a 5% scale SLS vehicle, fully integrated with a scaled IOP/SS water system, mobile launcher (ML), and tower. NASA engineers have put forth significant effort in validating the Loci/CHEM-Real Fluids multiphase CFD solver on a wet hold down test from the SMAT series. In this paper, the IOP acoustics and plume-water interactions predicted by the CFD model are compared and validated against the experiment, enabling relatively inexpensive, rapid turnaround for multiphase launch environment analyses to support future flights and design evolutions of SLS and other launch vehicles.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗

Improved Spectral and Angular Characterization of Libya-4 and Dome-C for consistent MODIS and VIIRS Radiometric Scaling

The NASA CERES observed SW and LW fluxes are utilized by the climate community for monitoring the Earth’s energy imbalance and for climate model validation. To facilitate seamless flux and cloud properties across MODIS, VIIRS, and geostationary (GEO) imagers the CERES project intercalibrates the imagers directly comparing the coincident ray-matched analogous channel radiances. For CERES edition 4 products, the MODIS, VIIRS and GEO imagers were radiometrically scaled to the Aqua-MODIS C5 calibration reference. There are no direct comparison opportunities between NPP and NOAA20 VIIRS, since they are positioned a half an orbit apart. The previous usage of Aqua-MODIS as a transfer radiometer is coming to an end, since the Aqua orbit is slowly drifting towards the terminator and will be deorbited in 2026. The CERES project will utilize the Libya-4 and Dome-C invariant targets to radiometrically scale between MODIS and VIIRS reflective solar bands. The Libya-4 and Dome-C Earth invariant targets will be characterized by the repeat cycle angular configuration. The target spectral band adjustment factors (SBAF) will be derived using EMIT and DESIS hyper-spectral observations onboard the ISS and will be compared with the existing SCIAMACHY, GOME-2, and Hyperion SBAFs. The DESIS and EMIT SBAF approach can incorporate the future CLARREO CPF SI traceable hyper-spectral measurements allowing the targets to be referenced to an absolute calibration reference. Utilizing the BRDF and atmospheric corrected characterization of one sensor with another will provide the scaling factors. Consistent scaling factors between the two invariant target validates the method.

David R. Doelling↗

A Multilevel Approach For SolvingLarge-Scale QUBO Problems With Noisy Hybrid Quantum Approximate Optimization

Quantum approximate optimization is one ofthe promising candidates for useful quantum computation,particularly in the context of finding approximate solutionsto Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO)problems. However, the existing quantum processing units(QPUs) are of relatively small size, and canonical mappingsof QUBO via the Ising model require one qubit per vari-able, rendering direct large-scale optimization infeasible.In classical optimization, a general strategy for addressingmany large-scale problems is via multilevel/multigrid meth-ods, where the large target problem is iteratively coarsenedand the global solution is constructed from multiple small-scale optimization runs. In this work, we experimentallytest how existing QPUs perform when used as a sub-solverwithin such a multilevel strategy. To this aim, we com-bine and extend (via additional classical processing steps)the recently proposed Noise-Directed Adaptive Remapping(NDAR) and Quantum Relax&Round (QRR) algorithms.We first demonstrate the effectiveness of our heuristicextensions on Rigetti’s superconducting transmon deviceAnkaa-2. We find approximate solutions to10instances offully connected82-qubit Sherrington-Kirkpatrick graphswith random integer-valued coefficients obtaining normal-ized approximation ratios (ARs) in the range∼0.98−1.0,and the same class with real-valued coefficients (ARs∼0.94−1.0). Then, we implement the extended NDAR andQRR algorithms as subsolvers in the multilevel algorithmfor6large-scale graphs with at most∼27,000variables.In practice, the QPU (with classical post-processing steps)is used to find approximate solutions to dozens of at most82-qubit problems, which are iteratively used to constructthe global solution. We observe that quantum optimizationresults are competitive in terms of the quality of solutionswhen compared to classical heuristics used as subsolverswithin the multilevel approach.Reproducibility: source code and data are available at[TBA upon acceptance]

quantum computing↗

Wind Tunnel Test of A Scale Model of A Venus Probe to Determine Aeroacoustics Environment

The Zephyr probe for NASA’s DAVINCI project is being designed to fly to Venus and collect measurements to characterize the Venusian atmosphere while it descends towards the surface. Despite a slow descent speed as the probe approaches the surface, the very dense atmosphere means the vibro-acoustic environment that the probe must withstand could be very harsh. A wind tunnel test campaign was conducted to characterize the surface-pressure fluctuations (acoustics) on the external surface of the probe during the descent. The goal was to provide forcing functions for vibro-acoustic analysis of all instruments inside the probe. A 25% scale-model of the Zephyr probe was manufactured, instrumented with 18 microphones, and tested in two wind tunnels located in the Fluid Mechanics Lab at NASA Ames Research Center at velocities ranging from 13 m/s to 48 m/s. Trip strips were added to the model to ensure a turbulent boundary layer on the model. Microphones were located appropriately to provide spectra of pressure fluctuations in regions with different flow characteristics as well as for calculating various two-point statistics. The acoustic spectra measured in the wind tunnel tests were scaled up to flight-scale using the estimated flight trajectory information. Besides fluctuating surface-pressure measurements, hot-film velocity measurements as well as smoke-laser flow visualization were conducted to better understand the flow around the probe. Lastly, several different geometry configurations were tested to see whether any reduction in acoustic levels could be achieved, but none of the configurations that were tested offered significant improvements. The flow visualization showed 3 primary flow regimes on the model: an attached turbulent boundary layer on the front of the model, a region of separated flow upstream of the flared lip, and a large, separated wake at the rear of the model. The acoustic spectra generally show three different shapes corresponding to these flow regions, with the highest levels seen at the rear of the model, and directly in front of the drag plate. The scaled overall levels of pressure fluctuations were found to be high: in the range of 130dB to 155dB.

planetary probe↗

HYBRID MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUE USING LARGE-SCALE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND COMPRESSION MOLDING FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPOSITES

Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3-D printing has moved from small-scale prototypes to large-scale functional structures. With the introduction of large-scale 3D printers into the market a new industry has been born. For the first time, we are presenting the idea of preparing large-scale 3-D printed β-stage preforms to be used in traditional compression molding (CM) manufacturing technique to prepare final functional structures. Short carbon fiber (CF) reinforced material acrylonitrile butadiene Styrene i.e. ABS with 20% CF is used in present work. It is shown that highly aligned 3D printed short carbon fiber composite maintains its orientation after compression molding. A sandwich panel is prepared to show the capability to prepare complicated parts by integrating AM and CM. Interphase of the prepared dissimilar material is also studied using SEM. Samples prepared using AM-CM integration showed 11% and 79 % improvement in tensile strength and tensile modulus respectively compared to the traditional extrusion compression molding (ECM) process.

Kumar, Vipin↗

An HPC-Based Hydrothermal Finite Element Simulator for Modeling Underground Response to Community-Scale Geothermal Energy Production

Geothermal heat, as renewable energy, shows great advantage with respect to its environmental impact due to its significantly lower CO2 emissions than conventional fossil fuel. Open and closed-loop geothermal heat pumps, which utilize shallow geothermal systems, are an efficient technology for cooling and heating buildings, especially in urban areas. Integrated use of geothermal energy technologies for district heating, cooling, and thermal energy storage can be applied to optimize the subsurface for communities to provide them with multiple sustainable energy and community resilience benefits. The utilization of the subsurface resources may lead to a variation in the underground environment, which might further impact local environmental conditions. However, very few simulators can handle such a highly complex set of coupled computations on a regional or city scale. We have developed high-performance computing (HPC) based hydrothermal finite element (FE) simulator that can simulate the subsurface and its hydrothermal conditions at a scale of tens of km. The HPC simulator enables us to investigate the subsurface thermal and hydrologic response to the built underground environment (such as basements and subways) at the community scale. In this study, a coupled hydrothermal simulator is developed based on the open-source finite element library deal.II. The HPC simulator was validated by comparing the results of a benchmark case study against COMSOL Multiphysics, in which Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) is modeled and a process of heat injection into ATES is simulated. The use of an energy pile system at the Treasure Island redevelopment site (San Francisco, CA, USA) was selected as a case study to demonstrate the HPC capability of the developed simulator. The simulator is capable of modeling multiple city-scale geothermal scenarios in a reasonable amount of time.

Sun, Xiang↗

Fracture fluid alteration to mitigate barite scale precipitation in unconventional oil/gas shale systems

An acid spearhead formulation for mineral scale reduction that includes a sulfuric acid solution having an acidity that is substantially equivalent to a hydrochloric acid solution in an acid spearhead formulation, a sodium citrate compound, where an acid spearhead formulation for mineral scale reduction is formed, the acid spearhead formulation is disposed in a well bore to stabilize mineral scales, the acid spearhead formulation is disposed in the well bore to chelate solubilized calcium in a rock bed of the well bore, and the well bore includes a temporal thermodynamic subsurface barite cycling having a subsurface barite dissolution temporal phase, a subsurface barite transport to fractures temporal phase, a subsurface barite precipitation to fracture temporal phase and a subsurface barite dissolution to fracture space temporal phase, where the acid spearhead formulation for mineral scale reduction reacts with the well bore within the subsurface barite dissolution temporal phase.

Jew, Adam↗

Digitalization, Management and Synthesis of Thermal Hydraulic Legacy Data Using Dynamical System Scaling

A unique attribute of the nuclear industry is the extent by which designers, developers, operators, and regulators pay attention to demonstrating the safety case. The safety case for nuclear systems is a written, traceable expression of safety, demonstrating the system’s protective measures against uncontrolled radiological releases. The nuclear installation resiliency or safety takes overriding priority over function and performance. The preparation of the safety case heavily relies on extensive experimental campaigns that challenge the target design under a spectrum of postulated accident scenarios. For safety reasons, these experiments are typically conducted in sub-scale test apparatuses intended to reproduce the postulated accident scenarios and event sequences realistically but subject to proven similarity criteria, often referred to as scaling analyses. Since the dawn of the nuclear industry, significant resources have been committed to the construction and operation of such test facilities and a massive amount of data has been generated. Such test data have been and are still used to validate the fundamental assumptions of nuclear power plant phenomena. As we move into the digital world, capturing this multi-decades worth of information in a transparent, easily accessible, and usable manner for the public and industry stakeholders is of paramount importance. Over the last few years FPoliSolutions has been actively developing an enterprise digital data ontology platform (FPoliDON) intended to do just that. The concept was introduced in a paper at the previous NURETH edition and has been significantly enhanced since. With the vision of helping designers use the data to assess their safety case evaluation models, the platform was designed not only to ontologically organize the experimental data, but also to guide the user in the complex analytics associated with the interpretation and use of such test results. A new feature which has been recently added is the ability for the user to access a library of sophisticated mathematical procedures for performing scaling analyses. For this purpose, the Dynamical System Scaling (DSS) procedure invented by Dr. Jose’ Reyes was formulated as one of the services in the digital platform. These methods have been demonstrated to provide an excelled mathematical apparatus to identify similarity criteria or quantify distortions between measured data and the target prototypical conditions. Moreover, DSS can provide a level of synthesis across SETs and IETs which has the promise to yield efficiency in the evaluation code assessment activities. This is often a daunting and expensive task to set up evaluation models that support the safety case of current and future nuclear power plants.

Reyes, Jose↗

First Observation of Large Missing-Momentum (e,e'p) Cross-Section Scaling and the onset of Correlated-Pair Dominance in Nuclei

We report the first measurement of $x_B$-scaling in $(e,e'p)$ cross-section ratios off nuclei relative to deuterium at large missing-momentum of $350 \leq p_{miss} \leq 600$ MeV/c. The observed scaling extends over a kinematic range of $0.7 \leq x_B \leq 1.8$, which is significantly wider than $1.4 \leq x_B \leq 1.8$ previously observed for inclusive $(e,e')$ cross-section ratios. The $x_B$-integrated cross-section ratios become constant (i.e., scale) beginning at $p_{miss}\approx k_F$, the nuclear Fermi momentum. Comparing with theoretical calculations we find good agreement with Generalized Contact Formalism calculations for high missing-momentum ($> 375$ MeV/c), suggesting the observed scaling results from interacting with nucleons in short-range correlated (SRC) pairs. For low missing-momenta, mean-field calculations show good agreement with the data for $p_{miss}\le k_F$, and suggest that contributions to the measured cross-section ratios from scattering off single, un-correlated, nucleons are non-negligible up to $p_{miss}\approx 350$ MeV/c. Therefore, SRCs become dominant in nuclei at $p_{miss}\approx 350$ MeV/c, well above the nuclear Fermi Surface of $k_F \approx 250$ MeV/c.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

sCO2 Primary Power Large-Scale Pilot Plant FEED Summary

Echogen Power Systems and its project partners the Electric Power Research Institute, CDM Smith, Riley Power Inc. (a Babcock Power Inc. company), and the University of Missouri completed the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study of a nominal 10 MWe supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) large-scale pilot plant based on Recompression Brayton Cycle (RCBC) architecture. The FEED study was completed under Phase II of the U.S. Department of Energy Fossil Fuel Large-Scale Pilots program. The FEED study scope included the preliminary design of the combustion and environmental control systems, the primary heater, the sCO2 power cycle and its associated turbomachinery, and the balance of plant equipment to determine accurate cost and schedule requirements for fabrication and installation of the system at the University of Missouri’s Combined Cooling, Heat, and Power Plant, located in Columbia, Missouri. The RCBC sCO2 cycle presents superior thermodynamic efficiency compared to steam-Rankine cycles and is adaptable to a broad range of heat sources. The risk aversion of the power generation industry requires a successful large-scale pilot plant demonstration to enable financing and deployment of commercial-scale plants. Therefore, successful construction and demonstration of a 10 MWe RCBC sCO2 power plant would empower a transformational step forward for the efficiency of the next generation of utility power plants. This paper provides details on the primary heater, environmental control systems, and sCO2 power cycle design and performance.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗