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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 1,567 records · Page 87
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Driving towards cost-competitive biofuels through catalytic fast pyrolysis by rethinking catalyst selection and reactor configuration

Catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) has emerged as an attractive process for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into renewable fuels and products. Considerable research and development has focused on using circulating-bed reactors with zeolite catalysts (e.g., HZSM-5) for CFP because of their propensity to form gasoline-range aromatic hydrocarbons. However, the high selectivity for aromatics comes at the expense of low carbon yield, a key economic driver for this process. In this contribution, we evaluate non-zeolite catalysts in a fixed-bed reactor configuration for an integrated CFP process to produce fuel blendstocks from lignocellulosic biomass. These experimental efforts are coupled with technoeconomic analysis (TEA) to benchmark the process and guide research and development activities to minimize costs. The results indicate that CFP bio-oil can be produced from pine with improved yield by using a bifunctional metal-acid 2 wt% Pt/TiO 2 catalyst in a fixed-bed reactor operated with co-fed H 2 at near atmospheric pressure, as compared to H-ZSM5 in a circulating-bed reactor. The Pt/TiO 2 catalyst exhibited good stability over 13 reaction-regeneration cycles with no evidence of irreversible deactivation. The CFP bio-oil was continuously hydrotreated for 140 h time-on-stream using a single-stage system with 84 wt% of the hydrotreated product having a boiling point in the gasoline and distillate range. This integrated biomass-to-blendstock process was determined to exhibit an energy efficiency of 50% and a carbon efficiency of 38%, based on the experimental results and process modelling. TEA of the integrated process revealed a modelled minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of $4.34 per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE), which represents a cost reduction of $0.85 GGE -1 compared to values reported for CFP with a zeolite catalyst. TEA also indicated that catalyst cost was a significant factor influencing the MFSP, which informed additional CFP experiments in which lower-cost Mo2C and high-dispersion 0.5 wt% Pt/TiO 2 catalysts were synthesized and evaluated. These materials demonstrated CFP carbon yield and oil oxygen content similar to those of the 2 wt% Pt/TiO 2 catalyst, offering proof-of-concept that the lower-cost catalysts can be effective for CFP and providing a route to reduce the modelled MFSP to $3.86–3.91 GGE -1 . This report links foundational science and applied engineering to demonstrate the potential of fixed-bed CFP and highlights the impact of coupled TEA to guide research activities towards cost reductions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Coordination-supported organic polymers: mesoporous inorganic–organic materials with preferred stability

Here, a simple and versatile strategy, borrowing ideas from the chemistry of MOFs and COFs, is developed for the synthesis of coordination-supported organic polymers (COPs) via coordination between Al 3+ and 5-amino-8-hydroxyquinoline together with organic imine- or imide-based polycondensation. The COPs with high surface areas (up to 1123 m 2 g -1 ) and abundant mesopores (2.5 nm or 14 nm) possess good crystalline and porous structure after being soaked in boiling water.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

A high-speed, high-performance, microfabricated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograph

A small, consumable-free, low-power, ultra-high-speed comprehensive GC×GC system consisting of microfabricated columns, nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) cantilever resonators for detection, and a valve-based stop-flow modulator is demonstrated. The separation of a highly polar 29-component mixture covering a boiling point range of 46 to 253 °C on a pair of microfabricated columns using a Staiger valve manifold in less than 7 seconds, and just over 4 seconds after the ensemble holdup time is demonstrated with a downstream FID. The analysis time of the second dimension was 160 ms, and peak widths in the second dimension range from 10–60 ms. A peak capacity of just over 300 was calculated for a separation of just over 6 s. Data from a continuous operation testing over 40 days and 20 000 runs of the GC×GC columns with the NEMS resonators using a 4-component test set is presented. As a result, the GC×GC-NEMS resonator system generated second-dimension peak widths as narrow as 8 ms with no discernable peak distortion due to under-sampling from the detector.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Improving the efficiencies of small molecule solar cells by solvent vapor annealing to enhance J-aggregation

Here, we report highly efficient small molecule organic solar cells (SM-OSCs) based on a porphyrin derivative electron donor of ZnP2-DPP and an electron acceptor of [6,6]-phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PC 60 BM) by using a solvent vapor annealing (SVA) method with a series of low boiling solvents. Absorption spectral studies indicate that carbon disulfide (CS 2 ) SVA induces J-aggregation in blend films accompanied by expanded and enhanced absorption which contributes largely to the fabrication of broader light response and larger short-circuit current (J SC ) solar cell devices. In addition, we systematically analyze the relationship between the film morphology and device performance. Finally, the electronic study shows that the CS 2 SVA-treated device showed a higher exciton generation rate and enhanced carrier collection efficiency. And the morphology study indicates that the blend films treated with CS2 SVA exhibit tighter molecular packing, better crystallization and an appropriate phase separation length scale. In other words, these collective electronic and morphological features correlate well with the champion J SC , the fill factor (FF) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the CS 2 treated devices.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Blocking like it's hot: a synthetic chemists’ path to high-temperature lanthanide single molecule magnets

Progress in the synthesis, design, and characterisation of single-molecule magnets (SMMs) has expanded dramatically from curiosity driven beginnings to molecules that retain magnetization above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. This is in no small part due to the increasingly collaborative nature of this research where synthetic targets are guided by theoretical design criteria. This article aims to summarize these efforts and progress from the perspective of a synthetic chemist with a focus on how chemistry can modulate physical properties. Here, a simple overview is presented of lanthanide electronic structure in order to contextualize the synthetic advances that have led to drastic improvements in the performance of lanthanide-based SMMs from the early 2000s to the late 2010s.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Drop impact on hot plates: contact times, lift-off and the lamella rupture

When a liquid drop impacts on a heated substrate, it can remain deposited, or violently boil in contact, or lift off with or without ever touching the surface. The latter is known as the Leidenfrost effect. The duration and area of the liquid–substrate contact are highly relevant for the heat transfer, as well as other effects such as corrosion. However, most experimental studies rely on side view imaging to determine contact times, and those are often mixed with the time until the drop lifts off from the substrate. In this work, we develop and validate a reliable method of contact time determination using high-speed X-ray imaging and total internal reflection imaging. We exemplarily compare contact and lift-off times on flat silicon and sapphire substrates. We show that drops can rebound even without formation of a complete vapor layer, with a wide range of lift-off times. On sapphire, we find a local minimum of lift-off times that is much shorter than expected from capillary rebound in the comparatively low-temperature regime of transition boiling/thermal atomization. We elucidate the underlying mechanism related to spontaneous rupture of the lamella and receding of the contact area.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Pilot-scale hydrotreating of catalytic fast pyrolysis biocrudes: process performance and product analysis

Catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) is a technology option for producing advanced biofuels from hydrocarbon-rich biocrude intermediates. The relatively high oxygen content of biocrudes compared to petroleum intermediates increases hydrogen consumption and the lower thermal stability accelerates catalyst deactivation and reactor fouling hindering the adaptation of hydrotreating technology for biocrude upgrading into biofuels. In this study, four chemically different biocrude feeds were upgraded in a pilot scale hydroprocessing unit at similar process conditions using a commercial hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) catalyst. The biocrude feeds and hydrotreated products were characterized using standard ASTM procedures and advanced analytical techniques (GCxGC-FID and GCxGC-MS). HDO catalyst activity was monitored by changes in physical properties and chemical composition of the upgraded products as a function of time on stream. Aliphatic acids, ketones, aldehydes, and furan derivatives were completely converted during the hydrotreating tests while the concentration of aromatics, aliphatic hydrocarbons and phenolics increased during the hydrotreating tests. The oxygen content, nitrogen content, specific gravity, viscosity and the heavy end of the boiling point range (determined by simulated distillation) of the upgraded products increased with increasing time on stream during hydrotreating. The deactivation rate was the lowest for the biocrude feed that contained the most aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and was the highest for the biocrude feed that had the most anhydrosugars. Overall, the HDO deactivation rate correlates with the total amount of oxygen in the feed (17 wt% to 29 wt%, on a wet basis).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Demonstrating a butylamine-based deconstruction method for poplar biomass and conversion by diverse microbial strains

Low-boiling alkylamines such as butylamine offer promise as effective biomass pretreatment solvents that can be readily recovered and recycled; however, their capability to support microbial conversion of nutrients present in hydrolysates represents an important area for investigation. Here we employed butylamine to pretreat poplar biomass and characterize its effects on the release of fermentable sugars after solvent removal and enzymatic hydrolysis, as well as the biocompatibility of the produced hydrolysates with three organisms commonly used as bioconversion hosts. We observed that residual butylamine and the derivative butylacetamide were present in high enough concentrations to exert toxicity to strains of Aspergillus niger, Pseudomonas putida, and Rhodosporidium toruloides that produce malic acid, isoprenol and bisabolene, respectively. Removal of the toxic compounds by charcoal filtration and nutrient supplementation resulted in a hydrolysate containing >100 g L −1 of sugars that enabled strong growth, substrate consumption and bioproduct accumulation, outperforming defined cultivation media. This is the first demonstration of a butylamine-based deconstruction process for poplar biomass at a pilot-scale to achieve conversion of high sugar concentrations to valuable bioproducts with engineered microbes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Harnessing ketones as hydrogen acceptors for atom-efficient upgrading of oxygenates to fuels over H/ZSM-5

Heterogeneous mixtures of bio-derived oxygenates are promising feedstocks for synthetic aviation fuel (SAF), but conversion strategies for one common component—short-chain (C 5–7 ) internal ketones—are lacking. Previous work has shown that cyclization of ketones over H/ZSM-5 is limited by its high productivity of light paraffins. We study 4-heptanone upgrading over H/ZSM-5 and show that aromatics and olefins can be formed at high carbon yield when operating at up to 90% conversion. The yield of desirable products is not impacted by the introduction of a recycle stream of the unconverted 4-heptanone and other products with similar boiling points. We hypothesize, based on first-principles calculations, that the higher olefin yield is driven by the ease of hydrogen transfer to unreacted ketones as opposed to hydrogenating olefin products. We demonstrate how this ease of hydrogen transfer to ketones can be leveraged to enhance olefin selectivity in the conversion of methanol to olefins as well by co-feeding ketones. Olefinic products of the cyclization reaction are then oligomerized to a SAF blendstock to demonstrate an end-to-end ketone-to-SAF process facilitated by upgrading ketones over H/ZSM-5 at partial conversion with a recycle stream. The results of this work demonstrate a strategy to improve the carbon yield from bio-derived acids to SAF to over 75%, representing a relative improvement of more than 50% compared to previously reported data.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Efficiently predicting pressure-composition-temperature diagrams to discover low-stability metal hydrides

Quantitatively accurate computational predictions of metal hydride thermodynamics are challenging but critical for alloy performance optimization across a multitude of technological domains, including hydrogen storage, compression, purification, and getters. Recent machine learning approaches have demonstrated great success in this area, but can potentially suffer from several shortcomings since they rely on imbalanced experimental training data and can have poor out-of-distribution (ood) test performance. Here, in this study, we circumvent such pitfalls by developing a computationally efficient, first principles-based workflow for direct prediction of metal hydride phase equilibrium, i.e., the pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) diagram. We then demonstrate its utility on predicting low stability hydrides derived from compositionally complex C14 Laves phase AB2 alloys. Specifically, we computationally predict and then experimentally validate an AB 2 alloy series (z < 0.6 for Ti 2−z Zr z CrMnFeNi) with ideal hydriding thermodynamics for a two-stage metal hydride-based compressor for pressurizing boil off from liquefied hydrogen. Importantly, this study lays the groundwork for accurate and efficient discovery/optimization of ood, low-stability hydrides for which purely data-driven approaches lack sufficient accuracy.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fabrication and assembly of a superconducting undulator for the advanced photon source

A prototype superconducting undulator magnet (SCU0) has been built at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and has successfully completed both cryogenic performance and magnetic measurement test programs. The SCU0 closed loop, zero-boil-off cryogenic system incorporates high temperature superconducting (HTS) current leads, cryocoolers, a LHe reservoir supplying dual magnetic cores, and an integrated cooled beam chamber. This system presented numerous challenges in the design, fabrication, and assembly of the device. Aspects of this R and D relating to both the cryogenic and overall assembly of the device are presented here. The SCU0 magnet has been installed in the APS storage ring.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrically insulated MLI and thermal anchor

The thermal shield of JT-60SA is kept at 80 K and will use the multilayer insulation (MLI) to reduce radiation heat load to the superconducting coils at 4.4 K from the cryostat at 300 K. Due to plasma pulse operation, the MLI is affected by eddy current in toroidal direction. The MLI is designed to suppress the current by electrically insulating every 20 degree in the toroidal direction by covering the MLI with polyimide films. In this paper, two kinds of designs for the MLI system are proposed, focusing on a way to overlap the layers. A boil-off calorimeter method and temperature measurement has been performed to determine the thermal performance of the MLI system. The design of the electrical insulated thermal anchor between the toroidal field (TF) coil and the thermal shield is also explained.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Load responsive multilayer insulation performance testing

Cryogenic insulation designed to operate at various pressures from one atmosphere to vacuum, with high thermal performance and light weight, is needed for cryogenically fueled space launch vehicles and aircraft. Multilayer insulation (MLI) performs well in a high vacuum, but the required vacuum shell for use in the atmosphere is heavy. Spray-on foam insulation (SOFI) is often used in these systems because of its light weight, but can have a higher heat flux than desired. We report on the continued development of Load Responsive Multilayer Insulation (LRMLI), an advanced thermal insulation system that uses dynamic beam discrete spacers that provide high thermal performance both in atmosphere and vacuum. LRMLI consists of layers of thermal radiation barriers separated and supported by micromolded polymer spacers. The spacers have low thermal conductance, and self-support a thin, lightweight vacuum shell that provides internal high vacuum in the insulation. The dynamic load responsive spacers compress to support the external load of a vacuum shell in one atmosphere, and decompress under reduced atmospheric pressure for lower heat leak. Structural load testing was performed on the spacers with various configurations. LRMLI was installed on a 400 liter tank and boil off testing with liquid nitrogen performed at various chamber pressures from one atmosphere to high vacuum. Testing was also performed with an MLI blanket on the outside of the LRMLI.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Design of a reconfigurable liquid hydrogen fuel tank for use in the Genii unmanned aerial vehicle

Long endurance flight, on the order of days, is a leading flight performance characteristic for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Liquid hydrogen (LH2) is well suited to providing multi-day flight times with a specific energy 2.8 times that of conventional kerosene based fuels. However, no such system of LH2 storage, delivery, and use is currently available for commercial UAVs. In this paper, we develop a light weight LH2 dewar for integration and testing in the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell powered, student designed and constructed, Genii UAV. The fuel tank design is general for scaling to suit various UAV platforms. A cylindrical vacuum-jacketed design with removable end caps was chosen to incorporate various fuel level gauging, pressurizing, and slosh mitigation systems. Heat and mechanical loadings were modeled to compare with experimental results. Mass performance of the fuel tank is characterized by the fraction of liquid hydrogen to full tank mass, and the insulation performance was characterized by effective thermal conductivity and boil-off rate.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cryogenic performance of a cryocooler-cooled superconducting undulator

A cryocooler-cooled superconducting undulator has been installed and operated with beam at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The device consists of a dual-core 42-pole magnet structure that is cooled to 4.2 K with a system of four cryocoolers operating in a zero-boil-off configuration. This effort represents the culmination of a development program to establish concept feasibility and evaluate cryostat design and cryocooler-based refrigeration. Cryostat performance is described including cool-down/warm-up, steady-state operation, cooling margin, and the impact of beam during operation in the APS storage ring. Plans for future devices with longer magnets, which will incorporate lessons learned from the development program, are also discussed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Modeling a thermionic energy converter using finite-difference time-domain particle-in-cell simulations

A thermionic energy converter (TEC) is a static device that converts heat directly into electricity by boiling electrons off a hot emitter surface across a small inter-electrode gap to a cooler collector surface. The main challenge in TECs is overcoming the space charge limit, which limits the current transmitted across a gap of a given voltage and width. We have verified the feasibility of studying and developing a TEC using a bounded finite-difference time-domain particle-in-cell plasma simulation code, OOPD1, developed by Plasma Theory and Simulation Group, formerly at UC Berkeley and now at Michigan State University. In this preliminary work, a TEC has been modeled kinetically using OOPD1, and the accuracy has been verified by comparing with an analytically solvable case, giving good agreement. With further improvement of the code, one will be able to quickly and cheaply analyze space charge effects, and seek designs that mitigate the space charge effect, allowing TECs to become more efficient and cost-effective.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Helium gas bubble trapped in liquid helium in high magnetic field

High magnetic field magnets are used widely in the area of the condensed matter physics, material science, chemistry, geochemistry, and biology at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. New high field magnets of state-of-the-art are being pursued and developed at the lab, such as the current developing 32 T, 32 mm bore fully superconducting magnet. Liquid Helium (LHe) is used as the coolant for superconducting magnets or samples tested in a high magnetic field. When the magnetic field reaches a relatively high value the boil-off helium gas bubble generated by heat losses in the cryostat can be trapped in the LHe bath in the region where BzdBz/dz is less than negative 2100 T{sup 2}/m, instead of floating up to the top of LHe. Then the magnet or sample in the trapped bubble region may lose efficient cooling. In the development of the 32 T magnet, a prototype Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide coil of 6 double pancakes with an inner diameter of 40 mm and an outer diameter of 140 mm was fabricated and tested in a resistive magnet providing a background field of 15 T. The trapped gas bubble was observed in the tests when the prototype coil was ramped up to 7.5 T at a current of 200 A. This letter reports the test results on the trapped gas bubble and the comparison with the analytical results which shows they are in a good agreement.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗