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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Advanced propulsion concepts study: Comparative study of solar electric propulsion and laser electric propulsion

Solar electric propulsion (SEP) and laser electric propulsion (LEP) was compared. The LEP system configuration consists of an 80 kW visible laser source on earth, transmitting via an 8 m diameter adaptively controlled phased array through the atmosphere to a 4 m diameter synchronous relay mirror that tracks the LEP spacecraft. The only significant change in the SEP spacecraft for an LEP mission is the replacement of the two 3.7 m by 33.5 m solar cell arrays with a single 8 m diameter laser photovoltaic array. The solar cell array weight is decreased from 320 kg to 120 kg for an increase in payload of 200 kg and a decrease in specific mass of the power system from 20.5 kg/kW to 7.8 kg/kW.

Forward, R. L.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Comparative study of 0° X-cut and Y + 36°-cut lithium niobate high-voltage sensing

A comparison study between Y + 36° and 0° X-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO{sub 3}) was performed to evaluate the influence of crystal cut on the acoustic propagation to realize a piezoelectric high-voltage sensor. The acoustic time-of-flight for each crystal cut was measured when applying direct current (DC), alternating current (AC), and pulsed voltages. Results show that the voltage-induced shift in the acoustic wave propagation time scaled quadratically with voltage for DC and AC voltages applied to X-cut crystals. For the Y + 36° crystal, the voltage-induced shift scales linearly with DC voltages and quadratically with AC voltages. When applying 5 μs voltage pulses to both crystals, the voltage-induced shift scaled linearly with voltage. For the Y + 36° cut, the voltage-induced shift from applying DC voltages ranged from 10 to 54 ps and 35 to 778 ps for AC voltages at 640 V over the frequency range of 100 Hz–100 kHz. Using the same conditions as the Y + 36° cut, the 0° X-cut crystal sensed a shift of 10–273 ps for DC voltages and 189–813 ps for AC voltage application. For 5 μs voltage pulses, the 0° X-cut crystal sensed a voltage induced shift of 0.250–2 ns and the Y + 36°-cut crystal sensed a time shift of 0.115–1.6 ns. This suggests a frequency sensitive response to voltage where the influence of the crystal cut was not a significant contributor under DC, AC, or pulsed voltage conditions. The measured DC data were compared to a 1-D impedance matrix model where the predicted incremental length changed as a function of voltage. When the voltage source error was eliminated through physical modeling from the uncertainty budget, the combined uncertainty of the sensor (within a 95% confidence interval) decreased to 0.0033% using a Y + 36°-cut crystal and 0.0032% using an X-cut crystal for all the voltage conditions used in this experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Comparative Study of Nonlinear Black-Box Modeling for Power Electronics Converters

With the increasing penetration level of renewable sources and power electronics loads in modern power systems, accurate and computationally efficient models are needed. Black-box model (BBM) could be a useful method in such systems. However, not very extensive research efforts have been made for power electronics BBM so far, and existing works mostly focus on steady-state operation, neglecting the important transient behaviors such as load transients, voltage transients, and faults. This paper presents a comparative study of three commonly used nonlinear BBM approaches for transient behaviors of power electronics converters. Comparison methods are proposed, and the evaluations are conducted under different transients using a grid-connected single-phase photovoltaic inverter. The findings of this study provide valuable references for further feasibility investigations on implementing BBMs in large-scale power electronics-rich power systems.

Qiao, Liang↗
DOE OSTI2022

The response of accident tolerant fuel cladding to LOCA burst testing: A comparative study of leading concepts

Accident tolerant fuel claddings seek to improve safety margins during loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) scenarios by reducing cladding steam oxidation rates, hydrogen production, delaying or mitigating cladding burst, and reducing cladding deformation. After rapid and extensive progress in recent years, Cr coated Zr-based alloys, ferritic FeCrAl, and SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have emerged as the most promising cladding concepts, but there are few studies comparing the accident tolerance of all three concepts simultaneously. Here, in this study, LOCA burst testing has been conducted on Cr high impulse power magnetron sputtered Zry-4 (Cr/Zry-4), C26M (FeCrAl), and SiC/SiC SiGA (CMC). Experimental observations indicate Cr/Zry-4 burst at higher temperatures than Zry-4 however the effectiveness of the coating on mitigating ZrO 2 formation via Cr 2 O 3 formation depended on physical proximity to the burst opening. No dramatic improvement in diametrical strain nor opening geometry was observed. C26M burst at higher temperatures than Zry-4 at lower pressures, exhibiting small amounts of strain and smaller openings, and formed slow-growing Al 2 O 3 regardless of location. The CMCs did not burst or show any macroscopic signs of deformation, all the way up to an internal cladding pressure of 15.2 MPa. High temperature expanding Nb plug testing indicated that CMC room temperature strength may persist up to 1650°C, with an approximately 40% loss of strength at 1900°C. CMC steam oxidation was also compared to reference chemically vapor deposited SiC up to 1700°C, and CMCs were found to oxidize at slightly accelerated rates that were still orders of magnitude lower than bare Zry-4. Projected H 2 generation during LOCA burst testing showed that when accounting for cladding burst exposing inner diameters to steam, Cr coated Zry-4 reduced H 2 generation by a factor of two compared with bare Zry-4, while both C26M and SiC/SiC reduced H 2 generation by orders of magnitude relative to bare Zry-4.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Comparative Study of Redox Mediators for Improved Performance of Li-Oxygen Batteries.

Redox meditators (RMs) are soluble catalysts located in an electrolyte that can improve the energy efficiency (reduced overpotential) and cyclability of Li-oxygen (Li-O-2) batteries. In this work, 20 RMs within a Li-O-2 system with dimethyl sulfoxide and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether electrolytes are studied and their electrochemical features such as redox potential, the separation of cathodic and anodic peaks, and their current intensities are measured using cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments. Six RMs are selected as "primary" choices based on their electrochemical performance, and stability tests are then performed to examine their electrochemical responses after consecutive cycles. Moreover, galvanostatic cycling tests are performed within a Li-O-2 battery system assembled with selected six RMs for real case consistency investigations. It is found that results from CV to galvanostatic cycling tests are consistent for halides and organometallic RMs, where the former exhibit much higher stability. However, the organic RMs show high reversibility in CV but low in battery cycling results. Density functional theory calculations are carried out to gain more understanding of the stability and redox potentials of the RMs. This study provides comparative information to select the most reliable RMs for Li-O-2 batteries along with new fundamental understanding of their electrochemical activity and stability.

cyclic voltammetry↗
DOE OSTI2015

A Comparative Study of the Hypoxia PET Tracers [{sup 18}F]HX4, [{sup 18}F]FAZA, and [{sup 18}F]FMISO in a Preclinical Tumor Model

Purpose: Several individual clinical and preclinical studies have shown the possibility of evaluating tumor hypoxia by using noninvasive positron emission tomography (PET). The current study compared 3 hypoxia PET tracers frequently used in the clinic, [{sup 18}F]FMISO, [{sup 18}F]FAZA, and [{sup 18}F]HX4, in a preclinical tumor model. Tracer uptake was evaluated for the optimal time point for imaging, tumor-to-blood ratios (TBR), spatial reproducibility, and sensitivity to oxygen modification. Methods and Materials: PET/computed tomography (CT) images of rhabdomyosarcoma R1-bearing WAG/Rij rats were acquired at multiple time points post injection (p.i.) with one of the hypoxia tracers. TBR values were calculated, and reproducibility was investigated by voxel-to-voxel analysis, represented as correlation coefficients (R) or Dice similarity coefficient of the high-uptake volume. Tumor oxygen modifications were induced by exposure to either carbogen/nicotinamide treatment or 7% oxygen breathing. Results: TBR was stabilized and maximal at 2 hours p.i. for [{sup 18}F]FAZA (4.0 ± 0.5) and at 3 hours p.i. for [{sup 18}F]HX4 (7.2 ± 0.7), whereas [{sup 18}F]FMISO showed a constant increasing TBR (9.0 ± 0.8 at 6 hours p.i.). High spatial reproducibility was observed by voxel-to-voxel comparisons and Dice similarity coefficient calculations on the 30% highest uptake volume for both [{sup 18}F]FMISO (R = 0.86; Dice coefficient = 0.76) and [{sup 18}F]HX4 (R = 0.76; Dice coefficient = 0.70), whereas [{sup 18}F]FAZA was less reproducible (R = 0.52; Dice coefficient = 0.49). Modifying the hypoxic fraction resulted in enhanced mean standardized uptake values for both [{sup 18}F]HX4 and [{sup 18}F]FAZA upon 7% oxygen breathing. Only [{sup 18}F]FMISO uptake was found to be reversible upon exposure to nicotinamide and carbogen. Conclusions: This study indicates that each tracer has its own strengths and, depending on the question to be answered, a different tracer can be put forward.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2019

New trends in solar: A comparative study assessing the attitudes towards the adoption of rooftop PV

The factors affecting the adoption of conventional solar PV have been broadly addressed in the recent literature. However, it is still to determine the public's acceptance of innovations of the traditional solar PV architecture. Building applied photovoltaic technology (BAPV) is a technological innovation that can be installed over existing building surfaces. This study compares an evaluation of the conscious and subconscious attitudinal, control and normative beliefs of American homeowners when randomly primed with two brochures depicting the purchasing, installation, and commissioning of solar PV systems, developed according to the characteristics of conventional and an adhesive “plug and play” BAPV system. The survey instrument (N = 400 survey participants) was designed in consonance to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). When comparing the direct measures for each solar PV technology, no significant differences were found. This may indicate that for those unfamiliar with PV technology, placing an adhesive backing module on the roof is standard procedure and does not impact purchasing intentions. The evaluation further showed that unlike the subconscious control beliefs, social norms and attitudes have a significant impact on forming intentions to adopt solar PV. The implications of these findings for strategy, policy and future research are explored.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1982

Comparative study of FDMA, TDMA and hybrid 30/20 GHz satellite communications systems for small users

This study compares several satellite uplink and downlink accessing schemes for a Customer Premises Service. Four conceptual system designs are presented: Satellite-Routed FDMA, Frequency-Routed TDMA, Satellite-Switched TDMA, and Processor-Routed TDMA, operating in the 30/20 GHz band. The designs are compared on the basis of estimated satellite weight, power consumption, and cost. The system capacities are analyzed for a fixed multibeam coverage of CONUS. Analysis shows that the system capacity is limited by the available satellite resources and by the terminal size and cost.

Berk, G.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comparative Studies of Optoelectrical Properties of Prominent PV Materials: Halide Perovskite, CdTe, and GaAs

We compare three representative high performance PV materials: halide perovskite MAPbI3, CdTe, and GaAs, in terms of photoluminescence (PL) efficiency, PL lineshape, carrier diffusion, and surface recombination and passivation, over multiple orders of photo-excitation density or carrier density appropriate for different applications. An analytic model is used to describe the excitation density dependence of PL intensity and extract the internal PL efficiency and multiple pertinent recombination parameters. A PL imaging technique is used to obtain carrier diffusion length without using a PL quencher, thus, free of unintended influence beyond pure diffusion. Our results show that perovskite samples tend to exhibit lower Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination rate in both bulk and surface, thus higher PL efficiency than the inorganic counterparts, particularly under low excitation density, even with no or preliminary surface passivation. PL lineshape and diffusion analysis indicate that there is considerable structural disordering in the perovskite materials, and thus photo-generated carriers are not in global thermal equilibrium, which in turn suppresses the nonradiative recombination. This study suggests that relatively low point-defect density, less detrimental surface recombination, and moderate structural disordering contribute to the high PV efficiency in the perovskite. This comparative photovoltaics study provides more insights into the fundamental material science and the search for optimal device designs by learning from different technologies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Comparative Study of Clustering Techniques for Real-Time Dynamic Model Reduction

Dynamic model reduction in power systems is necessary for improving computational efficiency. Traditional model reduction using linearized models or offline analysis would not be adequate to capture power system dynamic behaviors, especially the new mix of intermittent generation and intelligent consumption makes the power system more dynamic and non-linear. Real time dynamic model reduction emerges as an important need. This paper explores the use of clustering techniques to analyze real-time phasor measurements to determine generator groups and representative generators for dynamic model reduction. Two clustering techniques – graph clustering and evolutionary clustering – are studied in this paper. Various implementations of these techniques are compared and also compared with a previously developed Singular Value Decomposition (SVD)-based dynamic model reduction approach. Various methods exhibit different levels of accuracy when comparing the reduced model simulation against the original model. But some of them are consistently accurate. From this comparative perspective, this paper provides a good reference point for practical implementations.

model reduction, graph clustering, svd, evolutiona↗
DOE OSTI2018

Electrical and optical characterization of CdTe solar cells with CdS and CdSe buffers—A comparative study

A study is reported comparing the electrical and optical properties of CdTe solar cells, prepared using CdS and CdSe buffer layers, to investigate defects in the bulk and interface, carrier transport, and recombination. Temperature dependent capacitance-voltage measurement and admittance spectroscopy were used to extract carrier concentration, resistivity, charge carrier mobility, and their temperature dependence. We identify the presence of two defect signatures corresponding to carrier freeze-out and the formation of a Schottky back-contact barrier. The back-contact barrier height (≈ 300 meV) extracted from the temperature dependent current density-voltage (JVT) experiment was confirmed by conventional admittance spectroscopy. The activation energies of mobility (resistivity) are 101.2 ± 2.5 meV (92.6 ± 2.3 meV) and 84.7 ± 2.7 meV (77.6 ± 4.5 meV) for CdS and CdSe buffer layers, respectively. Intensity dependent photoluminescence analysis demonstrates that the CdSe/CdTe device exhibits lower radiative efficiency than the CdS/CdTe device. This confirms the presence of higher defects in CdSe/CdTe device corroborated by temperature-dependent V OC analysis. Here, the comparative electrical and optical analysis provides insight to improving the performance of CdTe solar cell device by selenization.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

A comparative study on the wear behaviors of cladding candidates for accident-tolerant fuel

Accident-tolerant fuels are expected to have considerably longer coping time to respond to the loss of active cooling under severe accidents and, at the same time, have comparable or improved fuel performance during normal operation. The wear resistance of accident tolerant fuels, therefore, needs to be examined to determine the applicability of these cladding candidates to the current operating PWRs because the most common failure of nuclear fuel claddings is still caused by grid-to-rod fretting during normal operations. In this study, reciprocating sliding wear tests on three kinds of cladding candidates for accident-tolerant fuels have been performed to investigate the tribological compatibilities of selfmated cladding candidates and to determine the direct applicability of conventional Zirconium-based alloys as supporting structural materials. The friction coefficients of the cladding candidates are strongly influenced by the test environments and coupled materials. The wear test results under water lubrication conditions indicate that the supporting structural materials for the cladding candidates of accident-tolerant fuels need to be replaced with the same cladding materials instead of using conventional Zirconium-based alloys.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Comparative study of local atomic structures in Zr{sub 2}Cu{sub x}Ni{sub 1−x} (x = 0, 0.5, 1) metallic glasses

Extensive analysis has been performed to understand the key structural motifs accounting for the difference in glass forming ability in the Zr-Cu and Zr-Ni binary alloy systems. Here, the reliable atomic structure models of Zr{sub 2}Cu{sub x}Ni{sub 1−x} (x = 0, 0.5, 1) are constructed using the combination of X-ray diffraction experiments, ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and a constrained reverse Monte Carlo method. We observe a systematic variation of the interatomic distance of different atomic pairs with respect to the alloy composition. The ideal icosahedral content in all samples is limited, despite the high content of five-fold symmetry motifs. We also demonstrate that the population of Z-clusters in Zr{sub 2}Cu glass is much higher than that in the Zr{sub 2}Ni and Zr{sub 2}Cu{sub 0.5}Ni{sub 0.5} samples. And Z12 〈0, 0, 12, 0〉 Voronoi polyhedra clusters prefer to form around Cu atoms, while Ni-centered clusters are more like Z11 〈0, 2, 8, 1〉 clusters, which is less energetically stable compared to Z12 clusters. These two different structural properties may account for the higher glass forming ability of Zr{sub 2}Cu alloy than that of Zr{sub 2}Ni alloy.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Comparative Study of DC and AC Microgrids in Commercial Buildings Across Different Climates and Operating Profiles

Bosch has developed and demonstrated a novel direct current (DC) microgrid system that maximizes the efficiency of locally generated photovoltaic energy while offering high reliability, safety, redundancy, and reduced cost compared to equivalent alternating current (AC) systems. Several demonstration projects validating the system feasibility and expected efficiency gains have been completed and additional ones are in progress. This paper gives an overview of the Bosch DC microgrid system and presents key results from a large simulation study done to estimate the energy savings of the Bosch DC microgrid over conventional AC systems. The study examined the system performance in locations across the United States for several commercial building types and operating profiles. It found that the Bosch DC microgrid uses generated PV energy 6%-8% more efficiently than traditional AC systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗