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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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14 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

Fuel quality processing study, volume 1

A fuel quality processing study to provide a data base for an intelligent tradeoff between advanced turbine technology and liquid fuel quality, and also, to guide the development of specifications of future synthetic fuels anticipated for use in the time period 1985 to 2000 is given. Four technical performance tests are discussed: on-site pretreating, existing refineries to upgrade fuels, new refineries to upgrade fuels, and data evaluation. The base case refinery is a modern Midwest refinery processing 200,000 BPD of a 60/40 domestic/import petroleum crude mix. The synthetic crudes used for upgrading to marketable products and turbine fuel are shale oil and coal liquids. Of these syncrudes, 50,000 BPD are processed in the existing petroleum refinery, requiring additional process units and reducing petroleum feed, and in a new refinery designed for processing each syncrude to produce gasoline, distillate fuels, resid fuels, and turbine fuel, JPGs and coke. An extensive collection of synfuel properties and upgrading data was prepared for the application of a linear program model to investigate the most economical production slate meeting petroleum product specifications and turbine fuels of various quality grades. Technical and economic projections were developed for 36 scenarios, based on 4 different crude feeds to either modified existing or new refineries operated in 2 different modes to produce 7 differing grades of turbine fuels. A required product selling price of turbine fuel for each processing route was calculated. Procedures and projected economics were developed for on-site treatment of turbine fuel to meet limitations of impurities and emission of pollutants.

Ohara, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Computer model for refinery operations with emphasis on jet fuel production. Volume 2: Data and technical bases

The FORTRAN computing program predicts the flow streams and material, energy, and economic balances of a typical petroleum refinery, with particular emphasis on production of aviation turbine fuel of varying end point and hydrogen content specifications. The program has provision for shale oil and coal oil in addition to petroleum crudes. A case study feature permits dependent cases to be run for parametric or optimization studies by input of only the variables which are changed from the base case. The report has sufficient detail for the information of most readers.

Dunbar, D. N.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Computer model for refinery operations with emphasis on jet fuel production. Volume 3: Detailed systems and programming documentation

The FORTRAN computing program predicts flow streams and material, energy, and economic balances of a typical petroleum refinery, with particular emphasis on production of aviation turbine fuels of varying end point and hydrogen content specifications. The program has a provision for shale oil and coal oil in addition to petroleum crudes. A case study feature permits dependent cases to be run for parametric or optimization studies by input of only the variables which are changed from the base case.

Dunbar, D. N.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Computer model for refinery operations with emphasis on jet fuel production. Volume 1: Program description

A FORTRAN computer program is described for predicting the flow streams and material, energy, and economic balances of a typical petroleum refinery, with particular emphasis on production of aviation turbine fuel of varying end point and hydrogen content specifications. The program has provision for shale oil and coal oil in addition to petroleum crudes. A case study feature permits dependent cases to be run for parametric or optimization studies by input of only the variables which are changed from the base case.

Dunbar, D. N.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Zeolites Remove Sulfur From Fuels

Zeolites remove substantial amounts of sulfur compounds from diesel fuel under relatively mild conditions - atmospheric pressure below 300 degrees C. Extracts up to 60 percent of sulfur content of high-sulfur fuel. Applicable to petroleum refineries, natural-gas processors, electric powerplants, and chemical-processing plants. Method simpler and uses considerably lower pressure than current industrial method, hydro-desulfurization. Yields cleaner emissions from combustion of petroleum fuels, and protects catalysts from poisoning by sulfur.

Voecks, Gerald E.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Model for refining operations

Program predicts production volumes of petroleum refinery products, with particular emphasis on aircraft-turbine fuel blends and their key properties. It calculates capital and operating costs for refinery and its margin of profitability. Program also includes provisions for processing of synthetic crude oils from oil shale and coal liquefaction processes and contains highly-detailed blending computations for alternative jet-fuel blends of varying endpoint specifications.

Dunbar, D. N.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Spinoff from Space Fuel

In 1963, under contract with NASA, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. built a 32 1/2 ton-a-day plant to meet the soaring demand for liquid hydrogen created by the Apollo missions and J-2 ground testing. Air Product's experience in government research, development and production of liquid hydrogen served as the springboard for a broad variety of practical, Earth-use applications. Today, liquid hydrogen is widely used among many industries including petroleum refineries in gasoline production and chemical and pharmaceutical firms in the manufacturing of fertilizers and drugs. New commercial applications are growing at the rate of about ten percent per year. Input from government research, Air Product's own technology development, and the large space program requirements combined to make the company the prime manufacturer of liquid hydrogen and enabled them to add a new 30-ton plant near New Orleans.

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NASA NTRS1994

Development of a Commercially Viable, Modular Autonomous Robotic Systems for Converting any Vehicle to Autonomous Control

A Modular Autonomous Robotic System (MARS), consisting of a modular autonomous vehicle control system that can be retrofit on to any vehicle to convert it to autonomous control and support a modular payload for multiple applications is being developed. The MARS design is scalable, reconfigurable, and cost effective due to the use of modern open system architecture design methodologies, including serial control bus technology to simplify system wiring and enhance scalability. The design is augmented with modular, object oriented (C++) software implementing a hierarchy of five levels of control including teleoperated, continuous guidepath following, periodic guidepath following, absolute position autonomous navigation, and relative position autonomous navigation. The present effort is focused on producing a system that is commercially viable for routine autonomous patrolling of known, semistructured environments, like environmental monitoring of chemical and petroleum refineries, exterior physical security and surveillance, perimeter patrolling, and intrafacility transport applications.

guidepath position navigation control system↗
NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Hydrogen Outpost: The Rocket Systems Area at Plum Brook Station

"There was pretty much a general knowledge about hydrogen and its capabilities," recalled former researcher Robert Graham. "The question was, could you use it in a rocket engine? Do we have the technology to handle it? How will it cool? Will it produce so much heat release that we can't cool the engine? These were the questions that we had to address." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Glenn Research Center, referred to historically as the Lewis Research Center, made a concerted effort to answer these and related questions in the 1950s and 1960s. The center played a critical role transforming hydrogen's theoretical potential into a flight-ready propellant. Since then NASA has utilized liquid hydrogen to send humans and robots to the Moon, propel dozens of spacecraft across the universe, orbit scores of satellite systems, and power 135 space shuttle flights. Rocket pioneers had recognized hydrogen's potential early on, but its extremely low boiling temperature and low density made it impracticable as a fuel. The Lewis laboratory first demonstrated that liquid hydrogen could be safely utilized in rocket and aircraft propulsion systems, then perfected techniques to store, pump, and cleanly burn the fuel, as well as use it to cool the engine. The Rocket Systems Area at Lewis's remote testing area, Plum Brook Station, played a little known, but important role in the center's hydrogen research efforts. This publication focuses on the activities at the Rocket Systems Area, but it also discusses hydrogen's role in NASA's space program and Lewis's overall hydrogen work. The Rocket Systems Area included nine physically modest test sites and three test stands dedicated to liquid-hydrogen-related research. In 1962 Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Karl Abram claimed, "The rocket facility looks more like a petroleum refinery. Its test rigs sprout pipes, valves and tanks. During the night test runs, excess hydrogen is burned from special stacks in the best Oklahoma oil field tradition." Besides the Rocket Systems Area, Plum Brook Station also included a nuclear test reactor, a large vacuum tank, a hypersonic wind tunnel, and a full-scale upper-stage rocket stand. The Rocket Systems Area operated from 1961 until NASA shut down all of Plum Brook in 1974. The center reopened Plum Brook in the late 1980s and continues to use several test facilities. The Rocket Systems Area, however, was not restored. Today Plum Brook resembles a nature preserve more than an oil refinery. Lush fields and forests separate the large test facilities. Until recently, the abandoned Rocket Systems Area structures and equipment were visible amongst the greenery. These space-age ruins, particularly the three towers, stood as silent sentinels over the sparsely populated reservation. Few knew the story of these mysterious facilities when NASA removed them in the late 2000s.

Rocket Systems↗
NASA NTRS1984

Trends of jet fuel demand and properties

Petroleum industry forecasts predict an increasing demand for jet fuels, a decrease in the gasoline-to-distillate (heavier fuel) demand ratio, and a greater influx of poorer quality petroleum in the next two to three decades. These projections are important for refinery product analyses. The forecasts have not been accurate, however, in predicting the recent, short term fluctuations in jet fuel and competing product demand. Changes in petroleum quality can be assessed, in part, by a review of jet fuel property inspections. Surveys covering the last 10 years show that average jet fuel freezing points, aromatic contents, and smoke points have trends toward their specification limits.

Friedman, R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The effect of property changes on jet fuel producibility and cost

An investigation of the effect of property relaxation on jet A producibility and cost in the U.S. has been completed under NASA sponsorship by Exxon Research and Engineering Company. This presentation reviews the results obtained. Linear programming optimization models have been used. Model input included petroleum product demand and property data, estimates of crude qualities, and information on refinery processes. The time period considered was 1978 to 2010.

Varga, G. M., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Fire Protection Materials

Avco has drawn upon its heat shield experience to develop a number of widely-accepted commercial fire protection materials. Originating from NASA's space shuttle thermal protection system, one such material is Chartek 59 fireproofing, an intumescent epoxy coating specifically designed for outdoor use by industrial facilities dealing with highly flammable products such as oil refineries and chemical plants. The coating is applied usually by spray gun to exterior structural steel conduits, pipes and valves, offshore platforms and liquefied petroleum gas tanks. Fireproofing provides two types of protection: ablation or dissipation of heat by burn-off and "intumescence" or swelling; the coating swells to about five times its original size, forming a protective blanket of char which retards transfer of heat to the metal structure preventing loss of structural strength and possible collapse which would compound the fire fighting problem.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1979

Jet Fuel Thermal Stability

Various aspects of the thermal stability problem associated with the use of broadened-specification and nonpetroleum-derived turbine fuels are addressed. The state of the art is reviewed and the status of the research being conducted at various laboratories is presented. Discussions among representatives from universities, refineries, engine and airframe manufacturers, airlines, the Government, and others are presented along with conclusions and both broad and specific recommendations for future stability research and development. It is concluded that significant additional effort is required to cope with the fuel stability problems which will be associated with the potentially poorer quality fuels of the future such as broadened specification petroleum fuels or fuels produced from synthetic sources.

Taylor, W. F.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Alternative aircraft fuels

In connection with the anticipated impossibility to provide on a long-term basis liquid fuels derived from petroleum, an investigation has been conducted with the objective to assess the suitability of jet fuels made from oil shale and coal and to develop a data base which will allow optimization of future fuel characteristics, taking energy efficiency of manufacture and the tradeoffs in aircraft and engine design into account. The properties of future aviation fuels are examined and proposed solutions to problems of alternative fuels are discussed. Attention is given to the refining of jet fuel to current specifications, the control of fuel thermal stability, and combustor technology for use of broad specification fuels. The first solution is to continue to develop the necessary technology at the refinery to produce specification jet fuels regardless of the crude source.

Longwell, J. P.↗