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Results for “efficiency maximization”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,549 records · Page 86

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NASA NTRS2005

Measurement Protocols for In situ Analysis of Organic Compounds at Mars and Comets

The determination of the abundance and chemical and isotopic composition of organic molecules in comets and those that might be found in protected environments at Mars is a first step toward understanding prebiotic chemistries on these solar system bodies. While future sample return missions from Mars and comets will enable detailed chemical and isotopic analysis with a wide range of analytical techniques, precursor insitu investigations can complement these missions and facilitate the identification of optimal sites for sample return. Robust automated experiments that make efficient use of limited spacecraft power, mass, and data volume resources are required for use by insitu missions. Within these constraints we continue to explore a range of instrument techniques and measurement protocols that can maximize the return from such insitu investigations.

Mahaffy, P. R.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Measurement Protocols for In Situ Analysis of Organic Compounds at Mars and Comets

Mahaffy, P. R.↗

NASA NTRS2011

History of POIC Capabilities and Limitations to Conduct International Space Station Payload Operations

Payload science operations on the International Space Station (ISS) have been conducted continuously twenty-four hours per day, 365 days a year beginning February, 2001 and continuing through present day. The Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC), located at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, has been a leader in integrating and managing NASA distributed payload operations. The ability to conduct science operations is a delicate balance of crew time, onboard vehicle resources, hardware up-mass to the vehicle, and ground based flight control team manpower. Over the span of the last ten years, the POIC flight control team size, function, and structure has been modified several times commensurate with the capabilities and limitations of the ISS program. As the ISS vehicle has been expanded and its systems changed throughout the assembly process, the resources available to conduct science and research have also changed. Likewise, as ISS program financial resources have demanded more efficiency from organizations across the program, utilization organizations have also had to adjust their functionality and structure to adapt accordingly. The POIC has responded to these often difficult challenges by adapting our team concept to maximize science research return within the utilization allocations and vehicle limitations that existed at the time. In some cases, the ISS and systems limitations became the limiting factor in conducting science. In other cases, the POIC structure and flight control team size were the limiting factors, so other constraints had to be put into place to assure successful science operations within the capabilities of the POIC. This paper will present the POIC flight control team organizational changes responding to significant events of the ISS and Shuttle programs.

Grimaldi, Rebecca↗

NASA NTRS2016

Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA)

Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) is a decision support tool to assist airline ramp controllers and ATC tower controllers to manage traffic on the airport surface to significantly improve efficiency and predictability in surface operations. The core function of the tool is the runway scheduler which generates an optimal solution for runway sequence and schedule of departure aircraft, which would minimize system delay and maximize runway throughput. The presentation also discusses the latest status of NASA's current surface research through a collaboration with an airline partner, where a tool is developed for airline ramp operators to assist departure pushback operations. The presentation describes the concept of the SARDA tool and results from human-in-the-loop simulations conducted in 2012 for Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport and 2014 for Charlotte airport ramp tower.

surface management↗

NASA NTRS2014

Overview: Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA)

Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) is a decision support tool to assist airline ramp controllers and ATC tower controllers to manage traffic on the airport surface to significantly improve efficiency and predictability in surface operations. The core function of the tool is the runway scheduler which generates an optimal solution for runway sequence and schedule of departure aircraft, which would minimize system delay and maximize runway throughput. The presentation describes the concept of the SARDA tool and results from human-in-the-loop simulations conducted in 2012 for DallasFt. Worth International Airport. The presentation also explains the latest status of NASA's current surface research through a collaboration with an airline partner. The presentation concludes with a discussion on other on-going as well as future surface research.

decision support tool↗

NASA NTRS2015

Spot and Departure Runway Advisor (SARDA)

Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) is a decision support tool to assist airline ramp controllers and ATC tower controllers to manage traffic on the airport surface to significantly improve efficiency and predictability in surface operations. The core function of the tool is the runway scheduler which generates an optimal solution for runway sequence and schedule of departure aircraft, which would minimize system delay and maximize runway throughput. The presentation describes the concept of the SARDA tool and results from human-in-the-loop simulations conducted in 2012 for Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. The presentation also discusses the latest status of NASA's current surface research through a collaboration with an airline partner, where a tool is developed for airline ramp operators to assist departure pushback operations.

Departure Schedule↗

NASA NTRS2024

Runtime Thread-Block Optimization for Custom Multistream CUDA Kernels for the Glenn Research Center Communication Analysis Suite

In preparation of the return of humans to the Moon with the coming Artemis missions, NASA scientists must evaluate proposed landing site locations for terrain and communications viability. The Glenn Research Center Communication Analysis Suite (GCAS) combines sophisticated communication network models with accurate lunar terrain to access sites across the Moon’s south pole. Given the importance of proper site selection to crew safety and mission success, many locations need to be analyzed resulting in a large computational load needing to be performed. To meet the growing project demands, development has begun to improve the runtime efficiency of GCAS with GPU parallelization by way of multi-stream CUDA kernels. One of the most prominent factors in kernel optimization is the proper selection of thread-block dimensions in order to maximize the concurrent operation on the device. Typically, thread-block dimensions are optimized by hand requiring many stages of benchmarking and iteration. Additionally, given the main conditions to optimization are the physical GPU architecture and problem size, these optimal dimensions are non-portable and fragile in their scope. As such, a novel optimization routine was developed to generate the optimal thread-block dimensions during runtime with considerations to hardware specifications and problem size resolving the issues of portability and enabling the function of more dynamic routines.

Aden Bergstresser↗

DOE OSTI2016

Cold Climate Heat Pumps Using Tandem Compressors

In cold climate zones, e.g. ASHRAE climate regions IV and V, conventional electric air-source heat pumps (ASHP) do not work well, due to high compressor discharge temperatures, large pressure ratios and inadequate heating capacities at low ambient temperatures. Consequently, significant use of auxiliary strip heating is required to meet the building heating load. We introduce innovative ASHP technologies as part of continuing efforts to eliminate auxiliary strip heat use and maximize heating COP with acceptable cost-effectiveness and reliability. These innovative ASHP were developed using tandem compressors, which are capable of augmenting heating capacity at low temperatures and maintain superior part-load operation efficiency at moderate temperatures. Two options of tandem compressors were studied; the first employs two identical, single-speed compressors, and the second employs two identical, vapor-injection compressors. The investigations were based on system modeling and laboratory evaluation. Both designs have successfully met the performance criteria. Laboratory evaluation showed that the tandem, single-speed compressor ASHP system is able to achieve heating COP = 4.2 at 47 F (8.3 C), COP = 2.9 at 17 F (-8.3 C), and 76% rated capacity and COP = 1.9 at -13 F (-25 C). This yields a HSPF = 11.0 (per AHRI 210/240). The tandem, vapor-injection ASHP is able to reach heating COP = 4.4 at 47 F, COP = 3.1 at 17 F, and 88% rated capacity and COP = 2.0 at -13 F. This yields a HSPF = 12.0. The system modeling and further laboratory evaluation are presented in the paper.

Shen, Bo↗

DOE OSTI2020

PREEMPT: Scalable Epidemic Interventions Using Submodular Optimization on Multi-GPU Systems

Preventing and slowing the spread of epidemics is achieved through techniques such as vaccination and social distancing. Given practical limitations on the number of vaccines and cost of administration, optimization becomes a necessity. Previous approaches using mathematical programming methods have shown to be effective but are limited by computational costs. In this work, we make several contributions: First, we present a new approach for intervention via maximizing the influence of vaccinated nodes on the network. We call this method \preempt. Next, we prove submodular properties associated with the objective function of our method so that it aids in construction of an efficient greedy approximation strategy. Consequently, we present a new parallel algorithm based on greedy hill climbing for \preempt, and present an efficient parallel implementation for distributed CPU-GPU heterogeneous platforms. Our results demonstrate that \preempt{} is able to achieve a significant reduction (up to 6.75$\times$) in the percentage of people infected on a city-scale network. We also show strong scaling results of \preempt{} on 128 nodes of the Summit supercomputer. Our parallel implementation is able to significantly reduce time to solution, from hours to minutes on large networks. This work represents a first-of-its-kind effort in parallelizing greedy hill climbing and applying it toward devising effective interventions for epidemics.

Minutoli, Marco↗

DOE OSTI2020

Localized Flow Modification to Increase Power Capture of a Small-Scale Floating Undershot Waterwheel

The goal of the work described in this thesis is to design a flow augmentation device to increase the power capture and efficiency of a small-scale floating Under-Shot Water Wheel (USWW) currently being developed by Florida Atlantic University research funded by the U.S Department of Energy. The flow concentrator subsystem is intended to maximize the kinetic energy extracted by the marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy collection device through modification of the local flow field across the capture plane. The primary objective is to increase the velocity and/or rate of mass inflow through the turbine through inserting a streamlined body in the region of interest. By utilizing the resulting flow field to increase hydraulic forcing on the waterwheel blades, the torque and/or RPM of the USWW can be increased. Based on experimental testing in the FAU wave tank at 1:5 prototype scale (280 mm wheel diameter) the flow concentrator was shown to produce an increase in device power coefficient of 17-55% measured over a velocity range of 0.16-0.45 m/s.

Hess, Sullivan↗

DOE OSTI2018

Prospects for enhancing leaf photosynthetic capacity by manipulating mesophyll cell morphology

Leaves are beautifully specialized organs designed to maximize the use of light and CO 2 for photosynthesis. Engineering leaf anatomy therefore holds great potential to enhance photosynthetic capacity. In this work, we review the effect of the dominant leaf anatomical traits on leaf photosynthesis and confirm that a high chloroplast surface area exposed to intercellular airspace per unit leaf area (S c ) is critical for efficient photosynthesis. The possibility of improving S c through appropriately increasing mesophyll cell density is further analyzed. The potential influences of modifying mesophyll cell morphology on CO 2 diffusion, light distribution within the leaf, and other physiological processes are also discussed. Some potential target genes regulating leaf mesophyll cell proliferation and expansion are explored. Indeed, more comprehensive research is needed to understand how manipulating mesophyll cell morphology through editing the potential target genes impacts leaf photosynthetic capacity and related physiological processes. This will pinpoint the targets for engineering leaf anatomy to maximize photosynthetic capacity.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Dielectric performance of high permitivity nanocomposites: impact of polystyrene grafting on BaTiO 3 and TiO 2

Polymer nanocomposites are a promising concept to improve energy storage density of capacitors, but realizing their hypothetical gains has proved challenging. The introduction of high permittivity fillers often leads to reduction in breakdown strength due to field exclusion, which intensifies the applied electric field within the polymer matrix near nanoparticle interfaces. This has prompted research in developing new nanoparticle functionalization chemistries and processing concepts to maximize particle separation. Herein, we compare the dielectric performance of blended nanocomposites to matrix free assemblies of hairy (polymer-grafted) nanoparticles (HNPs) that exhibit comparable overall morphology. The dielectric breakdown strength of polystyrene-grafted BaTiO3 (PS@BaTiO3) systems was over 40% greater than a blended nanocomposite with similar loading (~25% v/v BaTiO3). Hairy nanoparticles with TiO2 cores followed similar trends in breakdown strength as a function of inorganic loading up to 40% v/v. Dielectric loss for PS@BaTiO3 HNPs was 2-5 times lower than analogous blended films for a wide frequency spectrum (1 Hz to 100 kHz). For BaTiO3 content above 7% v/v, grafting the polymer chains to the nanoparticle significantly improved energy storage density and efficiency, likely due to the polymer canopy mitigating interfacial transport and restricting particle-particle hot-spots by establishing a finite minimum particle separation.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2023

Maximizing Wave Energy Converter Power Extraction by Utilizing a Variable Negative Stiffness Magnetic Spring

Complex conjugate impedance matching is a key concept for wave energy converter design. Matching the impedance of the power take-off (PTO) system to the complex conjugate of the wave energy converter's (WEC) impedance ensures efficient transfer of energy from the WEC body motion to electrical power. In low frequency waves, impedance matching often requires a negative PTO stiffness. In this paper, an adjustable stiffness magnetic torsion spring will be presented and modeled to understand its potential to improve WEC performance. The spring has the ability to provide a negative stiffness, allowing the PTO impedance to more closely match the complex conjugate of the WEC impedance at low frequencies. The spring also supports an adjustable stiffness value, meaning it can be tuned according to the incoming wave conditions. The spring's tunability may put less stress on the rest of the PTO system in wave conditions outside its normal operation zone without sacrificing electrical power output. The adjustable magnetic spring's effects are modeled and explored in this paper by examining the resultant average annual electrical power and capacity factor. The study suggests that the tunable magnetic spring has the potential to significantly improve capacity factor while maintaining a high average electrical power.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

DOE OSTI2019

Network coding for improving throughput in WDM optical networks with dedicated protection

Network coding (NC) has been recently emerging as an excellent technique for leveraging network efficiency. In optical networks, NC and protection appear to be a good match and indeed, NC could be effectively exploited for greater protection efficiency thanks to the opportunity of combining signals rather than duplication in the traditional approach. Motivated by this observation, we investigate the application of a simple and practical NC technique based on XOR operation to improve the network throughput in survivable optical networks. To this end, we propose the NC-based protection whose speed recovery is on a par with the conventional 1+1 dedicated protection while the capacity usage could be more efficient, paving the way for improving throughput in constrained capacity conditions. A novel mixed integer linear programming model is developed for survivable optical networks design employing the proposed NC-based protection. The model attempts to optimally determine the demands to serve, the routing for served demands and NC assignment among demands aiming at maximizing the network throughput in the constraint of bandwidth limitation. Extensive numerical evaluations on realistic topologies are provided to highlight the advantages of our NC-based protection proposal compared with the conventional dedicated protection in improving the network throughput. Encouraging results are observed when the new protection proposal based on NC could accommodate up to 30% more traffic than the conventional case.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2017

Vibronically coherent ultrafast triplet-pair formation and subsequent thermally activated dissociation control efficient endothermic singlet fission

Singlet exciton fission (SF), the conversion of one spin-singlet exciton (S 1 ) into two spin-triplet excitons (T 1 ), could provide a means to overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit in photovoltaics. SF as measured by the decay of S 1 has been shown to occur efficiently and independently of temperature even when the energy of S1 is as much as 200 meV less than 2T 1 . Here, we study films of TIPS-tetracene using transient optical spectroscopy and show that the initial rise of the triplet pair state (TT) occurs in 300 fs, matched by rapid loss of S1 stimulated emission, and that this process is mediated by the strong coupling of electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom. This is followed by a slower 10 ps morphology-dependent phase of S1 decay and TT growth. Here we observe the TT to be thermally dissociated on 10-100 ns timescales to form free triplets. This provides a model for "temperature independent", efficient TT formation and thermally activated TT separation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2024

Optimization of algorithmic errors in analog quantum simulations

Due to rapidly improving quantum computing hardware, Hamiltonian simulations of relativistic lattice field theories have seen a resurgence of attention. Furthermore, this computational tool requires turning the formally infinite-dimensional Hilbert space of the full theory into a finite-dimensional one. For gauge theories, a widely used basis for the Hilbert space relies on the representations induced by the underlying gauge group, with a truncation that keeps only a set of the lowest dimensional representations. This works well at large bare gauge coupling, but becomes less efficient at small coupling, which is required for the continuum limit of the lattice theory. In this work, we develop a new basis suitable for the simulation of an SU(2) lattice gauge theory in the maximal tree gauge. In particular, we show how to perform a Hamiltonian truncation so that the eigenvalues of both the magnetic and electric gauge-fixed Hamiltonian are mostly preserved, which allows for this basis to be used at all values of the coupling. Little prior knowledge is assumed, so this may also be used as an introduction to the subject of Hamiltonian formulations of lattice gauge theories.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Optimal mode transformations for linear-optical cluster-state generation

In this paper, we analyze the generation of linear-optical cluster states (LOCSs) via sequential addition of one and two qubits. Existing approaches employ the stochastic linear-optical two-qubit controlled-Z (CZ) gate with success rate of 1/9 per operation. The question of optimality of the CZ gate with respect to LOCS generation has remained open. We report that there are alternative schemes to the CZ gate that are exponentially more efficient and show that sequential LOCS growth is indeed globally optimal. We find that the optimal cluster growth operation is a state transformation on a subspace of the full Hilbert space. Finally, we show that the maximal success rate of postselected entangling n photonic qubits or m Bell pairs into a cluster is (1/2) n-1 and (1/4) m-1 , respectively, with no ancilla photons, and we give an explicit optical description of the optimal mode transformations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

New basis for Hamiltonian SU(2) simulations

Due to rapidly improving quantum computing hardware, Hamiltonian simulations of relativistic lattice field theories have seen a resurgence of attention. This computational tool requires turning the formally infinite-dimensional Hilbert space of the full theory into a finite-dimensional one. For gauge theories, a widely used basis for the Hilbert space relies on the representations induced by the underlying gauge group, with a truncation that keeps only a set of the lowest dimensional representations. This works well at large bare gauge coupling, but becomes less efficient at small coupling, which is required for the continuum limit of the lattice theory. In this work, we develop a new basis suitable for the simulation of an SU(2) lattice gauge theory in the maximal tree gauge. In particular, we show how to perform a Hamiltonian truncation so that the eigenvalues of both the magnetic and electric gauge-fixed Hamiltonian are mostly preserved, which allows for this basis to be used at all values of the coupling. Little prior knowledge is assumed, so this may also be used as an introduction to the subject of Hamiltonian formulations of lattice gauge theories. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗