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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Gastrointestinal citrate absorption in nephrolithiasis

Gastrointestinal absorption of citrate was measured in stone patients with idiopathic hypocitraturia to determine if citrate malabsorption could account for low urinary citrate. Citrate absorption was measured directly from recovery of orally administered potassium citrate (40 mEq.) in the intestinal lavage fluid, using an intestinal washout technique. In 7 stone patients citrate absorption, serum citrate levels, peak citrate concentration in serum and area under the curve were not significantly different from those of 7 normal subjects. Citrate absorption was rapid and efficient in both groups, with 96 to 98% absorbed within 3 hours. The absorption of citrate was less efficient from a tablet preparation of potassium citrate than from a liquid preparation, probably due to a delayed release of citrate from wax matrix. However, citrate absorption from solid potassium citrate was still high at 91%, compared to 98% for a liquid preparation. Thus, hypocitraturia is unlikely to be due to an impaired gastrointestinal absorption of citrate in stone patients without overt bowel disease.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2002

Satellite-Based Assessment of Sediment Transport, Distribution and Resuspension Associated with the Atchafalaya River Discharge Plume

Tbe Atchafalaya River discharges over 80 x 10(exp 6) tons of sediment annually onto the broad shallow continental shelf of central and western Louisiana. Satellite imagery from the NOAA AVHRR and Terra MODIS are used in this paper to quantify suspended sediment concentrations and to assess sediment transport processes along the Louisiana shelf under varying conditions of river discharge and wind forcing. The image data reveal the maim sources of sediment, direction of transport amd regional extent of wind-wave resuspension. The prevailing easterly winds transport much of the suspended sediments westward toward the Chernier Plain in a well-defined mud stream. Westerly flow rates of 25-50 cm/s (21-43 km per day) have been measured, yielding a transit time of about 1.5-2.5 days from the mouth of Atchafalaya Bay to the Chernier Plain. Progradation rates along the Chernier Plain coast reach 50 m per year. The westward-flowing Atchafalaya "mud stream" is rapidly disrupted by westerly winds and northerly winds, which accompany frequent winter storms and less frequent tropical storms or hurricanes. During these events, the coastal current reverses and sediments are rapidly transported out of Atchafalaya Bay and offshore where substantial sedimentary deposits can also be found. Offshore sediment fluxes during storm events, in combination with wind-wave resuspension, can result in surface sediment "plumes" extending 70 km offshore and 150 km alongshore. Field measurements of suspended sediment concentrations, current and wind velocities, and directions are used to assess sediment transport processes on the shelf. These combined processes are extending the pro-delta deposits of the Atchafalaya-Wax Lake delta complex far onto the continental shelf and supplying sediments for a renewal era of progradation along tbe downdrift Chernier Plain coast.

Walker, Nan↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Wafer Transfer Technology for MEMS Adaptive Optics

Adaptive optics systems require the combination of several advanced technologies such as precision optics, wavefront sensors, deformable mirrors, and lasers with high-speed control systems. The deformable mirror with a continuous membrane is a key component of these systems. This paper describes a new technique for transferring an entire wafer-level silicon membrane from one substrate to another. This technology is developed for the fabrication of a compact deformable mirror with a continuous facet. A 1 (mu)m thick silicon membrane, 100 mm in diameter, has been successfully transferred without using adhesives or polymers (i.e. wax, epoxy, or photoresist). Smaller or larger diameter membranes can also be transferred using this technique. The fabricated actuator membrane with an electrode gap of 1.5 (mu)m shows a vertical deflection of 0.37 (mu)m at 55 V.

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)↗
NASA NTRS2009

Demonstration of Super Cooled Ice as a Phase Change Material Heat Sink for Portable Life Support Systems

A phase change material (PCM) heat sink using super cooled ice as a nontoxic, nonflammable PCM is being developed. The latent heat of fusion for water is approximately 70% larger than most paraffin waxes, which can provide significant mass savings. Further mass reduction is accomplished by super cooling the ice significantly below its freezing temperature for additional sensible heat storage. Expansion and contraction of the water as it freezes and melts is accommodated with the use of flexible bag and foam materials. A demonstrator unit has been designed, built, and tested to demonstrate proof of concept. Both testing and modeling results are presented along with recommendations for further development of this technology.

Leimkuehler, Thomas O.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Thermostatic Valves Containing Silicone-Oil Actuators

Flow-splitting and flow-mixing thermally actuated spool valves have been developed for controlling flows of a heat-transfer fluid in a temperature-regulation system aboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. Valves like these could also be useful in terrestrial temperature-regulation systems, including automobile air-conditioning systems and general refrigeration systems. These valves are required to provide smoother actuation over a wider temperature range than the flow-splitting, thermally actuated spool valves used in the Mars Explorer Rover (MER). Also, whereas the MER valves are unstable (tending to oscillate) in certain transition temperature ranges, these valves are required not to oscillate. The MER valves are actuated by thermal expansion of a wax against spring-loaded piston rods (as in common automotive thermostats). The MSL valves contain similar actuators that utilize thermal expansion of a silicone oil, because silicone-oil actuators were found to afford greater and more nearly linear displacements, needed for smoother actuation, over the required wider temperature range. The MSL valves also feature improved spool designs that reflect greater understanding of fluid dynamics, consideration of pressure drops in valves, and a requirement for balancing of pressures in different flow branches.

Bhandari, Pradeep↗
NASA NTRS2009

Assemblies of Conformal Tanks

Assemblies of tanks having shapes that conform to each other and/or conform to other proximate objects have been investigated for use in storing fuels and oxidizers in small available spaces in upper stages of spacecraft. Such assemblies might also prove useful in aircraft, automobiles, boats, and other terrestrial vehicles in which space available for tanks is limited. The basic concept of using conformal tanks to maximize the utilization of limited space is not new in itself: for example, conformal tanks are used in some automobiles to store windshield -washer liquid and coolant that overflows from radiators. The novelty of the present development lies in the concept of an assembly of smaller conformal tanks, as distinguished from a single larger conformal tank. In an assembly of smaller tanks, it would be possible to store different liquids in different tanks. Even if the same liquid were stored in all the tanks, the assembly would offer an advantage by reducing the mechanical disturbance caused by sloshing of fuel in a single larger tank: indeed, the requirement to reduce sloshing is critical in some applications. The figure shows a prototype assembly of conformal tanks. Each tank was fabricated by (1) copper plating a wax tank mandrel to form a liner and (2) wrapping and curing layers of graphite/epoxy composite to form a shell supporting the liner. In this case, the conformal tank surfaces are flat ones where they come in contact with the adjacent tanks. A band of fibers around the outside binds the tanks together tightly in the assembly, which has a quasi-toroidal shape. For proper functioning, it would be necessary to maintain equal pressure in all the tanks.

DeLay, Tom↗
NASA NTRS2010

Improved OTEC System for a Submarine Robot

An ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), now undergoing development, is a less-massive, more-efficient means of exploiting the same basic principle as that of the proposed system described in "Alternative OTEC Scheme for a Submarine Robot" (NPO-43500), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 33, No. 1 (January 2009), page 50. The proposed system as described previously would be based on the thawing-expansion/freezing-contraction behavior of a wax or perhaps another suitable phase-change material (PCM). The power generated by the system would be used to recharge the batteries in a battery- powered unmanned underwater vehicle [UUV (essentially, a small exploratory submarine robot)] of a type that has been deployed in large numbers in research pertaining to global warming. A UUV of this type travels between the ocean surface and depths, measuring temperature and salinity. At one phase of its operational cycle, the previously proposed system would utilize the surface ocean temperature (which lies between 15 and 30 C over most of the Earth) to melt a PCM that has a melting/freezing temperature of about 10 C. At the opposite phase of its operational cycle, the system would utilize the lower ocean temperature at depth (e.g., between 4 and 7 C at a depth of 300 m) to freeze the PCM. The melting or freezing would cause the PCM to expand or contract, respectively, by about 9 volume percent. The PCM would be contained in tubes that would be capable of expanding and contracting with the PCM. The PCM-containing tubes would be immersed in a hydraulic fluid. The expansion and contraction would drive a flow of the hydraulic fluid against a piston that, in turn, would push a rack-and-pinion gear system to spin a generator to charge a battery.

Chao, Yi↗
NASA NTRS2010

Analysis and Design of Phase Change Thermal Control for Light Emitting Diode (LED) Spacesuit Helmet Lights

LED Helmet Extravehicular Activity Helmet Interchangeable Portable (LEHIP) lights for the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) have been built and tested and are currently being used on the International Space Station. A design is presented of the passive thermal control system consisting of a chamber filled with aluminum foam and wax. A thermal math model of LEHIP was built and correlated by test to show that the thermal design maintains electronic components within hot and cold limits for a 7 hour spacewalk in the most extreme EVA average environments, and do not pose a hazard to the crew or to components of the EMU.

Bue, Grant C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

An Analysis of the Selected Materials Used in Step Measurements During Pre-Fits of Thermal Protection System Tiles and the Accuracy of Measurements Made Using These Selected Materials

The goal of this research project was be to compare and contrast the selected materials used in step measurements during pre-fits of thermal protection system tiles and to compare and contrast the accuracy of measurements made using these selected materials. The reasoning for conducting this test was to obtain a clearer understanding to which of these materials may yield the highest accuracy rate of exacting measurements in comparison to the completed tile bond. These results in turn will be presented to United Space Alliance and Boeing North America for their own analysis and determination. Aerospace structures operate under extreme thermal environments. Hot external aerothermal environments in high Mach number flights lead to high structural temperatures. The differences between tile heights from one to another are very critical during these high Mach reentries. The Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System is a very delicate and highly calculated system. The thermal tiles on the ship are measured to within an accuracy of .001 of an inch. The accuracy of these tile measurements is critical to a successful reentry of an orbiter. This is why it is necessary to find the most accurate method for measuring the height of each tile in comparison to each of the other tiles. The test results indicated that there were indeed differences in the selected materials used in step measurements during prefits of Thermal Protection System Tiles and that Bees' Wax yielded a higher rate of accuracy when compared to the baseline test. In addition, testing for experience level in accuracy yielded no evidence of difference to be found. Lastly the use of the Trammel tool over the Shim Pack yielded variable difference for those tests.

Kranz, David William↗
NASA NTRS2010

Transparent Large Strain Thermoplastic Polyurethane Magneto-Active Nanocomposites

Smart adaptive materials are an important class of materials which can be used in space deployable structures, morphing wings, and structural air vehicle components where remote actuation can improve fuel efficiency. Adaptive materials can undergo deformation when exposed to external stimuli such as electric fields, thermal gradients, radiation (IR, UV, etc.), chemical and electrochemical actuation, and magnetic field. Large strain, controlled and repetitive actuation are important characteristics of smart adaptive materials. Polymer nanocomposites can be tailored as shape memory polymers and actuators. Magnetic actuation of polymer nanocomposites using a range of iron, iron cobalt, and iron manganese nanoparticles is presented. The iron-based nanoparticles were synthesized using the soft template (1) and Sun's (2) methods. The nanoparticles shape and size were examined using TEM. The crystalline structure and domain size were evaluated using WAXS. Surface modifications of the nanoparticles were performed to improve dispersion, and were characterized with IR and TGA. TPU nanocomposites exhibited actuation for approximately 2wt% nanoparticle loading in an applied magnetic field. Large deformation and fast recovery were observed. These nanocomposites represent a promising potential for new generation of smart materials.

Yoonessi, Mitra↗
NASA NTRS2011

Mars Seasonal Polar Caps as a Test of the Equivalence Principle

The seasonal polar caps of Mars can be used to test the equivalence principle in general relativity. The north and south caps, which are composed of carbon dioxide, wax and wane with the seasons. If the ratio of the inertial to gravitational masses of the caps differs from the same ratio for the rest of Mars, then the equivalence principle fails, Newton's third law fails, and the caps will pull Mars one way and then the other with a force aligned with the planet's spin axis. This leads to a secular change in Mars's along-track position in its orbit about the Sun, and to a secular change in the orbit's semimajor axis. The caps are a poor E6tv6s test of the equivalence principle, being 4 orders-of-magnitude weaker than laboratory tests and 7 orders-of-magnitude weaker than that found by lunar laser ranging; the reason is the small mass of the caps compared to Mars as a whole. The principal virtue of using Mars is that the caps contain carbon, an element not normally considered in such experiments. The Earth with its seasonal snow cover can also be used for a similar test.

Rubincam, Daivd Parry↗
NASA NTRS2005

Making Wide-IF SIS Mixers with Suspended Metal-Beam Leads

A process that employs silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates and silicon (Si) micromachining has been devised for fabricating wide-intermediate-frequency-band (wide-IF) superconductor/insulator/superconductor (SIS) mixer devices that result in suspended gold beam leads used for radio-frequency grounding. The mixers are formed on 25- m-thick silicon membranes. They are designed to operate in the 200 to 300 GHz frequency band, wherein wide-IF receivers for tropospheric- chemistry and astrophysical investigations are necessary. The fabrication process can be divided into three sections: 1. The front-side process, in which SIS devices with beam leads are formed on a SOI wafer; 2. The backside process, in which the SOI wafer is wax-mounted onto a carrier wafer, then thinned, then partitioned into individual devices; and 3. The release process, in which the individual devices are separated using a lithographic dicing technique. The total thickness of the starting 4-in. (10.16-cm)-diameter SOI wafer includes 25 m for the Si device layer, 0.5 m for the buried oxide (BOX) layer, and 350 m the for Si-handle layer. The front-side process begins with deposition of an etch-stop layer of SiO2 or AlN(x), followed by deposition of a Nb/Al- AlN(x) /Nb trilayer in a load-locked DC magnetron sputtering system. The lithography for four of a total of five layers is performed in a commercial wafer-stepping apparatus. Diagnostic test dies are patterned concurrently at certain locations on the wafer, alongside the mixer devices, using a different mask set. The conventional, self-aligned lift-off process is used to pattern the SIS devices up to the wire level.

Kaul, Anupama↗
NASA NTRS2004

Fabrication of Robust, Flat, Thinned, UV-Imaging CCDs

An improved process that includes a high-temperature bonding subprocess has been developed to enable the fabrication of robust, flat, silicon-based charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for imaging in ultraviolet (UV) light and/or for detecting low-energy charged particles. The CCDs in question are devices on which CCD circuitry has already been formed and have been thinned for backsurface illumination. These CCDs may be delta doped, and aspects of this type of CCD have been described in several prior articles in NASA Tech Briefs. Unlike prior low-temperature bonding subprocesses based on the use of epoxies or waxes, the high-temperature bonding subprocess is compatible with the deltadoping process as well as with other CCD-fabrication processes. The present improved process and its bonding, thinning, and delta-doping subprocesses, are characterized as postfabrication processes because they are undertaken after the fabrication of CCD circuitry on the front side of a full-thickness silicon substrate. In a typical case, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the CCD to between 10 and 20 m in order to take advantage of back-side illumination and in order to perform delta doping and/or other back-side treatment to enhance the quantum efficiency. In the prior approach to the fabrication of back-side-illuminated CCDs, the thinning subprocess turned each CCD into a free-standing membrane that was fragile and tended to become wrinkled. In the present improved process, prior to thinning and delta doping, a CCD is bonded on its front side to a silicon substrate that has been prefabricated to include cutouts to accommodate subsequent electrical connections to bonding pads on the CCD circuitry. The substrate provides structural support to increase ruggedness and maintain flatness. At the beginning of this process, the back side of a CCD as fabricated on a full-thickness substrate is polished. Silicon nitride is deposited on the back side, opposite the bonding pads on the front side, in order to define a relatively thick frame. The portion of the CCD not covered by the frame is the portion to be thinned by etching.

Grunthaner, Paula↗
NASA NTRS2003

Wafer-Level Membrane-Transfer Process for Fabricating MEMS

A process for transferring an entire wafer-level micromachined silicon structure for mating with and bonding to another such structure has been devised. This process is intended especially for use in wafer-level integration of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that have been fabricated on dissimilar substrates. Unlike in some older membrane-transfer processes, there is no use of wax or epoxy during transfer. In this process, the substrate of a wafer-level structure to be transferred serves as a carrier, and is etched away once the transfer has been completed. Another important feature of this process is that two electrodes constitutes an electrostatic actuator array. An SOI wafer and a silicon wafer (see Figure 1) are used as the carrier and electrode wafers, respectively. After oxidation, both wafers are patterned and etched to define a corrugation profile and electrode array, respectively. The polysilicon layer is deposited on the SOI wafer. The carrier wafer is bonded to the electrode wafer by using evaporated indium bumps. The piston pressure of 4 kPa is applied at 156 C in a vacuum chamber to provide hermetic sealing. The substrate of the SOI wafer is etched in a 25 weight percent TMAH bath at 80 C. The exposed buried oxide is then removed by using 49 percent HF droplets after an oxygen plasma ashing. The SOI top silicon layer is etched away by using an SF6 plasma to define the corrugation profile, followed by the HF droplet etching of the remaining oxide. The SF6 plasma with a shadow mask selectively etches the polysilicon membrane, if the transferred membrane structure needs to be patterned. Electrostatic actuators with various electrode gaps have been fabricated by this transfer technique. The gap between the transferred membrane and electrode substrate is very uniform ( 0.1 m across a wafer diameter of 100 mm, provided by optimizing the bonding control). Figure 2 depicts the finished product.

Yang, Eui-Hyeok↗
NASA NTRS2012

NPP VIIRS On-Orbit Calibration and Characterization Using the Moon

The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is one of five instruments on-board the Suomi National Polar orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite that launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Oct. 28, 2011. VIIRS has been scheduled to view the Moon approximately monthly with a spacecraft roll maneuver after its NADIR door open on November 21, 2011. To reduce the uncertainty of the radiometric calibration due to the view geometry, the lunar phase angles of the scheduled lunar observations were confined in the range from -56 deg to -55 deg in the first three scheduled lunar observations and then changed to the range from -51.5 deg to -50.5 deg, where the negative sign for the phase angles indicates that the VIIRS views a waxing moon. Unlike the MODIS lunar observations, most scheduled VIIRS lunar views occur on the day side of the Earth. For the safety of the instrument, the roll angles of the scheduled VIIRS lunar observations are required to be within [-14 deg, 0 deg] and the aforementioned change of the phase angle range was aimed to further minimize the roll angle required for each lunar observation while keeping the number of months in which the moon can be viewed by the VIIRS instrument each year unchanged. The lunar observations can be used to identify if there is crosstalk in VIIRS bands and to track on-orbit changes in VIIRS Reflective Solar Bands (RSB) detector gains. In this paper, we report our results using the lunar observations to examine the on-orbit crosstalk effects among NPP VIIRS bands, to track the VIIRS RSB gain changes in first few months on-orbit, and to compare the gain changes derived from lunar and SD/SDSM calibration.

Sun, J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Formulation, Casting, and Evaluation of Paraffin-Based Solid Fuels Containing Energetic and Novel Additives for Hybrid Rockets

This investigation studied the inclusion of various additives to paraffin wax for use in a hybrid rocket motor. Some of the paraffin-based fuels were doped with various percentages of LiAlH4 (up to 10%). Addition of LiAlH4 at 10% was found to increase regression rates between 7 - 10% over baseline paraffin through tests in a gaseous oxygen hybrid rocket motor. Mass burn rates for paraffin grains with 10% LiAlH4 were also higher than those of the baseline paraffin. RDX was also cast into a paraffin sample via a novel casting process which involved dissolving RDX into dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent and then drawing a vacuum on the mixture of paraffin and RDX/DMF in order to evaporate out the DMF. It was found that although all DMF was removed, the process was not conducive to generating small RDX particles. The slow boiling generated an inhomogeneous mixture of paraffin and RDX. It is likely that superheating the DMF to cause rapid boiling would likely reduce RDX particle sizes. In addition to paraffin/LiAlH4 grains, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) were cast in paraffin for testing in a hybrid rocket motor, and assorted samples containing a range of MWNT percentages in paraffin were imaged using SEM. The fuel samples showed good distribution of MWNT in the paraffin matrix, but the MWNT were often agglomerated, indicating that a change to the sonication and mixing processes were required to achieve better uniformity and debundled MWNT. Fuel grains with MWNT fuel grains had slightly lower regression rate, likely due to the increased thermal conductivity to the fuel subsurface, reducing the burning surface temperature.

Larson, Daniel B.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Using Pre-Melted Phase Change Material to Keep Payloads in Space Warm for Hours without Power

Adding phase change material (PCM) to a mission payload can maintain its temperature above the cold survival limit, without power, for several hours in space. For the International Space Station, PCM is melted by heaters just prior to the payload translation to the worksite when power is available. When power is cut off during the six-hour translation, the PCM releases its latent heat to make up the heat loss from the radiator(s) to space. For the interplanetary Probe, PCM is melted by heaters just prior to separation from the orbiter when power is available from the orbiter power system. After the Probe separates from the orbiter, the PCM releases its latent heat to make up the heat loss from the Probe exterior to space. Paraffin wax is a good PCM candidate.

Choi, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2013

Flash Cracking Reactor for Waste Plastic Processing

Conversion of waste plastic to energy is a growing problem that is especially acute in space exploration applications. Moreover, utilization of heavy hydrocarbon resources (wastes, waxes, etc.) as fuels and chemicals will be a growing need in the future. Existing technologies require a trade-off between product selectivity and feedstock conversion. The objective of this work was to maintain high plastic-to-fuel conversion without sacrificing the liquid yield. The developed technology accomplishes this goal with a combined understanding of thermodynamics, reaction rates, and mass transport to achieve high feed conversion without sacrificing product selectivity. The innovation requires a reaction vessel, hydrocarbon feed, gas feed, and pressure and temperature control equipment. Depending on the feedstock and desired product distribution, catalyst can be added. The reactor is heated to the desired tempera ture, pressurized to the desired pressure, and subject to a sweep flow at the optimized superficial velocity. Software developed under this project can be used to determine optimal values for these parameters. Product is vaporized, transferred to a receiver, and cooled to a liquid - a form suitable for long-term storage as a fuel or chemical. An important NASA application is the use of solar energy to convert waste plastic into a form that can be utilized during periods of low solar energy flux. Unlike previous work in this field, this innovation uses thermodynamic, mass transport, and reaction parameters to tune product distribution of pyrolysis cracking. Previous work in this field has used some of these variables, but never all in conjunction for process optimization. This method is useful for municipal waste incinerator operators and gas-to-liquids companies.

Timko, Michael T.↗