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High efficiency SPS klystron design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nalos, E. J.
The most likely compact configuration to realize both high efficiency and high gain (approx. 40 dB) is a 5-6 cavity design focused by an electromagnet. The basic klystron efficiency cannot be expected to exceed 70-75% without collector depression. It was estimated that the net benefit of a 5 stage collector over a 2 stage collector is between 1.5 and 3.5 kW per tube. A modulating anode is incorporated in the design to enable rapid shutoff of the beam current in case the r.f. drive should be removed.
High efficiency SPS klystron design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nalos, E. J.
The most likely compact configuration to realize both high efficiency and high gain is a 5-6 cavity design focused by an electromagnet. An outline of a potential klystron configuration is given. The selected power output of 70 kW CW resulted from a maximum assumed operating voltage of 40 kV. The basic klystron efficiency cannot be expected to exceed 70-75% without collector depression. Although impressive gains were achieved in raising the basic efficiency from 50% to 70% or so with a multi-stage collector, the estimated efficiency improvement due to 5-stage collector at the 75% level is only about 8% resulting in an overall efficiency of about 83%.
High Efficiency Microwave Power Amplifier (HEMPA) Design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sims, W. Herbert
This paper will focus on developing an exotic switching technique that enhances the DC-to-RF conversion efficiency of microwave power amplifiers. For years, switching techniques implemented in the 10 kHz to 30 MHz region have resulted in DC-to-RF conversion efficiencies of 90-95-percent. Currently amplifier conversion efficiency, in the 2-3 GHz region approaches, 10-20-percent. Using a combination of analytical modeling and hardware testing, a High Efficiency Microwave Power Amplifier was built that demonstrated conversion efficiencies four to five times higher than current state of the art.
Energy efficient engine high-pressure turbine detailed design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Thulin, R. D.; Howe, D. C.; Singer, I. D.
The energy efficient engine high-pressure turbine is a single stage system based on technology advancements in the areas of aerodynamics, structures and materials to achieve high performance, low operating economics and durability commensurate with commercial service requirements. Low loss performance features combined with a low through-flow velocity approach results in a predicted efficiency of 88.8 for a flight propulsion system. Turbine airfoil durability goals are achieved through the use of advanced high-strength and high-temperature capability single crystal materials and effective cooling management. Overall, this design reflects a considerable extension in turbine technology that is applicable to future, energy efficient gas-turbine engines.
Design of scanning spherical trireflector antennas with high aperture efficiency
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Shen, Bing; Stutzman, Warren L.
It is frequently desirable to scan the main beam of a large antenna system without moving the main aperture structure. Spherical reflectors have excellent potential in this application. However, they are not commonly used because of poor aperture efficiency and high side lobes in traditional implementations. This paper introduces a new dual-subreflector feed system design which does not require oversizing the spherical main reflector to accommodate scan and yet permits a controlled aperture illumination. The design yields high aperture efficiency, low cross-polarization, and low side lobes.
Modular design optical light pipe with high efficiency
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Whang, Allen Jong-Woei; Yeh, Yi-Hsin; Chen, Yi-Yung
The best benefit of Natural Light Illumination System (NLIS®) is to reduce energy consumption that compare to traditional lighting system. However, the propagation efficiency will decrease dramatically when there is the long distance propagation in NLIS®. Therefore, this paper has proposed an innovative modulated guiding structure with high propagation efficiency. The base structure is consisting of two Fresnel lenses and the distance between two lenses is two times of focal length. Furthermore, the light will be focused by first Fresnel lens and diverge as original input again before the second lens due to two times of focal length design. The advantage of the innovative design is to avoid energy loss when propagation. Based on two times of focal length design method and connecting several base structures in the way of cascading, it could make the structure become modulated. The efficiency of a base module structure will reach above 80%. We have proposed an innovative modeled structure that is with high propagation efficiency. By the Fresnel lens, the structure has the benefit of low cost and easy to produce that compare to traditional natural light system.
Reflection type metasurface designed for high efficiency vectorial field generation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Shiyi; Zhan, Qiwen
We propose a reflection type metal-insulator-metal (MIM) metasurface composed of hybrid nano-antennas for comprehensive spatial engineering of the properties of optical fields. The capability of such structure is illustrated in the design of a device that can be used to produce a radially polarized vectorial beam for optical needle field generation. This device consists of uniformly segmented sectors of high efficiency MIM metasurface. With each of the segment sector functioning as a local quarter-wave-plate (QWP), the device is designed to convert circularly polarized incidence into local linear polarization to create an overall radial polarization with corresponding binary phases and extremely high dynamic range amplitude modulation. The capability of such devices enables the generation of nearly arbitrarily complex optical fields that may find broad applications that transcend disciplinary boundaries.
Reflection type metasurface designed for high efficiency vectorial field generation.
Wang, Shiyi; Zhan, Qiwen
We propose a reflection type metal-insulator-metal (MIM) metasurface composed of hybrid nano-antennas for comprehensive spatial engineering of the properties of optical fields. The capability of such structure is illustrated in the design of a device that can be used to produce a radially polarized vectorial beam for optical needle field generation. This device consists of uniformly segmented sectors of high efficiency MIM metasurface. With each of the segment sector functioning as a local quarter-wave-plate (QWP), the device is designed to convert circularly polarized incidence into local linear polarization to create an overall radial polarization with corresponding binary phases and extremely high dynamic range amplitude modulation. The capability of such devices enables the generation of nearly arbitrarily complex optical fields that may find broad applications that transcend disciplinary boundaries. PMID:27417150
Reflection type metasurface designed for high efficiency vectorial field generation
Wang, Shiyi; Zhan, Qiwen
We propose a reflection type metal-insulator-metal (MIM) metasurface composed of hybrid nano-antennas for comprehensive spatial engineering of the properties of optical fields. The capability of such structure is illustrated in the design of a device that can be used to produce a radially polarized vectorial beam for optical needle field generation. This device consists of uniformly segmented sectors of high efficiency MIM metasurface. With each of the segment sector functioning as a local quarter-wave-plate (QWP), the device is designed to convert circularly polarized incidence into local linear polarization to create an overall radial polarization with corresponding binary phases and extremely high dynamic range amplitude modulation. The capability of such devices enables the generation of nearly arbitrarily complex optical fields that may find broad applications that transcend disciplinary boundaries. PMID:27417150
Design Strategies for Ultra-high Efficiency Photovoltaics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Warmann, Emily Cathryn
While concentrator photovoltaic cells have shown significant improvements in efficiency in the past ten years, once these cells are integrated into concentrating optics, connected to a power conditioning system and deployed in the field, the overall module efficiency drops to only 34 to 36%. This efficiency is impressive compared to conventional flat plate modules, but it is far short of the theoretical limits for solar energy conversion. Designing a system capable of achieving ultra high efficiency of 50% or greater cannot be achieved by refinement and iteration of current design approaches. This thesis takes a systems approach to designing a photovoltaic system capable of 50% efficient performance using conventional diode-based solar cells. The effort began with an exploration of the limiting efficiency of spectrum splitting ensembles with 2 to 20 sub cells in different electrical configurations. Incorporating realistic non-ideal performance with the computationally simple detailed balance approach resulted in practical limits that are useful to identify specific cell performance requirements. This effort quantified the relative benefit of additional cells and concentration for system efficiency, which will help in designing practical optical systems. Efforts to improve the quality of the solar cells themselves focused on the development of tunable lattice constant epitaxial templates. Initially intended to enable lattice matched multijunction solar cells, these templates would enable increased flexibility in band gap selection for spectrum splitting ensembles and enhanced radiative quality relative to metamorphic growth. The III-V material family is commonly used for multijunction solar cells both for its high radiative quality and for the ease of integrating multiple band gaps into one monolithic growth. The band gap flexibility is limited by the lattice constant of available growth templates. The virtual substrate consists of a thin III-V film with the desired
The design of space optical communications terminal with high efficient
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Deng, Xiaoguo; Li, Gang; Jiang, Bo; Yang, Xiaoxu; Yan, Peipei
In order to improve high-speed laser space optical communications terminal receive energy and emission energy, meet the demand of mini-type and light-type for space-based bear platform, based on multiple-reflect coaxial optical receiving antenna structure, while considering the installation difficulty, a high-efficient optical system had been designed, which aperture is off-axial, both signal-receiving sub-optical system and emission sub-optical system share a same primary optical path. By the separating light lens behind the primary optical path, the received light with little energy will be filtered and shaped and then transmitted to each detector, at the same time, by the coupling element, the high-power laser will be coupling into optical antenna, and then emitted to outside. Applied the power-detected optical system evaluate principle, the optimized off-axial optical system's efficiency had been compared with the coaxial optical system. While, analyzed the Gauss beam energy distribution by numerical theory, discussed that whether off-axis optical system can be an emission terminal, verify the feasibility of the theory of the design of the system.
High-efficiency dielectric reflection gratings: design, fabrication, and analysis.
Hehl, K; Bischoff, J; Mohaupt, U; Palme, M; Schnabel, B; Wenke, L; Bödefeld, R; Theobald, W; Welsch, E; Sauerbrey, R; Heyer, H
We report on reflection gratings produced entirely of dielectric materials. This gives the opportunity to enhance the laser damage threshold over that occurring in conventional metal gratings used for chirped-pulse-amplification, high-power lasers. The design of the system combines a dielectric mirror and a well-defined corrugated top layer to obtain optimum results. The rules that have to be considered for the design optimization are described. We optimized the parameters of a dielectric grating with a binary structure and theoretically obtained 100% reflectivity for the -1 order in the Littrow mounting for a 45 degrees angle of incidence. Subsequently we fabricated gratings by structuring a low-refractive-index top layer of a multilayer stack with electron-beam lithography. The multilayer system was fabricated by conventional sputtering techniques onto a flat fused-silica substrate. The parameters of the device were measured and controlled by light scatterometer equipment. We measured 97% diffraction efficiency in the -1 order and damage thresholds of 4.4 and 0.18 J/cm(2) with 5-ns and 1-ps laser pulses, respectively, at a wavelength of 532 nm in working conditions. PMID:18324150
High efficiency waste to energy facility -- Pilot plant design
Orita, Norihiko; Kawahara, Yuuzou; Takahashi, Kazuyoshi; Yamauchi, Toru; Hosoda, Takuo
Waste To Energy facilities are commonly acceptable to the environment and give benefits in two main areas: one is a hygienic waste disposal and another is waste heat energy recovery to save fossil fuel consumption. Recovered energy is used for electricity supply, and it is required to increase the efficiency of refuse to electric energy conversion, and to spread the plant construction throughout the country of Japan, by the government. The national project started in 1992, and pilot plant design details were established in 1995. The objective of the project is to get 30% of energy conversion efficiency through the measure by raising the steam temperature and pressure to 500 C and 9.8 MPa respectively. The pilot plant is operating under the design conditions, which verify the success of applied technologies. This paper describes key technologies which were used to design the refuse burning boiler, which generates the highest steam temperature and pressure steam.
Process and design considerations for high-efficiency solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rohati, A.; Rai-Choudhury, P.
This paper shows that oxide surface passivation coupled with optimum multilayer anti-reflective coating can provide approx. 3% (absolute) improvement in solar cell efficiency. Use of single-layer AR coating, without passivation, gives cell efficiencies in the range of 15 to 15.5% on high-quality, 4 ohm-cm as well as 0.1 to 0.2 ohm-cm float-zone silicon. Oxide surface passivation alone raises the cell efficiency to or = 17%. An optimum double-layer AR coating on oxide-passivated cells provides an additional approx. 5 to 10% improvement over a single-layer AR-coated cell, resulting in cell efficiencies in excess of 18%. Experimentally observed improvements are supported by model calculations and an approach to or = 20% efficient cells is discussed.
Design of a transportable high efficiency fast neutron spectrometer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Roecker, C.; Bernstein, A.; Bowden, N. S.; Cabrera-Palmer, B.; Dazeley, S.; Gerling, M.; Marleau, P.; Sweany, M. D.; Vetter, K.
A transportable fast neutron detection system has been designed and constructed for measuring neutron energy spectra and flux ranging from tens to hundreds of MeV. The transportability of the spectrometer reduces the detector-related systematic bias between different neutron spectra and flux measurements, which allows for the comparison of measurements above or below ground. The spectrometer will measure neutron fluxes that are of prohibitively low intensity compared to the site-specific background rates targeted by other transportable fast neutron detection systems. To measure low intensity high-energy neutron fluxes, a conventional capture-gating technique is used for measuring neutron energies above 20 MeV and a novel multiplicity technique is used for measuring neutron energies above 100 MeV. The spectrometer is composed of two Gd containing plastic scintillator detectors arranged around a lead spallation target. To calibrate and characterize the position dependent response of the spectrometer, a Monte Carlo model was developed and used in conjunction with experimental data from gamma ray sources. Multiplicity event identification algorithms were developed and used with a Cf-252 neutron multiplicity source to validate the Monte Carlo model Gd concentration and secondary neutron capture efficiency. The validated Monte Carlo model was used to predict an effective area for the multiplicity and capture gating analyses. For incident neutron energies between 100 MeV and 1000 MeV with an isotropic angular distribution, the multiplicity analysis predicted an effective area of 500 cm2 rising to 5000 cm2. For neutron energies above 20 MeV, the capture-gating analysis predicted an effective area between 1800 cm2 and 2500 cm2. The multiplicity mode was found to be sensitive to the incident neutron angular distribution.
Status of high efficiency module design and fabrication. [of solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nowlan, M. J.; Spitzer, M. B.
The status of an ongoing DOE program to develop an AM1 photoelectric module with 15 percent conversion efficiency at normal heating temperatures, is reviewed. Emphasis is given to the efforts of a private company to develop a high efficiency module which also has high durability in normal operating conditions. The main design options considered are: high efficiency modules; large area modules; and optimized module fabrication techniques. The design of an automatic system for encapsulating module stacks is described.
Basic concepts for the design of high-efficiency single-junction and multibandgap solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Fan, J. C. C.
Concepts for obtaining practical solar-cell modules with one-sun efficiencies up to 30 percent at air mass 1 are now well understood. Such high-efficiency modules utilize multibandgap structures. To achieve module efficiencies significantly above 30 percent, it is necessary to employ different concepts such as spectral compression and broad-band detection. A detailed description of concepts for the design of high-efficiency multibandgap solar cells is given.
Heat-stop structure design with high cooling efficiency for large ground-based solar telescope.
Liu, Yangyi; Gu, Naiting; Rao, Changhui; Li, Cheng
A heat-stop is one of the most important thermal control devices for a large ground-based solar telescope. For controlling the internal seeing effect, the temperature difference between the heat-stop and the ambient environment needs to be reduced, and a heat-stop with high cooling efficiency is required. In this paper, a novel design concept for the heat-stop, in which a multichannel loop cooling system is utilized to obtain higher cooling efficiency, is proposed. To validate the design, we analyze and compare the cooling efficiency for the multichannel and existing single-channel loop cooling system under the same conditions. Comparative results show that the new design obviously enhances the cooling efficiency of the heat-stop, and the novel design based on the multichannel loop cooling system is obviously better than the existing design by increasing the thermal transfer coefficient. PMID:26367826
New III-V cell design approaches for very high efficiency
Lundstrom, M.S.; Melloch, M.R.; Lush, G.B.; O'Bradovich, G.J.; Young, M.P. )
This report describes progress during the first year of a three-year project. The objective of the research is to examine new design approaches for achieving very high conversion efficiencies. The program is divided into two areas. The first centers on exploring new thin-film approaches specifically designed for III-V semiconductors. The second area centers on exploring design approaches for achieving high conversion efficiencies without requiring extremely high quality material. Research activities consisted of an experimental study of minority carrier recombination in n-type, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-deposited GaAs, an assessment of the minority carrier lifetimes in n-GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy, and developing a high-efficiency cell fabrication process.
New III-V cell design approaches for very high efficiency
Lundstrom, M.S.; Melloch, M.R.; Lush, G.B.; Patkar, M.P.; Young, M.P. )
This report describes to examine new solar cell desip approaches for achieving very high conversion efficiencies. The program consists of two elements. The first centers on exploring new thin-film approaches specifically designed for M-III semiconductors. Substantial efficiency gains may be possible by employing light trapping techniques to confine the incident photons, as well as the photons emitted by radiative recombination. The thin-film approach is a promising route for achieving substantial performance improvements in the already high-efficiency, single-junction, III-V cell. The second element of the research involves exploring desip approaches for achieving high conversion efficiencies without requiring extremely high-quality material. This work has applications to multiple-junction cells, for which the selection of a component cell often involves a compromise between optimum band pp and optimum material quality. It could also be a benefit manufacturing environment by making the cell's efficiency less dependent on materialquality.
Optimal design study of high efficiency indium phosphide space solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Jain, Raj K.; Flood, Dennis J.
Recently indium phosphide solar cells have achieved beginning of life AMO efficiencies in excess of 19 pct. at 25 C. The high efficiency prospects along with superb radiation tolerance make indium phosphide a leading material for space power requirements. To achieve cost effectiveness, practical cell efficiencies have to be raised to near theoretical limits and thin film indium phosphide cells need to be developed. The optimal design study is described of high efficiency indium phosphide solar cells for space power applications using the PC-1D computer program. It is shown that cells with efficiencies over 22 pct. AMO at 25 C could be fabricated by achieving proper material and process parameters. It is observed that further improvements in cell material and process parameters could lead to experimental cell efficiencies near theoretical limits. The effect of various emitter and base parameters on cell performance was studied.
Energy Efficient Engine: High-pressure compressor test hardware detailed design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Howe, David C.; Marchant, R. D.
The objective of the NASA Energy Efficient Engine program is to identify and verify the technology required to achieve significant reductions in fuel consumption and operating cost for future commercial gas turbine engines. The design and analysis is documented of the high pressure compressor which was tested as part of the Pratt and Whitney effort under the Energy Efficient Engine program. This compressor was designed to produce a 14:1 pressure ratio in ten stages with an adiabatic efficiency of 88.2 percent in the flight propulsion system. The corresponding expected efficiency for the compressor component test rig is 86.5 percent. Other performance goals are a surge margin of 20 percent, a corrected flow rate of 35.2 kg/sec (77.5 lb/sec), and a life of 20,000 missions and 30,000 hours. Low loss, highly loaded airfoils are used to increase efficiency while reducing the parts count. Active clearance control and case trenches in abradable strips over the blade tips are included in the compressor component design to further increase the efficiency potential. The test rig incorporates variable geometry stator vanes in all stages to permit maximum flexibility in developing stage-to-stage matching. This provision precluded active clearance control on the rear case of the test rig. Both the component and rig designs meet or exceed design requirements with the exception of life goals, which will be achievable with planned advances in materials technology.
Prediction and design of efficient exciplex emitters for high-efficiency, thermally activated delayed-fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes.
Liu, Xiao-Ke; Chen, Zhan; Zheng, Cai-Jun; Liu, Chuan-Lin; Lee, Chun-Sing; Li, Fan; Ou, Xue-Mei; Zhang, Xiao-Hong
High-efficiency, thermally activated delayed-fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes based on exciplex emitters are demonstrated. The best device, based on a TAPC:DPTPCz emitter, shows a high external quantum efficiency of 15.4%. Strategies for predicting and designing efficient exciplex emitters are also provided. This approach allow prediction and design of efficient exciplex emitters for achieving high-efficiency organic light-emitting diodes, for future use in displays and lighting applications. PMID:25712786
Design of high-efficiency, radiation-hard, GaInP/GaAs solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kurtz, Sarah R.; Bertness, K. A.; Kibbler, A. E.; Kramer, C.; Olson, J. M.
In recently years, Ga(0.5)In((0.5)P/GaAs cells have drawn increased attention both because of their high efficiencies and because they are well suited for space applications. They can be grown and processed as two-junction devices with roughly twice the voltage and half the current of GaAs cells. They have low temperature coefficients, and have good potential for radiation hardness. We have previously reported the effects of electron irradiation on test cells which were not optimally designed for space. From those results we estimated that an optimally designed cell could achieve 20 percent after irradiation with 10(exp 15) cm(exp -2) 1 MeV electrons. Modeling studies predicted that slightly higher efficiencies may be achievable. Record efficiencies for EOL performance of other types of cells are significantly lower. Even the best Si and InP cells have BOL efficiencies lower than the EOL efficiency we report here. Good GaAs cells have an EOL efficiency of 16 percent. The InP/Ga(0.5)In(0.5)As two-junction, two-terminal device has a BOL efficiency as high as 22.2 percent, but radiation results for these cells were limited. In this study we use the previous modeling and irradiation results to design a set of Ga(0.5)In(0.5)P/GaAs cells that will demonstrate the importance of the design parameters and result in high-efficiency devices. We report record AMO efficiencies: a BOL efficiency of 25.7 percent for a device optimized for BOL performance and two of different designs with EOL efficiencies of 19.6 percent (at 10(exp 15) cm(exp -2) 1MeV electrons). We vary the bottom-cell base doping and the top-cell thickness to show the effects of these two important design parameters. We get an unexpected result indicating that the dopant added to the bottom-cell base also increases the degradation of the top cell.
Highly Efficient Light-Trapping Structure Design Inspired By Natural Evolution
Wang, Chen; Yu, Shuangcheng; Chen, Wei; Sun, Cheng
Recent advances in nanophotonic light trapping open up the new gateway to enhance the absorption of solar energy beyond the so called Yablonovitch Limit. It addresses the urgent needs in developing low cost thin-film solar photovoltaic technologies. However, current design strategy mainly relies on the parametric approach that is subject to the predefined topological design concepts based on physical intuition. Incapable of dealing with the topological variation severely constrains the design of optimal light trapping structure. Inspired by natural evolution process, here we report a design framework driven by topology optimization based on genetic algorithms to achieve a highly efficient light trapping structure. It has been demonstrated that the optimal light trapping structures obtained in this study exhibit more than 3-fold increase over the Yablonovitch Limit with the broadband absorption efficiency of 48.1%, beyond the reach of intuitive designs. PMID:23289067
Design Of A High Efficiency And Reliable S3R SA Regulator
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Soto, A.
The paper explains the challenges faced in the design of a high efficiency SA shunt switch with low output drop. Two different alternatives are presented, one based on synchronous output rectifier and the other based on having only one diode at the output. Careful design is required to achieve reliability of this critical solution. Both solutions are going to be used in satellites, one for earth observation and the other for a telecommunications GEO platform.
Designing and optimizing highly efficient grating for high-brightness laser based on spectral beam combining
Yang, Ying-Ying E-mail: email@example.com; Zhao, Ya-Ping; Wang, Li-Rong; Zhang, Ling; Lin, Xue-Chun E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
A highly efficient nano-periodical grating is theoretically investigated for spectral beam combining (SBC) and is experimentally implemented for attaining high-brightness laser from a diode laser array. The rigorous coupled-wave analysis with the S matrix method is employed to optimize the parameters of the grating. According the optimized parameters, the grating is fabricated and plays a key role in SBC cavity. The diffraction efficiency of this grating is optimized to 95% for the output laser which is emitted from the diode laser array. The beam parameter product of 3.8 mm mrad of the diode laser array after SBC is achieved at the output power of 46.3 W. The optical-to-optical efficiency of SBC cavity is measured to be 93.5% at the maximum operating current in the experiment.
Design of a high efficiency 30 kW boost composite converter
Kim, Hyeokjin; Chen, Hua; Maksimovic, Dragan; Erickson, Robert W.
An experimental 30 kW boost composite converter is described in this paper. The composite converter architecture, which consists of a buck module, a boost module, and a dual active bridge module that operates as a DC transformer (DCX), leads to substantial reductions in losses at partial power points, and to significant improvements in weighted efficiency in applications that require wide variations in power and conversion ratio. A comprehensive loss model is developed, accounting for semiconductor conduction and switching losses, capacitor losses, as well as dc and ac losses in magnetic components. Based on the developed loss model, the module and system designs are optimized to maximize efficiency at a 50% power point. Experimental results for the 30 kW prototype demonstrate 98.5%peak efficiency, very high efficiency over wide ranges of power and voltage conversion ratios, as well as excellent agreements between model predictions and measured efficiency curves.
Rigorous, highly-efficient optical tools for HCG-VCSEL design
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Debernardi, Pierluigi; Orta, Renato; Hofmann, Werner
High Contrast Gratings (HCG) have become a hot research topic, because of their new functionalities at very small volumes. However no efficient 3D VCSEL model capable to account for HCG has been reported so far. HCG design is therefore mainly based on 1D simulations. For realistic structures usually FDTD is the most popular approach, with its well known cumbersome computation drawbacks. VELM code,1 the well established VCSEL electromagnetic solver developed in the last ten years in the Torino group, has now been upgraded to rigorously handle HCG layers. The efficiency of the tool is preserved, and an entire set of HCG VCSEL modes can be computed in minutes on an ordinary desktop. A full set of design tools and guidelines, starting from 1D HCG properties up to 3D simulations which include HCG in the VCSEL design, will be presented and applied to the design of a structure that is in fabrication.
Design of high-efficient freeform LED lens for road illumination
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Moiseev, Mikhail A.; Doskolovich, Leonid L.; Kazanskiy, Nikolay L.
The evolution of lighting devices based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) leads to increase of energy efficiency of such devices and, as a partial case, increase of light efficiency of LED optics. The conventional LED optics with the only freeform refractive surface cannot provide high light efficiency for street- and road-illumination applications. The reason is the performance limitations of the refractive surface in terms of ray rotation. Exploiting the total internal reflection effect, we devised a novel design of LED optics allowing to reach the value of light efficiency up to 80%-90%. This paper details the work principle of our LED optics design and the methods of its surfaces computation. The simulation results show that the proposed LED secondary optics design provides light efficiency by 15.5% more than the conventional LED optics in the case of uniformly illuminated region with size of 40 meters by 8 meters. The usage of the proposed novel LED optics design makes possible to reduce the number of LED chips that are used in modern road lamps and, as a consequence, to reduce the power consumption of road lamps. Still, such optical elements have to be made and tested with real LED sources.
Design of a high-efficiency discrete servo-flap actuator for helicopter rotor control
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Prechtl, Eric F.; Hall, Steven R.
Discrete trailing edge servo-flap actuator designs for use in rotor control applications are considered. A survey was conducted comparing the pros and cons of a number of feasible actuator designs. The major conclusions from this survey indicate that any successful actuator design will utilize a high bandwidth active material, produce large amplification of the active material stroke, and incorporate a simple compressive pre-stress mechanism while remaining efficient in a mass normalized sense. The mass efficiency, defined as the ratio of the specific work performed to the specific energy available, was used as a metric to rate the actuators considered in this survey. Thus, unnecessarily heavy actuators are penalized, which is appropriate when designing components operating under high centrifugal forces. The most feasible discrete actuators are those where the active material reacts against an inert support frame housing. An upper bound on the mass efficiency of this type of actuator is shown to be a function of the ratio of active material to frame specific moduli. A new high efficiency discrete actuator called the x- frame actuator, developed at MIT, and designed in accordance with the lessons learned from the actuator survey, is described. A prototype of this actuator, 150% of model scale, was built and tested on the bench top to confirm the predicted performance. The prototype demonstrates an output energy density of 14.6 ft-lb/slug. It also has a bandwidth of 543 Hz upon driving a nearly impedance matched load. This performance is shown to correspond to a mass efficiency between 18 and 31%.
Optical design of an adaptive front-lighting system with high energy efficiency
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhu, Xiangbing; Wang, Cheng; Wu, Han; Jiang, Long
To meet the demands of safe and comfortable driving, we present a new design of a highly energy-efficient Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) that can automatically adjust the shape, range, and light distribution of the illumination. The AFS system consists of a lamp, a reflector, light pipes, a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD), a condenser, and a lens. Our simulations show that this system can achieve different beams, such as basic passing beams, town beams, motorway beams, and corner lighting. By using the second light pipe to collect light, the illumination efficiency is increased by 10 points, accordingly reducing the generated heat of the lighting system.
Design, Fabrication and Test of a High Efficiency Refractive Secondary Concentrator for Solar Applications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wong, Wayne A.; Geng, Steven M.; Castle, Charles H.; Macosko, Robert P.
Common to many of the space applications that utilize solar thermal energy such as electric power conversion, thermal propulsion, and furnaces, is a need for highly efficient, solar concentration systems. An effort is underway to develop the refractive secondary concentrator, which uses refraction and total internal reflection to efficiently concentrate and direct solar energy. When used in combination with advanced primary concentrators, the refractive secondary concentrator enables very high system concentration ratios (10,000 to 1) and very high temperatures (greater than 2000 K). Presented is an overview of the effort at the NASA Glenn Research Center to evaluate the performance of a prototype single crystal sapphire refractive secondary concentrator and to compare the performance with analytical models. The effort involves the design and fabrication of a secondary concentrator, design and fabrication of a calorimeter and its support hardware, calibration of the calorimeter, testing of the secondary concentrator in NASA Glenn's Tank 6 solar thermal vacuum facility, and comparing the test results with predictions. Test results indicate an average throughput efficiency of 87%. It is anticipated that reduction of a known reflection loss with an anti-reflective coating would result in a secondary concentrator throughput efficiency of approximately 93%.
Efficient high-resolution RF pulse design applied to simultaneous multi-slice excitation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aigner, Christoph Stefan; Clason, Christian; Rund, Armin; Stollberger, Rudolf
RF pulse design via optimal control is typically based on gradient and quasi-Newton approaches and therefore suffers from slow convergence. We present a flexible and highly efficient method that uses exact second-order information within a globally convergent trust-region CG-Newton method to yield an improved convergence rate. The approach is applied to the design of RF pulses for single- and simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) excitation and validated using phantom and in vivo experiments on a 3 T scanner using a modified gradient echo sequence.
Design of broadband high-efficiency superconducting-nanowire single photon detectors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Redaelli, L.; Bulgarini, G.; Dobrovolskiy, S.; Dorenbos, S. N.; Zwiller, V.; Monroy, E.; Gérard, J. M.
In this paper several designs to maximize the absorption efficiency of superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors are investigated. Using a simple optical cavity consisting of a gold mirror and a SiO2 layer, the absorption efficiency can be boosted to over 97%: this result is confirmed experimentally by the realization of an NbTiN-based detector having an overall system detection efficiency of 85% at 1.31 μm. Calculations show that by sandwiching the nanowire between two dielectric Bragg reflectors, unity absorption (>99.9%) could be reached at the peak wavelength for optimized structures. To achieve broadband high efficiency, a different approach is considered: a waveguide-coupled detector. The calculations performed in this work show that, by correctly dimensioning the waveguide and the nanowire, polarization-insensitive detectors absorbing more than 95% of the injected photons over a wavelength range of several hundred nm can be designed. We propose a detector design making use of GaN/AlN waveguides, since these materials allow lattice-matched epitaxial deposition of Nb(Ti)N films and are transparent on a very wide wavelength range.
Design and development of a high-concentration and high-efficiency photovoltaic concentrator using a curved Fresnel lens
Scharlack, R.S.; Moffat, A.
Thermo Electron has designed a high concentration photovoltaic module that uses a domed, point-focus Fresnel lens. Their design, design optimization process, and results from lens and receiver tests are described in this report. A complete module has not been fabricated and probably will not be fabricated in the future; however, Thermo Electron's optical design, analysis, and testing of both secondary optical units and domed Fresnel lenses have made a significant contribution to our project. Tooling errors prevented the lens from reaching its potential efficiency by the end of the contract, and resolution of these tooling problems is currently being attempted with a follow-on contract, No. 68-9463.
Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets.
Chester, David; Bermel, Peter; Joannopoulos, John D; Soljacic, Marin; Celanovic, Ivan
Solar thermal, thermoelectric, and thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have high maximum theoretical efficiencies; experimental systems fall short because of losses by selective solar absorbers and TPV selective emitters. To improve these critical components, we study a class of materials known as cermets. While our approach is completely general, the most promising cermet candidate combines nanoparticles of silica and tungsten. We find that 4-layer silica-tungsten cermet selective solar absorbers can achieve thermal transfer efficiencies of 84.3% at 400 K, and 75.59% at 1000 K, exceeding comparable literature values. Three layer silica-tungsten cermets can also be used as selective emitters for InGaAsSb-based thermophotovoltaic systems, with projected overall system energy conversion efficiencies of 10.66% at 1000 K using realistic design parameters. The marginal benefit of adding more than 4 cermet layers is small (less than 0.26%, relative). PMID:21643366
Low-cost, high-performance and efficiency computational photometer design
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Siewert, Sam B.; Shihadeh, Jeries; Myers, Randall; Khandhar, Jay; Ivanov, Vitaly
Researchers at the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Colorado Boulder have built a low cost high performance and efficiency drop-in-place Computational Photometer (CP) to test in field applications ranging from port security and safety monitoring to environmental compliance monitoring and surveying. The CP integrates off-the-shelf visible spectrum cameras with near to long wavelength infrared detectors and high resolution digital snapshots in a single device. The proof of concept combines three or more detectors into a single multichannel imaging system that can time correlate read-out, capture, and image process all of the channels concurrently with high performance and energy efficiency. The dual-channel continuous read-out is combined with a third high definition digital snapshot capability and has been designed using an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) to capture, decimate, down-convert, re-encode, and transform images from two standard definition CCD (Charge Coupled Device) cameras at 30Hz. The continuous stereo vision can be time correlated to megapixel high definition snapshots. This proof of concept has been fabricated as a fourlayer PCB (Printed Circuit Board) suitable for use in education and research for low cost high efficiency field monitoring applications that need multispectral and three dimensional imaging capabilities. Initial testing is in progress and includes field testing in ports, potential test flights in un-manned aerial systems, and future planned missions to image harsh environments in the arctic including volcanic plumes, ice formation, and arctic marine life.
Ultrafast laser direct hard-mask writing for high efficiency c-Si texture designs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kumar, Kitty; Lee, Kenneth K. C.; Nogami, Jun; Herman, Peter R.; Kherani, Nazir P.
This study reports a high-resolution hard-mask laser writing technique to facilitate the selective etching of crystalline silicon (c-Si) into an inverted-pyramidal texture with feature size and periodicity on the order of the wavelength which, thus, provides for both anti-reflection and effective light-trapping of infrared and visible light. The process also enables engineered positional placement of the inverted-pyramid thereby providing another parameter for optimal design of an optically efficient pattern. The proposed technique, a non-cleanroom process, is scalable for large area micro-fabrication of high-efficiency thin c-Si photovoltaics. Optical wave simulations suggest the fabricated textured surface with 1.3 μm inverted-pyramids and a single anti-reflective coating increases the relative energy conversion efficiency by 11% compared to the PERL-cell texture with 9 μm inverted pyramids on a 400 μm thick wafer. This efficiency gain is anticipated to improve further for thinner wafers due to enhanced diffractive light trapping effects.
Energy efficient engine high pressure turbine test hardware detailed design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Halila, E. E.; Lenahan, D. T.; Thomas, T. T.
The high pressure turbine configuration for the Energy Efficient Engine is built around a two-stage design system. Moderate aerodynamic loading for both stages is used to achieve the high level of turbine efficiency. Flowpath components are designed for 18,000 hours of life, while the static and rotating structures are designed for 36,000 hours of engine operation. Both stages of turbine blades and vanes are air-cooled incorporating advanced state of the art in cooling technology. Direct solidification (DS) alloys are used for blades and one stage of vanes, and an oxide dispersion system (ODS) alloy is used for the Stage 1 nozzle airfoils. Ceramic shrouds are used as the material composition for the Stage 1 shroud. An active clearance control (ACC) system is used to control the blade tip to shroud clearances for both stages. Fan air is used to impinge on the shroud casing support rings, thereby controlling the growth rate of the shroud. This procedure allows close clearance control while minimizing blade tip to shroud rubs.
Design of an Ultra-High Efficiency GaN High-Power Amplifier for SAR Remote Sensing
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Thrivikraman, Tushar; Hoffman, James
This work describes the development of a high-power amplifier for use with a remote sensing SAR system. The amplifier is intended to meet the requirements for the Sweep-SAR technique for use in the proposed DESDynI SAR instrument. In order to optimize the amplifier design, active load-pull technique is employed to provide harmonic tuning to provide efficiency improvements. In addition, some of the techniques to overcome the challenges of load-pulling high power devices are presented. The design amplifier was measured to have 49 dBm of output power with 75% PAE, which is suitable to meet the proposed system requirements.
Design of a highly stable, high-conversion-efficiency, optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification system with good beam quality.
Guardalben, M; Keegan, J; Waxer, L; Bagnoud, V; Begishev, I; Puth, J; Zuegel, J
An optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) design that provides 40% pump-to-signal conversion efficiency and over-500-mJ signal energy at 1054 nm for front-end injection into a Nd:glass amplifier chain is presented. This OPCPA system is currently being built as the prototype front end for the OMEGA EP (extended performance) laser system at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Using a three-dimensional spatial and temporal numerical model, several design considerations necessary to achieve high conversion efficiency, good output stability, and good beam quality are discussed. The dependence of OPCPA output on the pump beam's spatiotemporal shape and the relative size of seed and pump beams is described. This includes the effects of pump intensity modulation and pump-signal walk-off. The trade-off among efficiency, stability, and low output beam intensity modulation is discussed. PMID:19471364
Design of multisegmented freeform lens for LED fishing/working lamp with high efficiency.
Lai, Min-Feng; Anh, Nguyen Doan Quoc; Gao, Jia-Zhi; Ma, Hsin-Yi; Lee, Hsiao-Yi
A novel LED fishing/working light is proposed to enhance the lighting efficiency of a fishing boat. The study is focused on the freeform secondary lens design so as to create a lamp that attracts fish and sheds light on the deck for the crew's work. The experimental results show that the proposed multisegmented freeform lens can deliver the proposed aim, giving 3 times as much illuminating power as the traditional high-intensity discharge fishing lamp does with the same input of electrical power. PMID:26479667
Design and development of high bioluminescent resonance energy transfer efficiency hybrid-imaging constructs.
Kumar, Manoj; Kovalski, Letícia; Broyles, David; Hunt, Eric A; Daftarian, Pirouz; Dikici, Emre; Daunert, Sylvia; Deo, Sapna K
Here we describe the design and construction of an imaging construct with high bioluminescent resonance energy transfer (BRET) efficiency that is composed of multiple quantum dots (QDs; λem = 655 nm) self-assembled onto a bioluminescent protein, Renilla luciferase (Rluc). This is facilitated by the streptavidin-biotin interaction, allowing the facile formation of a hybrid-imaging construct (HIC) comprising up to six QDs (acceptor) grafted onto a light-emitting Rluc (donor) core. The resulting assembly of multiple acceptors surrounding a donor permits this construct to exhibit high resonance energy transfer efficiency (∼64.8%). The HIC was characterized using fluorescence excitation anisotropy measurements and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. To demonstrate the application of our construct, a generation-5 (G5) polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM) nanocarrier was loaded with our HIC for in vitro and in vivo imaging. We envision that this design of multiple acceptors and bioluminescent donor will lead to the development of new BRET-based systems useful in sensing, imaging, and other bioanalytical applications. PMID:26772160
Design and development of high efficiency 140W space TWT with graphite collector
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Srivastava, V.; Purohit, G.; Sharma, R. K.; Sharma, S. M.; Bera, A.; Bhaskar, P. V.; Singh, R. R.; Prasad, K.; Kiran, V.
4-stage graphite collector assembly has been designed and developed for a 140W Ku-band space TWT to achieve the collector efficiency more than 80%. The UHV compatible, high density, copper impregnated POCO graphite (DFP-1C) was used to fabricate the four collector electrodes of the 4-stage depressed collector. Copper impregnated graphite material is used for the collector electrodes because of its low secondary electron emission coefficient, high thermal and electrical conductivities, easy machining and brazing, low thermal expansion coefficient and low weight. The graphite material was characterized for the UHV compatibility. The collector electrodes were precisely fabricated by careful machining, and technology was developed for brazing of graphite electrodes with high voltage alumina insulators. Complete TWT with four-stage graphite collector was developed and 140W output power at gain more than 55 dB was achieved. The TWT was pumped from both the gun and the collector ends.
Design of a polarization-insensitive superconducting nanowire single photon detector with high detection efficiency.
Zheng, Fan; Xu, Ruiying; Zhu, Guanghao; Jin, Biaobing; Kang, Lin; Xu, Weiwei; Chen, Jian; Wu, Peiheng
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) deliver superior performance over their competitors in the near-infrared regime. However, these detectors have an intrinsic polarization dependence on the incident wave because of their one-dimensional meander structure. In this paper, we propose an approach to eliminate the polarization sensitivity of SNSPDs by using near-field optics to increase the absorption of SNSPDs under transverse magnetic (TM) illumination. In addition, an optical cavity is added to our SNSPD to obtain nearly perfect absorption of the incident wave. Numerical simulations show that the maximum absorption of a designed SNSPD can reach 96% at 1550 nm, and indicate that the absorption difference between transverse electric (TE) and TM polarization is less than 0.5% across a wavelength window of 300 nm. Our work provides the first demonstration of the possibility of designing a polarization-insensitive and highly efficient SNSPD without performing device symmetry improvements. PMID:26948672
Design of a polarization-insensitive superconducting nanowire single photon detector with high detection efficiency
Zheng, Fan; Xu, Ruiying; Zhu, Guanghao; Jin, Biaobing; Kang, Lin; Xu, Weiwei; Chen, Jian; Wu, Peiheng
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) deliver superior performance over their competitors in the near-infrared regime. However, these detectors have an intrinsic polarization dependence on the incident wave because of their one-dimensional meander structure. In this paper, we propose an approach to eliminate the polarization sensitivity of SNSPDs by using near-field optics to increase the absorption of SNSPDs under transverse magnetic (TM) illumination. In addition, an optical cavity is added to our SNSPD to obtain nearly perfect absorption of the incident wave. Numerical simulations show that the maximum absorption of a designed SNSPD can reach 96% at 1550 nm, and indicate that the absorption difference between transverse electric (TE) and TM polarization is less than 0.5% across a wavelength window of 300 nm. Our work provides the first demonstration of the possibility of designing a polarization-insensitive and highly efficient SNSPD without performing device symmetry improvements. PMID:26948672
Design and startup of a high efficiency, dilute phase lime FGD system
Walsh, M.; Cirillo, A.J.
The Clean Air Act Amendments mandated large reductions in SO{sub 2} emissions from utility coal-fired boilers. For the operating companies of the Allegheny Power System (APS), this presented numerous challenges due to the system`s dependence on coal fuel. Although the Clean Air Act Amendments mandated approximately 50% reduction in SO{sub 2} at eleven (11) generating units within the Allegheny system, economic studies revealed that high efficiency scrubbers, placed on the largest units, would provide the most cost effective method to reduce SO{sub 2} emissions. Accordingly, the three units at Harrison Power Station, with a total generating capacity of 1,920 MW, were targeted for wet, magnesium enhanced, lime scrubbing. The scrubbing of the Harrison Power Station represented the cornerstone of Allegheny`s Phase I Clean Air Act compliance strategy for SO{sub 2} only. At the heart of the Flue Gas Desulfurization System (FGD) are high efficiency absorber towers utilizing magnesium-enhanced lime as the reagent. Use of a single, large absorber tower on each of Harrison`s three 640 MW units will result in guaranteed SO{sub 2} removal efficiencies of 98% with only three recycle pumps operating. In addition to discussing the overall FGD system`s design, this paper will address the following items: (1) Reliability of Large Single Tower Scrubbing (European experience and use of an absorber tower scale model for gas and liquid flow distribution); (2) Absorber Process Chemistry and Dilute Phase FGD System Startup and Operation. In conjunction with the aforementioned process design features of the Harrison Power Station FGD System, the startup and operational aspects of the scrubber system will be reviewed. Specifically, the simplified startup and operation of these wet scrubbers, owing to the minimization of the quantity of components required to be installed, tested and maintained compared to multiple absorber modules per boiler unit, will be addressed.
Design of a high efficiency relativistic backward wave oscillator with low guiding magnetic field
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Xiaoze; Song, Wei; Tan, Weibing; Zhang, Ligang; Su, Jiancang; Zhu, Xiaoxin; Hu, Xianggang; Shen, Zhiyuan; Liang, Xu; Ning, Qi
A high efficiency relativistic backward wave oscillator working at a low guiding magnetic field is designed and simulated. A trapezoidal resonant reflector is used to reduce the modulation field in the resonant reflector to avoid overmodulation of the electron beam which will lead to a large momentum spread and then low conversion efficiency. The envelope of the inner radius of the slow wave structure (SWS) increases stepwise to keep conformal to the trajectory of the electron beam which will alleviate the bombardment of the electron on the surface of the SWS. The length of period of the SWS is reduced gradually to make a better match between phase velocity and electron beam, which decelerates continually and improves the RF current distribution. Meanwhile the modulation field is reduced by the introduction of nonuniform SWS also. The particle in cell simulation results reveal that a microwave with a power of 1.8 GW and a frequency of 14.7 GHz is generated with an efficiency of 47% when the diode voltage is 620 kV, the beam current 6.1 kA, and the guiding magnetic field 0.95 T.
Design and synthesis of molecular donors for solution-processed high-efficiency organic solar cells.
Coughlin, Jessica E; Henson, Zachary B; Welch, Gregory C; Bazan, Guillermo C
Organic semiconductors incorporated into solar cells using a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) construction show promise as a cleaner answer to increasing energy needs throughout the world. Organic solar cells based on the BHJ architecture have steadily increased in their device performance over the past two decades, with power conversion efficiencies reaching 10%. Much of this success has come with conjugated polymer/fullerene combinations, where optimized polymer design strategies, synthetic protocols, device fabrication procedures, and characterization methods have provided significant advancements in the technology. More recently, chemists have been paying particular attention to well-defined molecular donor systems due to their ease of functionalization, amenability to standard organic purification and characterization methods, and reduced batch-to-batch variability compared to polymer counterparts. There are several critical properties for efficient small molecule donors. First, broad optical absorption needs to extend towards the near-IR region to achieve spectral overlap with the solar spectrum. Second, the low lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels need to be between -5.2 and -5.5 eV to ensure acceptable device open circuit voltages. Third, the structures need to be relatively planar to ensure close intermolecular contacts and high charge carrier mobilities. And last, the small molecule donors need to be sufficiently soluble in organic solvents (≥10 mg/mL) to facilitate solution deposition of thin films of appropriate uniformity and thickness. Ideally, these molecules should be constructed from cost-effective, sustainable building blocks using established, high yielding reactions in as few steps as possible. The structures should also be easy to functionalize to maximize tunability for desired properties. In this Account, we present a chronological description of our thought process and design strategies used in the development of highly
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Campbell, Edward A.
Laboratory facilities should be designed with the most effective arrangement for maximum instructional efficiency and safety. Periodic evaluation and analysis should be used for improving instruction, abating safety hazards, and presenting an efficient learning environment. Attention should be focused on--(1) instructional program, (2) students,…
A linear quality control design for high efficient wavelet-based ECG data compression.
Hung, King-Chu; Tsai, Chin-Feng; Ku, Cheng-Tung; Wang, Huan-Sheng
In ECG data compression, maintaining reconstructed signal with desired quality is crucial for clinical application. In this paper, a linear quality control design based on the reversible round-off non-recursive discrete periodized wavelet transform (RRO-NRDPWT) is proposed for high efficient ECG data compression. With the advantages of error propagation resistance and octave coefficient normalization, RRO-NRDPWT enables the non-linear quantization control to obtain an approximately linear distortion by using a single control variable. Based on the linear programming, a linear quantization scale prediction model is presented for the quality control of reconstructed ECG signal. Following the use of the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database, the experimental results show that the proposed system, with lower computational complexity, can obtain much better quality control performance than that of other wavelet-based systems. PMID:19070935
Construct design for efficient, effective and high-throughput gene silencing in plants.
Wesley, S V; Helliwell, C A; Smith, N A; Wang, M B; Rouse, D T; Liu, Q; Gooding, P S; Singh, S P; Abbott, D; Stoutjesdijk, P A; Robinson, S P; Gleave, A P; Green, A G; Waterhouse, P M
Post-transcriptional silencing of plant genes using anti-sense or co-suppression constructs usually results in only a modest proportion of silenced individuals. Recent work has demonstrated the potential for constructs encoding self-complementary 'hairpin' RNA (hpRNA) to efficiently silence genes. In this study we examine design rules for efficient gene silencing, in terms of both the proportion of independent transgenic plants showing silencing, and the degree of silencing. Using hpRNA constructs containing sense/anti-sense arms ranging from 98 to 853 nt gave efficient silencing in a wide range of plant species, and inclusion of an intron in these constructs had a consistently enhancing effect. Intron-containing constructs (ihpRNA) generally gave 90-100% of independent transgenic plants showing silencing. The degree of silencing with these constructs was much greater than that obtained using either co-suppression or anti-sense constructs. We have made a generic vector, pHANNIBAL, that allows a simple, single PCR product from a gene of interest to be easily converted into a highly effective ihpRNA silencing construct. We have also created a high-throughput vector, pHELLSGATE, that should facilitate the cloning of gene libraries or large numbers of defined genes, such as those in EST collections, using an in vitro recombinase system. This system may facilitate the large-scale determination and discovery of plant gene functions in the same way as RNAi is being used to examine gene function in Caenorhabditis elegans. PMID:11576441
Design and characterization of a durable and highly efficient energy-harvesting electrochromic window
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Amasawa, Eri
With the growing global energy demands, electrochromic window (ECW) technology has attracted great attention for its ability to reversibly change the transmittance of incoming light through applied moderate potential. While ECW has a great potential to conserve energy from lighting and air conditioning in buildings, ECW still consumes energy; ECW should be self-powered for further energy conservation. In this study, a new design of energy-harvesting electrochromic window (EH-ECW) based on fusion of two technologies, organic electrochromic window and dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is presented. Unlike other self-powered smart windows such as photoelectrochromic device that only contains two states (i.e. closed circuit colored state and open circuit bleaching state), EH-ECW allows active tuning of transmittance through varying applied potential and function as a photovoltaic cell based on DSSC. The resulting device demonstrates fast switching rate of 1 second in both bleaching and coloring process through the use of electrochromic polymer as a counter electrode layer. In order to increase the transmittance of the device, cobalt redox couple and light colored yet efficient organic dye are employed. The organic dye utilized contains polymeric structure, which contributes to high cyclic stability. The device exhibits power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.5 % under AM 1.5 irradiation (100 mW/cm2), change in transmittance (Delta T = Tmax - Tmin) of 34 % upon applied potential, and shows only 3 % degradation in PCE after 5000 cycles.
Vrala: designing and prototyping a novel high-efficiency actuator for large adaptive mirrors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Del Vecchio, Ciro; Marignetti, Fabrizio; Agapito, Guido; Tomassi, Giovanni; Riccardi, Armando
The next-generation Extremely Large Telescopes adaptive optics systems require high-order, long-stroke, quite large deformable mirrors. Higher forces and greater actuator densities than the ones provided by the current technology are needed, still maintaining its requests in terms of accuracy and bandwidth. The electromagnetic "Vrala" actuator can accomplish this very demanding goal. Based on a very simple magnetic circuit, providing a compact device, it allows to deliver a large force with very low power dissipations. With a typical efficiency of about 7 N/W and an overall radius that allows actuator separations as low as 25 mm, the deformable mirror can be actuated on small spatial scales, and/or its thickness can be increased, in order to simplify the manufacturing, with a little thermal impact. This paper will mainly discuss the magnetic design of the proposed actuator, its effects on the thermal response of the device as well as its behavior in a closed loop control system - from the geometrical optimization process to the dynamic performances. A prototype built accordingly to the proposed design has been tested. The test set-up, as well as the first set of the measured data, well matching the results of the numerical simulations, will also be shown.
Designation of highly efficient catalysts for one pot conversion of glycerol to lactic acid
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tao, Meilin; Dan Zhang; Guan, Hongyu; Huang, Guohui; Wang, Xiaohong
Production of lactic acid from glycerol is a cascade catalytic procedure using multifunctional catalysts combined with oxidative and acidic catalytic sites. Therefore, a series of silver-exchanged phosphomolybdic acid catalysts (AgxH3‑xPMo12O40, x = 1 ~ 3, abbreviated as AgxPMo) was designed and applied in glycerol oxidation with O2 as an oxidant to produce lactic acid (LA) without adding any base. Among all, total silver exchanged phosphomolybdic acid (Ag3PMo) was found to be the most active one with LA selectivity of 93% at 99% conversion under mild conditions of 5 h at 60 °C. The exceptionally high efficiency was contributed to the generation of strong Lewis acid sites, enhanced redox potentials and water-tolerance. More importantly, Ag3PMo was tolerant in crude glycerol from biodiesel production. And the reaction mechanism was also discussed. Meanwhile, Ag3PMo acted as a heterogeneous catalyst for 12 recycles without loss of activity.
Designation of highly efficient catalysts for one pot conversion of glycerol to lactic acid.
Tao, Meilin; Dan Zhang; Guan, Hongyu; Huang, Guohui; Wang, Xiaohong
Production of lactic acid from glycerol is a cascade catalytic procedure using multifunctional catalysts combined with oxidative and acidic catalytic sites. Therefore, a series of silver-exchanged phosphomolybdic acid catalysts (AgxH3-xPMo12O40, x = 1 ~ 3, abbreviated as AgxPMo) was designed and applied in glycerol oxidation with O2 as an oxidant to produce lactic acid (LA) without adding any base. Among all, total silver exchanged phosphomolybdic acid (Ag3PMo) was found to be the most active one with LA selectivity of 93% at 99% conversion under mild conditions of 5 h at 60 °C. The exceptionally high efficiency was contributed to the generation of strong Lewis acid sites, enhanced redox potentials and water-tolerance. More importantly, Ag3PMo was tolerant in crude glycerol from biodiesel production. And the reaction mechanism was also discussed. Meanwhile, Ag3PMo acted as a heterogeneous catalyst for 12 recycles without loss of activity. PMID:27431610
Rationally designed porous polystyrene encapsulated zirconium phosphate nanocomposite for highly efficient fluoride uptake in waters
Zhang, Qingrui; Du, Qing; Jiao, Tifeng; Zhang, Zhaoxiang; Wang, Sufeng; Sun, Qina; Gao, Faming
Fluoride pollution in waters has engulfed worldwide regions and an excess of fluoride intake always causes skeletal fluorosis. Herein, a novel hybrid nanomaterial ZrP-MPN was fabricated for fluoride retention by encapsulating nano-ZrP onto macroporous polystyrene materials modified with quaternary ammonium groups. The as-obtained materials exhibited favorable removal of fluoride ions from aqueous solution in presence of common anions (SO42−/NO3−/Cl−) at high contents. Moreover outstanding sorption properties were also detected by involving series of commercial adsorbents (AA/magnetite/GFH/manganese sands) as references. Such satisfactory performances might be ascribed to the structural design of nanocomposite. (1) the CH2N+(CH3)3Cl groups enhances sorption diffusion and preconcentration in sorbent phase theoretically based on Donnan membrane principle; (2) the embedded ZrP nanoparticles also devotes to the efficient adsorption capacities due to its size-dependent specific properties. Additionally, the exhausted ZrP-MPN could be regenerated readily by alkaline solution. Thus, ZrP-MPN was a promising material for fluoride retention in waters. PMID:23989688
Designation of highly efficient catalysts for one pot conversion of glycerol to lactic acid
Tao, Meilin; Dan Zhang; Guan, Hongyu; Huang, Guohui; Wang, Xiaohong
Production of lactic acid from glycerol is a cascade catalytic procedure using multifunctional catalysts combined with oxidative and acidic catalytic sites. Therefore, a series of silver-exchanged phosphomolybdic acid catalysts (AgxH3−xPMo12O40, x = 1 ~ 3, abbreviated as AgxPMo) was designed and applied in glycerol oxidation with O2 as an oxidant to produce lactic acid (LA) without adding any base. Among all, total silver exchanged phosphomolybdic acid (Ag3PMo) was found to be the most active one with LA selectivity of 93% at 99% conversion under mild conditions of 5 h at 60 °C. The exceptionally high efficiency was contributed to the generation of strong Lewis acid sites, enhanced redox potentials and water-tolerance. More importantly, Ag3PMo was tolerant in crude glycerol from biodiesel production. And the reaction mechanism was also discussed. Meanwhile, Ag3PMo acted as a heterogeneous catalyst for 12 recycles without loss of activity. PMID:27431610
Highly Efficient Design-of-Experiments Methods for Combining CFD Analysis and Experimental Data
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Anderson, Bernhard H.; Haller, Harold S.
It is the purpose of this study to examine the impact of "highly efficient" Design-of-Experiments (DOE) methods for combining sets of CFD generated analysis data with smaller sets of Experimental test data in order to accurately predict performance results where experimental test data were not obtained. The study examines the impact of micro-ramp flow control on the shock wave boundary layer (SWBL) interaction where a complete paired set of data exist from both CFD analysis and Experimental measurements By combining the complete set of CFD analysis data composed of fifteen (15) cases with a smaller subset of experimental test data containing four/five (4/5) cases, compound data sets (CFD/EXP) were generated which allows the prediction of the complete set of Experimental results No statistical difference were found to exist between the combined (CFD/EXP) generated data sets and the complete Experimental data set composed of fifteen (15) cases. The same optimal micro-ramp configuration was obtained using the (CFD/EXP) generated data as obtained with the complete set of Experimental data, and the DOE response surfaces generated by the two data sets were also not statistically different.
Genomic Libraries and a Host Strain Designed for Highly Efficient Two-Hybrid Selection in Yeast
James, P.; Halladay, J.; Craig, E. A.
The two-hybrid system is a powerful technique for detecting protein-protein interactions that utilizes the well-developed molecular genetics of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, the full potential of this technique has not been realized due to limitations imposed by the components available for use in the system. These limitations include unwieldy plasmid vectors, incomplete or poorly designed two-hybrid libraries, and host strains that result in the selection of large numbers of false positives. We have used a novel multienzyme approach to generate a set of highly representative genomic libraries from S. cerevisiae. In addition, a unique host strain was created that contains three easily assayed reporter genes, each under the control of a different inducible promoter. This host strain is extremely sensitive to weak interactions and eliminates nearly all false positives using simple plate assays. Improved vectors were also constructed that simplify the construction of the gene fusions necessary for the two-hybrid system. Our analysis indicates that the libraries and host strain provide significant improvements in both the number of interacting clones identified and the efficiency of two-hybrid selections. PMID:8978031
Hydraulic design, numerical simulation and BVF diagnosis of high efficiency centrifugal pump
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Y. X.; Chen, L.; Zhou, X.; Jiangand, C. W.; Su, M.
Under the Two-dimensional Flow Theory and the Velocity Coefficient Theory, a centrifugal-pump impeller has been designed, based on the parameters of IS150-125-250 centrifugal pump. And self-compiled programs have been used to complete the hydraulic design of the whole flow passage of centrifugal pump. The space bending and twisting characteristics of the design blade are more obvious. Then, numerical simulation is applied to the inner flow field of the two pumps using RANS (Reynolds Averaged N-S) Equation with a standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model. The compare of the numerical simulation data of two centrifugal pumps, getting from 13 working points including design condition, shows that, the design pump has higher head and efficiency in the range of lower flow rate. Based on the numerical results of the inner flow of the design pump and model pump, the boundary vorticity flux (BVF) diagnostics has been used to analyze the BVF distribution of suction surface and pressure surface of two pumps. The result shows that, the BVF distribution of the design pump is more uniform and smooth, with smaller peak value.
A High Efficiency, Miniaturized Ka Band Traveling Wave Tube Based on a Novel Finned Ladder RF Circuit Design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wintucky, E. G.; Wilson, J. D.; Vaden, K. R.; Force, D. A.; Freeman, J. C.; Lesny, G. G.; Kory, C. L.; Chevalier, C. T.; Ebihara, B.; Dayton, J. A.; Williams, W. D. (Technical Monitor)
Space communications architectures are being planned to meet the high rate data distribution requirements of future NASA Enterprise missions. These will require the use of traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) to provide the high frequency, RF (radio frequency) power and efficiency needed for many of the communications links. A program addressing these requirements is currently underway at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) for the development of a high efficiency, 20 watt, 32 GHz TWT of reduced size and weight that is based on a novel high gain n circuit design, termed the 'finned ladder'.
Design, fabrication, and characterization of high-efficiency extreme ultraviolet diffusers
Naulleau, Patrick P.; Liddle, J. Alexander; Salmassi, Farhad; Anderson, Erik H.; Gullikson, Eric M.
As the development of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography progresses, interest grows in the extension of traditional optical components to the EUV regime. The strong absorption of EUV by most materials and its extremely short wavelength, however, makes it very difficult to implement many components that are commonplace in the longer wavelength regimes. One such example is the diffuser often implemented with ordinary ground glass in the visible light regime. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of reflective EUV diffusers with high efficiency within a controllable bandwidth. Using these techniques we have fabricated diffusers with efficiencies exceeding 10% within a moderate angular single-sided bandwidth of approximately 0.06 radians.
Development of high-efficiency solar cells on thin silicon through design optimization and defect passivation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sheoran, Manav
The focus of this research is to investigate the potential of lower quality cast multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) as well as thin single and mc-Si cells. The overall goal of this research is to improve fundamental understanding of the hydrogen passivation of defects in low-cost Si and the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells on thin crystalline silicon through low-cost technology development. This is addressed by a combination of five research tasks. The key results of these tasks are summarized below. A novel method was developed to determine the concentration and flux of H diffusing into the Si. The understanding of defect passivation acquired in task 1 was used to fabricate high-efficiency solar cells on cast mc-Si wafers. An optimized co-firing process was developed, which resulted in ˜17% efficient 4 cm2 screen-printed solar cells with single-layer AR coating, and no surface texturing or selective emitter. The HEM mc-Si wafer gave an average efficiency of 16.5%, with a maximum of 16.9%. The identical process applied to the un-textured Float zone (FZ) wafers gave an efficiency of 17.2%. These cells were fabricated using the same simple, manufacturable process involving POCl3 diffusion for a 45 O/sq emitter, PECVD SiNx:H deposition for single-layer antireflection coating and rapid co-firing of a Ag grid, an Al back contact, and Al-BSF formation in a belt furnace. A high-efficiency of 17.1% was achieved on high sheet-resistance HEM mc-Si with good quality contacts. The effects of changing several device parameters on the efficiency of the solar cells was modeled with PC1D and guidelines were established to improve the efficiency from ˜17% to over 20% cells on low lifetime (100 mus), thin (140 mum) silicon wafers. The understanding of enhanced defect hydrogenation and the optimized fabrication sequence was applied to fabricate high-efficiency solar cells on top, middle, and bottom regions of several mc-Si ingots. Screen-printed solar cells were fabricated on
Design of broadband multilayer dichroic coating for a high-efficiency solar energy harvesting system.
Jiachen, Wang; Lee, Sang Bae; Lee, Kwanil
We report on the design and performance of a broadband dichroic coating for a solar energy conversion system. As a spectral beam splitter, the coating facilitates a hybrid system that combines a photovoltaic cell with a thermal collector. When positioned at a 45° angle with respect to incident light, the coating provides high reflectance in the 40-1100 nm and high transmission in the 1200-2000 nm ranges for a photovoltaic cell and a thermal collector, respectively. Numerical simulations show that our design leads to a sharp transition between the reflection and transmission bands, low ripples in both bands, and slight polarization dependence. PMID:26192518
Numerical simulation: Toward the design of high-efficiency planar perovskite solar cells
Liu, Feng; Zhu, Jun E-mail: email@example.com; Wei, Junfeng; Li, Yi; Lv, Mei; Yang, Shangfeng; Zhang, Bing; Yao, Jianxi; Dai, Songyuan E-mail: email@example.com
Organo-metal halide perovskite solar cells based on planar architecture have been reported to achieve remarkably high power conversion efficiency (PCE, >16%), rendering them highly competitive to the conventional silicon based solar cells. A thorough understanding of the role of each component in solar cells and their effects as a whole is still required for further improvement in PCE. In this work, the planar heterojunction-based perovskite solar cells were simulated with the program AMPS (analysis of microelectronic and photonic structures)-1D. Simulation results revealed a great dependence of PCE on the thickness and defect density of the perovskite layer. Meanwhile, parameters including the work function of the back contact as well as the hole mobility and acceptor density in hole transport materials were identified to significantly influence the performance of the device. Strikingly, an efficiency over 20% was obtained under the moderate simulation conditions.
Highly efficient plasmonic tip design for plasmon nanofocusing in near-field optical microscopy.
Umakoshi, Takayuki; Saito, Yuika; Verma, Prabhat
Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) combined with plasmon nanofocusing is a powerful nano-analytical tool due to its attractive feature of efficient background suppression as well as light energy compression to the nanoscale. In plasmon nanofocusing-based NSOM, the metallic tip plays an important role in inducing plasmon nanofocusing. It is, however, very challenging to control plasmonic properties of tips for plasmon nanofocusing with existing tip fabrication methods, even though the plasmonic properties need to be adjusted to experimental environments such as the sample or excitation wavelength. In this study, we propose an efficient tip design and fabrication which enable one to actively control plasmonic properties for efficient plasmon nanofocusing. Because our method offers flexibility in the material and structure of tips, one can easily modify the plasmonic properties depending on the requirements. Importantly, through optimization of the plasmonic properties, we achieve almost 100% reproducibility in plasmon nanofocusing in our experiments. This new approach of tip fabrication makes plasmon nanofocusing-based NSOM practical and reliable, and opens doors for many scientists working in related fields. PMID:26892672
Highly efficient plasmonic tip design for plasmon nanofocusing in near-field optical microscopy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Umakoshi, Takayuki; Saito, Yuika; Verma, Prabhat
Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) combined with plasmon nanofocusing is a powerful nano-analytical tool due to its attractive feature of efficient background suppression as well as light energy compression to the nanoscale. In plasmon nanofocusing-based NSOM, the metallic tip plays an important role in inducing plasmon nanofocusing. It is, however, very challenging to control plasmonic properties of tips for plasmon nanofocusing with existing tip fabrication methods, even though the plasmonic properties need to be adjusted to experimental environments such as the sample or excitation wavelength. In this study, we propose an efficient tip design and fabrication which enable one to actively control plasmonic properties for efficient plasmon nanofocusing. Because our method offers flexibility in the material and structure of tips, one can easily modify the plasmonic properties depending on the requirements. Importantly, through optimization of the plasmonic properties, we achieve almost 100% reproducibility in plasmon nanofocusing in our experiments. This new approach of tip fabrication makes plasmon nanofocusing-based NSOM practical and reliable, and opens doors for many scientists working in related fields.
High efficiency magnetic bearings
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Studer, Philip A.; Jayaraman, Chaitanya P.; Anand, Davinder K.; Kirk, James A.
Research activities concerning high efficiency permanent magnet plus electromagnet (PM/EM) pancake magnetic bearings at the University of Maryland are reported. A description of the construction and working of the magnetic bearing is provided. Next, parameters needed to describe the bearing are explained. Then, methods developed for the design and testing of magnetic bearings are summarized. Finally, a new magnetic bearing which allows active torque control in the off axes directions is discussed.
AVION: A detailed report on the preliminary design of a 79-passenger, high-efficiency, commercial transport aircraft
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mayfield, William; Perkins, Brett; Rogan, William; Schuessler, Randall; Stockert, Joe
The Avion is the result of an investigation into the preliminary design for a high-efficiency commercial transport aircraft. The Avion is designed to carry 79 passengers and a crew of five through a range of 1,500 nm at 455 kts (M=0.78 at 32,000 ft). It has a gross take-off weight of 77,000 lb and an empty weight of 42,400 lb. Currently there are no American-built aircraft designed to fit the 60 to 90 passenger, short/medium range marketplace. The Avion gathers the premier engineering achievements of flight technology and integrates them into an aircraft which will challenge the current standards of flight efficiency, reliability, and performance. The Avion will increase flight efficiency through reduction of structural weight and the improvement of aerodynamic characteristics and propulsion systems. Its design departs from conventional aircraft design tradition with the incorporation of a three-lifting-surface (or tri-wing) configuration. Further aerodynamic improvements are obtained through modest main wing forward sweeping, variable incidence canards, aerodynamic coupling between the canard and main wing, leading edge extensions, winglets, an aerodynamic tailcone, and a T-tail empennage. The Avion is propelled by propfans, which are one of the most promising developments for raising propulsive efficiencies at high subsonic Mach numbers. Special attention is placed on overall configuration, fuselage layout, performance estimations, component weight estimations, and planform design. Leading U.S. technology promises highly efficient flight for the 21st century; the Avion will fulfill this promise to passenger transport aviation.
Designing high-performance cost-efficient embedded SRAM in deep-submicron era
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kobozeva, Olga; Venkatraman, Ramnath; Castagnetti, Ruggero; Duan, Franklin; Kamath, Arvind; Ramesh, Shiva
We have previously presented the smallest and fastest 6 Transistor (6T)-Static Random Access Memories (SRAM) bitcells for System-on-Chip (SoC) high-density (HD) memories in 0.18 μm and 0.13 μm technologies. Our 1.87 μm2 6TSRAM bitcell with cell current of 47 μA and industry lowest soft error rate (0.35 FIT/Kbit) is used to assemble memory blocks embedded into SoC designs in 0.13 μm process technology. Excellent performance is achieved at a low overall cost, as our bitcells are based on standard CMOS process and demonstrate high yields in manufacturing. This paper discusses our methodology of embedded SRAM bitcell design. The key aspects of our approach are: 1) judicious selection of tightest achievable yet manufacturable design rules to build the cell; 2) compatibility with standard Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) flow; 3) use of parametric testing and yield analysis to achieve excellent design robustness and manufacturability. A thorough understanding of process limitations, particularly those related to photolithography was critical to the successful design and manufacturing of our aggressive, yet robust SRAM bitcells. The patterning of critical layers, such as diffusion, poly gate, contact and metal 1 has profound implications on functionality, electrical performance and manufacturability of memories. We have conducted the development of SRAM bitcells using two approaches for OPC: a) "manual" OPC, wherein the bitcell layout of each of the critical layers is achieved using iterative improvement of layout & aerial image simulation and b) automated OPC-compatible design, wherein the drawn bitcell layout becomes a subject of a full chip OPC. While manual-OPC remains a popular option, automated OPC-compatible bitcell design is very attractive, as it does not require additional development costs to achieve fab-to-fab portability. In both cases we have obtained good results with respect to patterning of the critical layers, electrical performance of the bitcell
High efficient configuration design and simulation of platelet heat exchanger in solar thermal thruster
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Xing, BaoYu; Liu, Kun; Huang, MinChao; Cheng, MouSen
Solar thermal propulsion system includes solar thermal propulsion and nuclear thermal propulsion, and it is a significant issue to improve the heat transfer efficiency of the solar thermal thruster. This paper proposes a platelet configuration to be used in the heat exchanger core, which is the most important component of solar thermal system. The platelet passage can enhance the heat transfer between the propellant and the hot core heated by the concentrated sunlight. Based on fluid-solid coupled heat transfer, the paper utilized the platelet heat transfer characteristic to simulate the heat transfer and flow field of the platelet passage. A coupled system includes the coupled flow and heat transfer between the fluid region and solid region. The simulation result shows that the propellant can be heated to the design temperature of 2300K in platelet passage of the thermal propulsion system, and the fluid-solid coupled method can solve the heat transfer in the platelet structure more precisely.
The design of a high-efficiency neutron counter for waste drums to provide optimized sensitivity for plutonium assay
Menlove, H.O.; Beddingfield, D.H.; Pickrell, M.M.
An advanced passive neutron counter has been designed to improve the accuracy and sensitivity for the nondestructive assay of plutonium in scrap and waste containers. The High-Efficiency Neutron Counter (HENC) was developed under a Cooperative Research Development Agreement between the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Canberra Industries. The primary goal of the development was to produce a passive assay system for 200-L drums that has detectability limits and multiplicity counting features that are superior to previous systems. A detectability limit figure of merit (FOM) was defined that included the detector efficiency, the neutron die-away time, and the detector`s active volume and density that determine the cosmic-ray background. Monte Carlo neutron calculations were performed to determine the parameters to provide an optimum FOM. The system includes the {sup 252}Cf {open_quotes}add-a-source{close_quotes} feature to improve the accuracy as well as statistical filters to reduce the cosmic-ray spallation neutron background. The final decision gave an efficiency of 32% for plutonium with a detector {sup 3}He tube volume that is significantly smaller than for previous high-efficiency systems for 200-L drums. Because of the high efficiency of the HENC, we have incorporated neutron multiplicity counting for matrix corrections for those cases where the plutonium is localized in nonuniform hydrogenous materials. The paper describes the design and performance testing of the advanced system. 5 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.
Design and Fabrication of High-Efficiency CMOS/CCD Imagers
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Pain, Bedabrata
An architecture for back-illuminated complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) and charge-coupled-device (CCD) ultraviolet/visible/near infrared- light image sensors, and a method of fabrication to implement the architecture, are undergoing development. The architecture and method are expected to enable realization of the full potential of back-illuminated CMOS/CCD imagers to perform with high efficiency, high sensitivity, excellent angular response, and in-pixel signal processing. The architecture and method are compatible with next-generation CMOS dielectric-forming and metallization techniques, and the process flow of the method is compatible with process flows typical of the manufacture of very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits. The architecture and method overcome all obstacles that have hitherto prevented high-yield, low-cost fabrication of back-illuminated CMOS/CCD imagers by use of standard VLSI fabrication tools and techniques. It is not possible to discuss the obstacles in detail within the space available for this article. Briefly, the obstacles are posed by the problems of generating light-absorbing layers having desired uniform and accurate thicknesses, passivation of surfaces, forming structures for efficient collection of charge carriers, and wafer-scale thinning (in contradistinction to diescale thinning). A basic element of the present architecture and method - the element that, more than any other, makes it possible to overcome the obstacles - is the use of an alternative starting material: Instead of starting with a conventional bulk-CMOS wafer that consists of a p-doped epitaxial silicon layer grown on a heavily-p-doped silicon substrate, one starts with a special silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer that consists of a thermal oxide buried between a lightly p- or n-doped, thick silicon layer and a device silicon layer of appropriate thickness and doping. The thick silicon layer is used as a handle: that is, as a mechanical support for the
High Efficiency Cell Development
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Carbajal, B. G.
The specific activity was to improve the tandem junction Cell (TJC) as a high efficiency solar cell. The TJC development was to be consistent with module assembly and should contribute to the overall goals of the Low-Cost Solar Array Project. During 1978, TJC efficiency improved from approximately 11 percent to approximately 16 percent (AMI). Photogenerated current densities in excess of 42 mA/sq cm were observed at AMO. Open circuit voltages as high as 0.615 V were measured at AMO. Fill factor was only 0.68 - 0.75 due to a nonoptimum metal contact design. A device model was conceived in which the solar cell is modelled as a transitor. There are virtually no interconnect or packaging factor systems and the TJC is compatible with all conventional module fabrication systems. A modification of the TJC, the Front Surface Field (FSF) cell, was also explored.
CRISPRscan: designing highly efficient sgRNAs for CRISPR/Cas9 targeting in vivo
Moreno-Mateos, Miguel A.; Vejnar, Charles E.; Beaudoin, Jean-Denis; Fernandez, Juan P.; Mis, Emily K.; Khokha, Mustafa K.; Giraldez, Antonio J.
CRISPR/Cas9 technology provides a powerful system for genome engineering. However, variable activity across different single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) remains a significant limitation. We have analyzed the molecular features that influence sgRNA stability, activity and loading into Cas9 in vivo. We observe that guanine enrichment and adenine depletion increase sgRNA stability and activity, while loading, nucleosome positioning and Cas9 off-target binding are not major determinants. We additionally identified truncated and 5′ mismatch-containing sgRNAs as efficient alternatives to canonical sgRNAs. Based on these results, we created a predictive sgRNA-scoring algorithm (CRISPRscan.org) that effectively captures the sequence features affecting Cas9/sgRNA activity in vivo. Finally, we show that targeting Cas9 to the germ line using a Cas9-nanos-3′-UTR fusion can generate maternal-zygotic mutants, increase viability and reduce somatic mutations. Together, these results provide novel insights into the determinants that influence Cas9 activity and a framework to identify highly efficient sgRNAs for genome targeting in vivo. PMID:26322839
A generic concept to overcome bandgap limitations for designing highly efficient multi-junction photovoltaic cells
Guo, Fei; Li, Ning; Fecher, Frank W.; Gasparini, Nicola; Quiroz, Cesar Omar Ramirez; Bronnbauer, Carina; Hou, Yi; Radmilović, Vuk V.; Radmilović, Velimir R.; Spiecker, Erdmann; Forberich, Karen; Brabec, Christoph J.
The multi-junction concept is the most relevant approach to overcome the Shockley–Queisser limit for single-junction photovoltaic cells. The record efficiencies of several types of solar technologies are held by series-connected tandem configurations. However, the stringent current-matching criterion presents primarily a material challenge and permanently requires developing and processing novel semiconductors with desired bandgaps and thicknesses. Here we report a generic concept to alleviate this limitation. By integrating series- and parallel-interconnections into a triple-junction configuration, we find significantly relaxed material selection and current-matching constraints. To illustrate the versatile applicability of the proposed triple-junction concept, organic and organic-inorganic hybrid triple-junction solar cells are constructed by printing methods. High fill factors up to 68% without resistive losses are achieved for both organic and hybrid triple-junction devices. Series/parallel triple-junction cells with organic, as well as perovskite-based subcells may become a key technology to further advance the efficiency roadmap of the existing photovoltaic technologies. PMID:26177808
A generic concept to overcome bandgap limitations for designing highly efficient multi-junction photovoltaic cells.
Guo, Fei; Li, Ning; Fecher, Frank W; Gasparini, Nicola; Ramirez Quiroz, Cesar Omar; Bronnbauer, Carina; Hou, Yi; Radmilović, Vuk V; Radmilović, Velimir R; Spiecker, Erdmann; Forberich, Karen; Brabec, Christoph J
The multi-junction concept is the most relevant approach to overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit for single-junction photovoltaic cells. The record efficiencies of several types of solar technologies are held by series-connected tandem configurations. However, the stringent current-matching criterion presents primarily a material challenge and permanently requires developing and processing novel semiconductors with desired bandgaps and thicknesses. Here we report a generic concept to alleviate this limitation. By integrating series- and parallel-interconnections into a triple-junction configuration, we find significantly relaxed material selection and current-matching constraints. To illustrate the versatile applicability of the proposed triple-junction concept, organic and organic-inorganic hybrid triple-junction solar cells are constructed by printing methods. High fill factors up to 68% without resistive losses are achieved for both organic and hybrid triple-junction devices. Series/parallel triple-junction cells with organic, as well as perovskite-based subcells may become a key technology to further advance the efficiency roadmap of the existing photovoltaic technologies. PMID:26177808
A generic concept to overcome bandgap limitations for designing highly efficient multi-junction photovoltaic cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guo, Fei; Li, Ning; Fecher, Frank W.; Gasparini, Nicola; Quiroz, Cesar Omar Ramirez; Bronnbauer, Carina; Hou, Yi; Radmilović, Vuk V.; Radmilović, Velimir R.; Spiecker, Erdmann; Forberich, Karen; Brabec, Christoph J.
The multi-junction concept is the most relevant approach to overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit for single-junction photovoltaic cells. The record efficiencies of several types of solar technologies are held by series-connected tandem configurations. However, the stringent current-matching criterion presents primarily a material challenge and permanently requires developing and processing novel semiconductors with desired bandgaps and thicknesses. Here we report a generic concept to alleviate this limitation. By integrating series- and parallel-interconnections into a triple-junction configuration, we find significantly relaxed material selection and current-matching constraints. To illustrate the versatile applicability of the proposed triple-junction concept, organic and organic-inorganic hybrid triple-junction solar cells are constructed by printing methods. High fill factors up to 68% without resistive losses are achieved for both organic and hybrid triple-junction devices. Series/parallel triple-junction cells with organic, as well as perovskite-based subcells may become a key technology to further advance the efficiency roadmap of the existing photovoltaic technologies.
Design of red-emitting external cavity diode laser module for high-slope efficiency and narrow bandwidth
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Park, Jiyeon; Song, Hong Joo; Na, Hong Man; Lee, Jun Ho; Yun, Ilgu
A red-emitting external cavity diode laser (ECDL) module was designed to increase the slope efficiency and reduce the bandwidth by tilting the solitary laser diode (LD) 90 deg. This tilt resulted in parallel polarization, which yielded high-slope efficiency and also produced a favorable geometry that minimized the area of the back-focused beam, thereby facilitating selection of a specific wavelength. A ray-tracing simulator was used to optimize optical parameters such as the back focal length of the collimating lens, the cavity length, and the grating's groove density. Based on the optimized structure, an ECDL module package was designed for thermal control by using autodisk computer-aided design tool. The resulting module obtained high-slope efficiency and narrow-bandwidth emission of red light, making it suitable for potential application as a light source for a commercial three-dimensional holographic system. The module achieved the narrow bandwidth of 80 pm and the slope efficiency of 0.81 W/A, which compared favorably with the output power of 0.8 to 0.9 W/A of commercial solitary LDs.
Design of new anchored p-dopants for high power efficiency OLEDs
Koech, Phillip K; Sapochak, Linda S; Rainbolt, James E; Cosimbescu, Lelia; Polikarpov, Evgueni; Swensen, James S; Wang, Liang; Padmaperuma, Asanga B; Gaspar, Daniel J
Conductivity doping of charge transporting layers is increasingly becoming attractive for improving power efficiency in OLEDs. However, the number of organic molecular p-dopants is limited for instance the electron acceptor 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8,-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4-TCNQ) is the most utilized p-dopant. F4-TCNQ can dope most hole transporting materials (HTL), but it is very volatility, and has a low sticking coefficient thus difficult to deposit. Here we present the design of anchored molecular dopants based on the TCNQ core. We first review how the reduction potential of TCNQ core is affected by substitution with alkyl groups of different electronic properties. Electron donating groups have negative effect on the reduction potential of the acceptor. However, attaching electron withdrawing groups such as halogens counteracts the effect of electron donating groups. Using gas phase theoretical calculations we determined that trifluorinated TCNQ can be anchored through a σ-coupled alkyl chain to an inert molecular anchor without sacrificing the electron affinity.
De Novo Design of Boron-Based Host Materials for Highly Efficient Blue and White Phosphorescent OLEDs with Low Efficiency Roll-Off.
Xue, Miao-Miao; Huang, Chen-Chao; Yuan, Yi; Cui, Lin-Song; Li, Yong-Xi; Wang, Bo; Jiang, Zuo-Quan; Fung, Man-Keung; Liao, Liang-Sheng
Borane is an excellent electron-accepting species, and its derivatives have been widely used in a variety of fields. However, the use of borane derivatives as host materials in OLEDs has rarely reported because the device performance is generally not satisfactory. In this work, two novel spiro-bipolar hosts with incorporated borane were designed and synthesized. The strategies used in preparing these materials were to increase the spatial separation of the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs) in the molecules, tune the connecting positions of functional groups, and incorporate specific functional groups with desirable thermal stability. Based on these designs, phosphorescent OLEDs with borane derivatives as hosts and with outstanding device performances were obtained. In particular, devices based on SAF-3-DMB/FIrpic exhibited an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of >25%. More encouragingly, the device was found to have quite a low efficiency roll-off, giving an efficiency of >20% even at a high brightness of 10000 cd/m(2). Furthermore, the EQE of the three-color-based (R + G + B) white OLED employing SAF-3-DMB as a host was also as high as 22.9% with CIE coordinates of (x, y) = (0.40, 0.48). At a brightness of 5000 cd/m(2), there was only a 3% decrease in EQE from its maximum value, implying a very low efficiency roll-off. PMID:27438586
Power-Efficient Design Challenges
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pangrle, Barry
Design teams find themselves facing decreasing power budgets while simultaneously the products that they design continue to require the integration of increasingly complex levels of functionality. The market place (driven by consumer preferences) and new regulations and guidelines on energy efficiency and environmental impact are the key drivers. This in turn has generated new approaches in all IC and electronic system design domains from the architecture to the physical layout of ICs, to design-for-test, as well as for design verification to insure that the design implementation actually meets the intended requirements and specifications. This chapter covers key aspects of these forces from a technological and market perspective that are driving designers to produce more energy-efficient products. Observations by significant industry leaders from AMD, ARM, IBM, Intel, nVidia and TSMC are cited, and the emerging techniques and technologies used to address these issues now and into the future are explored. Topic areas include: System level: Architectural analysis and transaction-level modeling. How architectural decisions can dramatically reduce the design power and the importance of modeling hardware and software together. IC (Chip) level: The impact of creating on-chip power domains for selectively turning power off and/or multi-voltage operation on: (1) chip verification, (2) multi-corner multi-mode analysis during placement and routing of logic cells and (3) changes to design-for-test, all in order to accommodate for power-gating and multi-voltage control logic, retention registers, isolation cells and level shifters needed to implement these power saving techniques. Process level: The disappearing impact of body-bias techniques on leakage control and why new approaches like High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) technology help but don't eliminate power issues. Power-efficient design is impacting the way chip designers work today, and this chapter focuses on where the most
Designing a highly active soluble PQQ-glucose dehydrogenase for efficient glucose biosensors and biofuel cells
Durand, Fabien; Stines-Chaumeil, Claire; Flexer, Victoria; Andre, Isabelle; Mano, Nicolas
Research highlights: {yields} A new mutant of PQQ-GDH designed for glucose biosensors application. {yields} First mutant of PQQ-GDH with higher activity for D-glucose than the Wild type. {yields} Position N428 is a key point to increase the enzyme activity. {yields} Molecular modeling shows that the N428 C mutant displays a better interaction for PQQ than the WT. -- Abstract: We report for the first time a soluble PQQ-glucose dehydrogenase that is twice more active than the wild type for glucose oxidation and was obtained by combining site directed mutagenesis, modelling and steady-state kinetics. The observed enhancement is attributed to a better interaction between the cofactor and the enzyme leading to a better electron transfer. Electrochemical experiments also demonstrate the superiority of the new mutant for glucose oxidation and make it a promising enzyme for the development of high-performance glucose biosensors and biofuel cells.
A Comparison between Two Types of High Torque and High Efficiency 50-kW SRMs Designed for HEVs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Takeno, Motoki; Chiba, Akira; Hoshi, Nobukazu; Takemoto, Masastugu; Ogasawara, Satoshi
Permanent magnets made of rare earth materials are used in interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSMs), which are major component of hybrid electric vehicles. The recent remarkable increase in the cost of rare earth materials is a major concern. A switched reluctance motor (SRM) without permanent magnets is one of the possible alternatives. Two types of SRMs have been designed with different materials. The SRMs have been investigated full loading tests. This paper reports a comparison between experimental and analysis results for the SRMs. The efficiency of both SRMs can exceed 90%, and the output power can be in excess of 50kW.
The tripole linear ion trap with highly efficient orthogonal ion ejection designed by computer simulations.
Salazar, Gary A; Masujima, Tsutomu
An ion guide, consisting of three rods carrying three alternating current (AC) voltages symmetrically delayed, called a tripole, was used as a linear ion trap (LIT) and studied by computer simulations. Radial containment of ions was also demonstrated with the pseudopotential which was calculated by approximating the tripole electric potential to the multipoles expansion. This work found a new analyte concentrator, which performs effective ion ejection, and is suitable for use with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The efficiency of the overall process from the trapping until the ejection was higher than 90%, although some degree of ion spatial and kinetic energy spread which can be corrected with a reflectron was obtained. The reason for the ejection of this tripole linear ion trap (tLIT) lies in the high space available between the rods. The ejection is optimized with the application of focusing voltages, especially suitable for a tripole symmetry (one electrode has a pulse offset voltage and the other two have a fraction of that pulse). The beam is finally well parallelized with a rectangular Einzel lens. PMID:18384193
Very high efficiency solar cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Barnett, Allen; Kirkpatrick, Douglas; Honsberg, Christiana
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has initiated the Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) program to address the critical need of the soldier for power in the field. Very High Efficiency Solar Cells for portable applications that operate at greater than 55 percent efficiency in the laboratory and 50 percent in production are being developed. We are integrating the optical design with the solar cell design, and have entered previously unoccupied design space that leads to a new architecture paradigm. An integrated team effort is now underway that requires us to invent, develop and transfer to production these new solar cells. Our approach is driven by proven quantitative models for the solar cell design, the optical design and the integration of these designs. We start with a very high performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform. Examples will be presented. Initial solar cell device results are shown for devices fabricated in geometries designed for this VHESC Program.
Design and simulation of a novel high-efficiency cooling heat-sink structure using fluid-thermodynamics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hongqi, Jing; Li, Zhong; Yuxi, Ni; Junjie, Zhang; Suping, Liu; Xiaoyu, Ma
A novel high-efficiency cooling mini-channel heat-sink structure has been designed to meet the package technology demands of high power density laser diode array stacks. Thermal and water flowing characteristics have been simulated using the Ansys-Fluent software. Owing to the increased effective cooling area, this mini-channel heat-sink structure has a better cooling effect when compared with the traditional macro-channel heat-sinks. Owing to the lower flow velocity in this novel high efficient cooling structure, the chillers' water-pressure requirement is reduced. Meanwhile, the machining process of this high-efficiency cooling mini-channel heat-sink structure is simple and the cost is relatively low, it also has advantages in terms of high durability and long lifetime. This heat-sink is an ideal choice for the package of high power density laser diode array stacks. Project supported by the Defense Industrial Technology Development Program (No. B1320133033).
Design of high-efficiency broad-bandwidth pulse compression device based on composite transmission grating with high damage threshold
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Xinrong; Li, Chaoming; Liu, Linyue; Li, Lin; Wu, Jianhong; Chang, Zenghu
A novel pulse compression device has been developed for femto-second Ti: sapphire laser at 800nm center wavelength with 700nm~900nm bandwidth. This new kind of composite pulse compression device consists of two fused silica transmission gratings with 1250lp/mm and 3300lp/mm respectively and these two fused silica transmission gratings are located in two optical surfaces of the same fused silica plate. Owing to use anti-reflection transmission gratings with high space frequency (3300lp/mm), it can avoid the wave-front distort derived from coating antireflection film on one surface of the fused silica plate. Being made of fused silica, this new composite pulse compression device will be expected to have high laser damage threshold. The calculation results show that: the -1st order diffraction efficiency of 1250lp/mm grating is over 87% within the 700nm and 900nm broad-bandwidth for rectangular groove and TE polarization state. And the average diffraction efficiency within the 700nm and 900nm broad-bandwidth is more than 92%. At 800nm, the -1st transmitted order diffraction efficiency is great to 96% while the transmittance of 3300lp/mm grating is up to 99.9%.
Energy efficient building design
Not Available
The fundamental concepts of the building design process, energy codes and standards, and energy budgets are introduced. These tools were combined into Energy Design Guidelines and design contract requirements. The Guidelines were repackaged for a national audience and a videotape for selling the concept to government executives. An effort to test transfer of the Guidelines to outside agencies is described.
High Efficiency, Clean Combustion
Donald Stanton
challenges to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gases, meet stringent emissions regulations, provide customer value, and improve safety. The HECC program successfully reduced engine fuel consumption and greenhouse gases while providing greater customer valve. The US EPA 2010 emissions standard poses a significant challenge for developing clean diesel powertrains that meet the DoE Vehicle Technologies Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) for fuel efficiency improvement while remaining affordable. Along with exhaust emissions, an emphasis on heavy duty vehicle fuel efficiency is being driven by increased energy costs as well as the potential regulation of greenhouse gases. An important element of the success of meeting emissions while significantly improving efficiency is leveraging Cummins component technologies such as fuel injection equipment, aftertreatment, turbomahcinery, electronic controls, and combustion systems. Innovation in component technology coupled with system integration is enabling Cummins to move forward with the development of high efficiency clean diesel products with a long term goal of reaching a 55% peak brake thermal efficiency for the engine plus aftertreatment system. The first step in developing high efficiency clean products has been supported by the DoE co-sponsored HECC program. The objectives of the HECC program are: (1) To design and develop advanced diesel engine architectures capable of achieving US EPA 2010 emission regulations while improving the brake thermal efficiency by 10% compared to the baseline (a state of the art 2007 production diesel engine). (2) To design and develop components and subsystems (fuel systems, air handling, controls, etc) to enable construction and development of multi-cylinder engines. (3) To perform an assessment of the commercial viability of the newly developed engine technology. (4) To specify fuel properties conducive to improvements in emissions, reliability, and fuel efficiency for engines using high-efficiency
Results of design studies and wind tunnel tests of an advanced high lift system for an Energy Efficient Transport
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Oliver, W. R.
The development of an advanced technology high lift system for an energy efficient transport incorporating a high aspect ratio supercritical wing is described. This development is based on the results of trade studies to select the high lift system, analysis techniques utilized to design the high lift system, and results of a wind tunnel test program. The program included the first experimental low speed, high Reynolds number wind tunnel test for this class of aircraft. The experimental results include the effects on low speed aerodynamic characteristics of various leading and trailing edge devices, nacelles and pylons, aileron, spoilers, and Mach and Reynolds numbers. Results are discussed and compared with the experimental data and the various aerodynamic characteristics are estimated.
Computational nano-materials design of high efficiency photovoltaic materials by spinodal nano-decomposition in Chalcopyrite-type semiconductors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Asahina, Hideo; Tani, Yoshimasa; Sato, Kazunori; Katayama-Yoshida, Hiroshi
Chalcopyrite-type semiconductor CuInSe2 (CIS) is one of the most promising materials for low cost photovoltaic solar-cells due to its self-regeneration mechanism. However, from the point of resource security, high concentration of In in CIS is serious disadvantage. Recently, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) attracts much attention to overcome this disadvantage of CIS. This material has already been investigated as a photovoltaic material but the efficiency is not high enough. Based on the first-principles calculations by the KKR-CPA method, we propose how we can enhance the efficiency of CZTS by utilizing the self-organization phenomena caused by spinodal nano-decomposition of Cu & Cu-vacancy, S & Se, and Se & Oxygen. We will compare our design with the available experimental data of STEM-EDX, EELS, Atom Probe Tomography and Raman Scattering data. In addition to the above materials design, we also discuss intermediate band type solar-cells caused by the spinodal nano-decomposition, and propose Fe-doped CuFeS2-CuAlS2 (CFS-CAS), CuFeS2-CuGaS2 (CFS-CGS) and CuFeS2-CuInS2 (CFS-CIS) as promising materials with enhanced conversion efficiency up to 50%.
High efficiency solar cell processing
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ho, F.; Iles, P. A.
At the time of writing, cells made by several groups are approaching 19% efficiency. General aspects of the processing required for such cells are discussed. Most processing used for high efficiency cells is derived from space-cell or concentrator cell technology, and recent advances have been obtained from improved techniques rather than from better understanding of the limiting mechanisms. Theory and modeling are fairly well developed, and adequate to guide further asymptotic increases in performance of near conventional cells. There are several competitive cell designs with promise of higher performance ( 20%) but for these designs further improvements are required. The available cell processing technology to fabricate high efficiency cells is examined.
Turning Bacteria into Fuel: Cyanobacteria Designed for Solar-Powered Highly Efficient Production of Biofuels
Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: ASU is engineering a type of photosynthetic bacteria that efficiently produce fatty acids—a fuel precursor for biofuels. This type of bacteria, called Synechocystis, is already good at converting solar energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) into a type of fatty acid called lauric acid. ASU has modified the organism so it continuously converts sunlight and CO2 into fatty acids—overriding its natural tendency to use solar energy solely for cell growth and maximizing the solar-to-fuel conversion process. ASU's approach is different because most biofuels research focuses on increasing cellular biomass and not on excreting fatty acids. The project has also identified a unique way to convert the harvested lauric acid into a fuel that can be easily blended with existing transportation fuels.
New Design Methods And Algorithms For High Energy-Efficient And Low-cost Distillation Processes
Agrawal, Rakesh
This project sought and successfully answered two big challenges facing the creation of low-energy, cost-effective, zeotropic multi-component distillation processes: first, identification of an efficient search space that includes all the useful distillation configurations and no undesired configurations; second, development of an algorithm to search the space efficiently and generate an array of low-energy options for industrial multi-component mixtures. Such mixtures are found in large-scale chemical and petroleum plants. Commercialization of our results was addressed by building a user interface allowing practical application of our methods for industrial problems by anyone with basic knowledge of distillation for a given problem. We also provided our algorithm to a major U.S. Chemical Company for use by the practitioners. The successful execution of this program has provided methods and algorithms at the disposal of process engineers to readily generate low-energy solutions for a large class of multicomponent distillation problems in a typical chemical and petrochemical plant. In a petrochemical complex, the distillation trains within crude oil processing, hydrotreating units containing alkylation, isomerization, reformer, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and NGL (natural gas liquids) processing units can benefit from our results. Effluents from naphtha crackers and ethane-propane crackers typically contain mixtures of methane, ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane, butane and heavier hydrocarbons. We have shown that our systematic search method with a more complete search space, along with the optimization algorithm, has a potential to yield low-energy distillation configurations for all such applications with energy savings up to 50%.
Design and experimental realization of a highly efficient superfluorescent fiber source with flat C-band spectrum
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Arabanian, Atoosa Sadat; Massudi, Reza
Design and experimental realization of C-band superfluorescent fiber sources using a well-designed high reflector/filter of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in three configurations, namely double-pass forward (DPF), double-pass backward (DPB), and DPF+DPB, is realized. Using a numerical method, the optimum length and peak absorption coefficient of erbium-doped fiber as well as the optimum specifications of FBG, i.e., its 3-dB bandwidth and central wavelength, are calculated. Our numerical calculations illustrate that an appropriate design may result in a flattened amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) output spectrum with a 3-dB bandwidth of about 22 nm and a central wavelength of 1550 nm. Furthermore, the peak power of the flattened ASE spectrum is 16 dBm larger than the power at a wavelength of 1530 nm that is beneficial for increasing the 3-dB bandwidth. The experimental results show that using an optimum design, there are negligible differences between ASE output spectra acquired by different double-pass configurations. However, the DPB configuration has a higher efficiency as compared with other configurations and can provide a C-band superfluorescent fiber source with a simultaneously good spectral flatness, <0.73 dB, high output power of 12 dBm, and maximum 3-dB bandwidth of about 22 nm.
Genetic Algorithm for Innovative Device Designs in High-Efficiency III–V Nitride Light-Emitting Diodes
Zhu, Di; Schubert, Martin F.; Cho, Jaehee; Schubert, E. Fred; Crawford, Mary H.; Koleske, Daniel D.; Shim, Hyunwook; Sone, Cheolsoo
Light-emitting diodes are becoming the next-generation light source because of their prominent benefits in energy efficiency, versatility, and benign environmental impact. However, because of the unique polarization effects in III–V nitrides and the high complexity of light-emitting diodes, further breakthroughs towards truly optimized devices are required. Here we introduce the concept of artificial evolution into the device optimization process. Reproduction and selection are accomplished by means of an advanced genetic algorithm and device simulator, respectively. We demonstrate that this approach can lead to new device structures that go beyond conventional approaches. The innovative designs originating from the genetic algorithm and the demonstration of the predicted results by implementing structures suggested by the algorithm establish a new avenue for complex semiconductor device design and optimization.
Design of high efficiency multi-GHz SiGe HBT electro-optic modulator.
Deng, Shengling; Huang, Z Rena; McDonald, J F
We design and theoretically analyze a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) electro-optic (EO) modulator with a composition graded SiGe base. The waveguide has a large cross-section of 1 microm for ease of fiber alignment. At a base-emitter bias of V BE = 2.5 V, a pi-phase shift requires 74.5 microm interaction length for TM polarization at lambda = 1.55 microm. The total optical attenuation is 3.9 dB to achieve a pi-phase shift in this condition. This device is expected to operate at a switching speed of 2.4 GHz. PMID:19654748
Efficient array design for sonotherapy.
Stephens, Douglas N; Kruse, Dustin E; Ergun, Arif S; Barnes, Stephen; Lu, X Ming; Ferrara, Katherine W
New linear multi-row, multi-frequency arrays have been designed, constructed and tested as fully operational ultrasound probes to produce confocal imaging and therapeutic acoustic intensities with a standard commercial ultrasound imaging system. The triple-array probes and imaging system produce high quality B-mode images with a center row imaging array at 5.3 MHz and sufficient acoustic power with dual therapeutic arrays to produce mild hyperthermia at 1.54 MHz. The therapeutic array pair in the first probe design (termed G3) utilizes a high bandwidth and peak pressure, suitable for mechanical therapies. The second multi-array design (termed G4) has a redesigned therapeutic array pair which is optimized for a high time-averaged power output suitable for mild hyperthermia applications. The 'thermal therapy' design produces more than 4 W of acoustic power from the low-frequency arrays with only a 10.5 degrees C internal rise in temperature after 100 s of continuous use with an unmodified conventional imaging system or substantially longer operation at lower acoustic power. The low-frequency arrays in both probe designs were examined and contrasted for real power transfer efficiency with a KLM model which includes all lossy contributions in the power delivery path from system transmitters to the tissue load. Laboratory verification was successfully performed for the KLM-derived estimates of transducer parallel model acoustic resistance and dissipation resistance, which are the critical design factors for acoustic power output and undesired internal heating, respectively. PMID:18591737
High efficiency RCCI combustion
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Splitter, Derek A.
An experimental investigation of the pragmatic limits of Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) engine efficiency was performed. The study utilized engine experiments combined with zero-dimensional modeling. Initially, simulations were used to suggest conditions of high engine efficiency with RCCI. Preliminary simulations suggested that high efficiency could be obtained by using a very dilute charge with a high compression ratio. Moreover, the preliminary simulations further suggested that with simultaneous 50% reductions in heat transfer and incomplete combustion, 60% gross thermal efficiency may be achievable with RCCI. Following the initial simulations, experiments to investigate the combustion process, fuel effects, and methods to reduce heat transfer and incomplete combustion reduction were conducted. The results demonstrated that the engine cycle and combustion process are linked, and if high efficiency is to be had, then the combustion event must be tailored to the initial cycle conditions. It was found that reductions to engine heat transfer are a key enabler to increasing engine efficiency. In addition, it was found that the piston oil jet gallery cooling in RCCI may be unnecessary, as it had a negative impact on efficiency. Without piston oil gallery cooling, it was found that RCCI was nearly adiabatic, achieving 95% of the theoretical maximum cycle efficiency (air standard Otto cycle efficiency).
High quantum efficiency photocathode simulation for the investigation of novel structured designs
MacPhee, A. G.; Nagel, S. R.; Bell, P. M.; Bradley, D. K.; Landen, O. L.; Opachich, Y. P.; Ross, P. W.; Huffman, E.; Koch, J. A.; Hilsabeck, T. J.
A computer model in CST Studio Suite has been developed to evaluate several novel geometrically enhanced photocathode designs. This work was aimed at identifying a structure that would increase the total electron yield by a factor of two or greater in the 1–30 keV range. The modeling software was used to simulate the electric field and generate particle tracking for several potential structures. The final photocathode structure has been tailored to meet a set of detector performance requirements, namely, a spatial resolution of <40 μm and a temporal spread of 1–10 ps. As a result, we present the details of the geometrically enhanced photocathode model and resulting static field and electron emission characteristics.
High quantum efficiency photocathode simulation for the investigation of novel structured designs
Opachich, Y. P. Ross, P. W.; Huffman, E.; Koch, J. A.; MacPhee, A. G.; Nagel, S. R.; Bell, P. M.; Bradley, D. K.; Landen, O. L.; Hilsabeck, T. J.
A computer model in CST Studio Suite has been developed to evaluate several novel geometrically enhanced photocathode designs. This work was aimed at identifying a structure that would increase the total electron yield by a factor of two or greater in the 1–30 keV range. The modeling software was used to simulate the electric field and generate particle tracking for several potential structures. The final photocathode structure has been tailored to meet a set of detector performance requirements, namely, a spatial resolution of <40 μm and a temporal spread of 1–10 ps. We present the details of the geometrically enhanced photocathode model and resulting static field and electron emission characteristics.
High quantum efficiency photocathode simulation for the investigation of novel structured designs
MacPhee, A. G.; Nagel, S. R.; Bell, P. M.; Bradley, D. K.; Landen, O. L.; Opachich, Y. P.; Ross, P. W.; Huffman, E.; Koch, J. A.; Hilsabeck, T. J.
A computer model in CST Studio Suite has been developed to evaluate several novel geometrically enhanced photocathode designs. This work was aimed at identifying a structure that would increase the total electron yield by a factor of two or greater in the 1–30 keV range. The modeling software was used to simulate the electric field and generate particle tracking for several potential structures. The final photocathode structure has been tailored to meet a set of detector performance requirements, namely, a spatial resolution of <40 μm and a temporal spread of 1–10 ps. As a result, we present the details ofmore » the geometrically enhanced photocathode model and resulting static field and electron emission characteristics.« less
Proper design of silica nanoparticles combines high brightness, lack of cytotoxicity and efficient cell endocytosis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rampazzo, Enrico; Voltan, Rebecca; Petrizza, Luca; Zaccheroni, Nelsi; Prodi, Luca; Casciano, Fabio; Zauli, Giorgio; Secchiero, Paola
Silica-based luminescent nanoparticles (SiNPs) show promising prospects in nanomedicine in light of their chemical properties and versatility. In this study, we have characterized silica core-PEG shell SiNPs derivatized with PEG moieties (NP-PEG), with external amino- (NP-PEG-amino) or carboxy-groups (NP-PEG-carbo), both in cell cultures as well as in animal models. By using different techniques, we could demonstrate that these SiNPs were safe and did not exhibit appreciable cytotoxicity in different relevant cell models, of normal or cancer cell types, growing either in suspension (JVM-2 leukemic cell line and primary normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells) or in adherence (human hepatocarcinoma Huh7 and umbilical vein endothelial cells). Moreover, by multiparametric flow cytometry, we could demonstrate that the highest efficiency of cell uptake and entry was observed with NP-PEG-amino, with a stable persistence of the fluorescence signal associated with SiNPs in the loaded cell populations both in vitro and in vivo settings suggesting this as an innovative method for cell traceability and detection in whole organisms. Finally, experiments performed with the endocytosis inhibitor Genistein clearly suggested the involvement of a caveolae-mediated pathway in SiNP endocytosis. Overall, these data support the safe use of these SiNPs for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.Silica-based luminescent nanoparticles (SiNPs) show promising prospects in nanomedicine in light of their chemical properties and versatility. In this study, we have characterized silica core-PEG shell SiNPs derivatized with PEG moieties (NP-PEG), with external amino- (NP-PEG-amino) or carboxy-groups (NP-PEG-carbo), both in cell cultures as well as in animal models. By using different techniques, we could demonstrate that these SiNPs were safe and did not exhibit appreciable cytotoxicity in different relevant cell models, of normal or cancer cell types, growing either in suspension (JVM-2
Zuteck, Michael D.; Jackson, Kevin L.; Santos, Richard A.; Chow, Ray; Nordenholz, Thomas R.; Wamble, John Lee
The Zimitar one-piece rotor primary structure is integrated, so balanced thrust and gravity loads flow through the hub region without transferring out of its composite material. Large inner rotor geometry is used since there is no need to neck down to a blade root region and pitch bearing. Rotor control is provided by a highly redundant, five flap system on each blade, sized so that easily handled standard electric linear actuators are sufficient.
Design, development and manufacture of high-efficiency low-cost solar modules based on CIGS PVICs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eldada, Louay
We describe the design, development and manufacture of solar power panels based on photovoltaic integrated circuits (PVICs) with high-quality high-uniformity Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) thin films produced with the unique combination of low-cost ink-based and physical vapor deposition (PVD) based nanoengineered precursor thin films and a reactive transfer printing method. Reactive transfer is a two-stage process relying on chemical reaction between two separate precursor films to form CIGS, one deposited on the substrate and the other on a printing plate in the first stage. In the second stage, these precursors are brought into intimate contact and rapidly reacted under pressure in the presence of an electrostatic field while heat is applied. The use of two independent thin films provides the benefits of independent composition and flexible deposition technique optimization, and eliminates pre-reaction prior to the synthesis of CIGS. High quality CIGS with large grains on the order of several microns, and of preferred crystallographic orientation, are formed in just several minutes based on compositional and structural analysis by XRF, SIMS, SEM and XRD. Cell efficiencies of 14% and module efficiencies of 12% have been achieved using this method. When atmospheric pressure deposition of inks is utilized for the precursor films, the approach additionally provides lower energy consumption, higher throughput, and further reduced capital equipment cost with higher uptime.
Design of efficient Mn-based redox materials for thermochemical heat storage at high temperatures
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Carrillo, Alfonso J.; Serrano, David P.; Pizarro, P.; Coronado, Juan M.
Mn-based oxides are promising materials for thermochemical heat storage based on redox cycles, since they are abundant materials whose reduction and oxidation reactions take place in the temperature range at which future CSP plants will work. However, sintering processes related to high temperature cycling can lead to a complete material deactivation that eventually will suppose the loss of cyclability. In this work we present two approaches that have been proposed as to overcome such deactivation. In this respect morphological and chemical modifications were studied. Results showed that even if the first cycle oxidation is enhanced by the presence of macroporosity, sintering also affects to that structures causing a decrease on the oxidation rate. Conversely, chemical modifications, namely addition of cations of Cr and Fe can stabilize the oxidation rate over long term cycling. Specially, by incorporating Fe to the Mn oxide structure the oxidation reaction is remarkably stabilized and improved.
High efficiency low cost thin film silicon solar cell design and method for making
Sopori, B.L.
A semiconductor device is described having a substrate, a conductive intermediate layer deposited onto said substrate, wherein the intermediate layer serves as a back electrode, an optical reflector, and an interface for impurity gettering, and a semiconductor layer deposited onto said intermediate layer, wherein the semiconductor layer has a grain size at least as large as the layer thickness, and preferably about ten times the layer thickness. The device is formed by depositing a metal layer on a substrate, depositing a semiconductive material on the metal-coated substrate to produce a composite structure, and then optically processing the composite structure by illuminating it with infrared electromagnetic radiation according to a unique time-energy profile that first produces pits in the backside surface of the semiconductor material, then produces a thin, highly reflective, low resistivity alloy layer over the entire area of the interface between the semiconductor material and the metal layer, and finally produces a grain-enhanced semiconductor layer. The time-energy profile includes increasing the energy to a first energy level to initiate pit formation and create the desired pit size and density, then ramping up to a second energy level in which the entire device is heated to produce an interfacial melt, and finally reducing the energy to a third energy level and holding for a period of time to allow enhancement in the grain size of the semiconductor layer. 9 figs.
High efficiency, low cost, thin film silicon solar cell design and method for making
Sopori, Bhushan L.
A semiconductor device having a substrate, a conductive intermediate layer deposited onto said substrate, wherein the intermediate layer serves as a back electrode, an optical reflector, and an interface for impurity gettering, and a semiconductor layer deposited onto said intermediate layer, wherein the semiconductor layer has a grain size at least as large as the layer thickness, and preferably about ten times the layer thickness. The device is formed by depositing a metal layer on a substrate, depositing a semiconductive material on the metal-coated substrate to produce a composite structure, and then optically processing the composite structure by illuminating it with infrared electromagnetic radiation according to a unique time-energy profile that first produces pits in the backside surface of the semiconductor material, then produces a thin, highly reflective, low resistivity alloy layer over the entire area of the interface between the semiconductor material and the metal layer, and finally produces a grain-enhanced semiconductor layer. The time-energy profile includes increasing the energy to a first energy level to initiate pit formation and create the desired pit size and density, then ramping up to a second energy level in which the entire device is heated to produce an interfacial melt, and finally reducing the energy to a third energy level and holding for a period of time to allow enhancement in the grain size of the semiconductor layer.
High efficiency low cost thin film silicon solar cell design and method for making
Sopori, Bhushan L.
A semiconductor device having a substrate, a conductive intermediate layer deposited onto said substrate, wherein the intermediate layer serves as a back electrode, an optical reflector, and an interface for impurity gettering, and a semiconductor layer deposited onto said intermediate layer, wherein the semiconductor layer has a grain size at least as large as the layer thickness, and preferably about ten times the layer thickness. The device is formed by depositing a metal layer on a substrate, depositing a semiconductive material on the metal-coated substrate to produce a composite structure, and then optically processing the composite structure by illuminating it with infrared electromagnetic radiation according to a unique time-energy profile that first produces pits in the backside surface of the semiconductor material, then produces a thin, highly reflective, low resistivity alloy layer over the entire area of the interface between the semiconductor material and the metal layer, and finally produces a grain-enhanced semiconductor layer. The time-energy profile includes increasing the energy to a first energy level to initiate pit formation and create the desired pit size and density, then ramping up to a second energy level in which the entire device is heated to produce an interfacial melt, and finally reducing the energy to a third energy level and holding for a period of time to allow enhancement in the grain size of the semiconductor layer.
Development of a High Efficiency Dry Powder Inhaler: Effects of Capsule Chamber Design and Inhaler Surface Modifications
Behara, Srinivas R.B.; Farkas, Dale R.; Hindle, Michael; Longest, P. Worth
Purpose The objective of this study was to explore the performance of a high efficiency dry powder inhaler (DPI) intended for excipient enhanced growth (EEG) aerosol delivery based on changes to the capsule orientation and surface modifications of the capsule and device. Methods DPIs were constructed by combining newly designed capsule chambers (CC) with a previously developed three-dimensional (3D) rod array for particle deagglomeration and a previously optimized EEG formulation. The new CCs oriented the capsule perpendicular to the incoming airflow and were analyzed for different air inlets at a constant pressure drop across the device. Modifications to the inhaler and capsule surfaces included use of metal dispersion rods and surface coatings. Aerosolization performance of the new DPIs was evaluated and compared with commercial devices. Results The proposed capsule orientation and motion pattern increased capsule vibrational frequency and reduced the aerosol MMAD compared with commercial/modified DPIs. The use of metal rods in the 3D array further improved inhaler performance. Coating the inhaler and capsule with PTFE significantly increased emitted dose (ED) from the optimized DPI. Conclusions High efficiency performance is achieved for EEG delivery with the optimized DPI device and formulation combination producing an aerosol with MMAD < 1.5 µm, FPF<5µm/ED > 90%, and ED > 80%. PMID:23949304
High Efficiency Integrated Package
Ibbetson, James
Solid-state lighting based on LEDs has emerged as a superior alternative to inefficient conventional lighting, particularly incandescent. LED lighting can lead to 80 percent energy savings; can last 50,000 hours – 2-50 times longer than most bulbs; and contains no toxic lead or mercury. However, to enable mass adoption, particularly at the consumer level, the cost of LED luminaires must be reduced by an order of magnitude while achieving superior efficiency, light quality and lifetime. To become viable, energy-efficient replacement solutions must deliver system efficacies of ≥ 100 lumens per watt (LPW) with excellent color rendering (CRI > 85) at a cost that enables payback cycles of two years or less for commercial applications. This development will enable significant site energy savings as it targets commercial and retail lighting applications that are most sensitive to the lifetime operating costs with their extended operating hours per day. If costs are reduced substantially, dramatic energy savings can be realized by replacing incandescent lighting in the residential market as well. In light of these challenges, Cree proposed to develop a multi-chip integrated LED package with an output of > 1000 lumens of warm white light operating at an efficacy of at least 128 LPW with a CRI > 85. This product will serve as the light engine for replacement lamps and luminaires. At the end of the proposed program, this integrated package was to be used in a proof-of-concept lamp prototype to demonstrate the component's viability in a common form factor. During this project Cree SBTC developed an efficient, compact warm-white LED package with an integrated remote color down-converter. Via a combination of intensive optical, electrical, and thermal optimization, a package design was obtained that met nearly all project goals. This package emitted 1295 lm under instant-on, room-temperature testing conditions, with an efficacy of 128.4 lm/W at a color temperature of ~2873
Design of the Neuro-ECAT: A high-resolution, high efficiency positron tomography for imaging the adult head or infant torso
Williams, C.W.; Burgiss, S.G.; Burke, M.R.; Crabtree, M.C.; Hoffman, E.J.; Keyser, R.M.; Phelps, M.E.
The Neuro-ECAT scanner is a positron emission tomograph designed for high resolution cross-sectional imaging of the adult human head, or the complete torso of a child or small animal. The Neuro-ECAT scanner performs both rectilinear and tomographic scans, in both transmission and emission modes. There are three detector planes, producing five images. Each detector plane contains 88 bismuth germanate detectors, arranged in an octagonal array of 11 detectors per bank. Retained and electrically operated shadow shields provide two choices of reconstructed tomographic resolution, nominally 8.0 and 10.5 mm. Interplane septa, also retained and electrically operated, may be inserted between the detector planes for low noise, highly quantitative measurements, or moved aside for high efficiency scanning of low activity levels. The paper presents the Neuro-ECAT scanner design criteria and a description of the scanner. Data from phantom studies are presented to illustrate system performance.
Designing nitrogen-enriched echinus-like carbon capsules for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction and lithium ion storage.
Hu, Chuangang; Wang, Lixia; Zhao, Yang; Ye, Minhui; Chen, Qing; Feng, Zhihai; Qu, Liangti
Both structural and compositional modulations are important for high-performance electrode materials in energy conversion/storage devices. Here hierarchical-structure nitrogen-rich hybrid porous carbon capsules with bamboo-like carbon nanotube whiskers (N-CC@CNTs) grown in situ have been specifically designed, which combine the advantageous features of high surface area, abundant active sites, easy access to medium and favorable mass transport. As a result, the newly prepared N-CC@CNTs show highly efficient catalytic activity in oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media for fuel cells, which not only outperforms commercial Pt-based catalysts in terms of kinetic limiting current, stability and tolerance to methanol crossover effect, but is also better than most of the nanostructured carbon-based catalysts reported previously. On the other hand, as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, the N-CC@CNTs obtained also exhibit an excellent reversible capacity of ca. 1337 mA h g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1), outstanding rate capability and long cycling stability, even at a current density of 20 A g(-1). The capacity is the highest among all the heteroatom-doped carbon materials reported so far, and is even higher than that of many of the composites of metal, metal oxides or metal sulfides with carbon materials. PMID:24906180
Low-loss smile-insensitive external frequency-stabilization of high power diode lasers enabled by vertical designs with extremely low divergence angle and high efficiency
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Crump, Paul; Knigge, Steffen; Maaßdorf, Andre; Bugge, Frank; Hengesbach, Stefan; Witte, Ulrich; Hoffmann, Hans-Dieter; Köhler, Bernd; Hubrich, Ralf; Kissel, Heiko; Biesenbach, Jens; Erbert, Götz; Traenkle, Guenther
Broad area lasers with narrow spectra are required for many pumping applications and for wavelength beam combination. Although monolithically stabilized lasers show high performance, some applications can only be addressed with external frequency stabilization, for example when very narrow spectra are required. When conventional diode lasers with vertical far field angle, ΘV 95% ~ 45° (95% power) are stabilized using volume holographic gratings (VHGs), optical losses are introduced, limiting both efficiency and reliable output power, with the presence of any bar smile compounding the challenge. Diode lasers with designs optimized for extremely low vertical divergence (ELOD lasers) directly address these challenges. The vertical far field angle in conventional laser designs is limited by the waveguiding of the active region itself. In ELOD designs, quantum barriers are used that have low refractive index, enabling the influence of the active region to be suppressed, leading to narrow far field operation from thin vertical structures, for minimal electrical resistance and maximum power conversion efficiency. We review the design process, and show that 975 nm diode lasers with 90 μm stripes that use ELOD designs operate with ΘV 95% = 26° and reach 58% power conversion efficiency at a CW output power of 10 W. We demonstrate directly that VHG stabilized ELOD lasers have significantly lower loss and larger operation windows than conventional lasers in the collimated feedback regimes, even in the presence of significant (≥ 1 μm) bar smile. We also discuss the potential influence of ELOD designs on reliable output power and options for further performance improvement.
High efficiency incandescent lighting
Bermel, Peter; Ilic, Ognjen; Chan, Walker R.; Musabeyoglu, Ahmet; Cukierman, Aviv Ruben; Harradon, Michael Robert; Celanovic, Ivan; Soljacic, Marin
Incandescent lighting structure. The structure includes a thermal emitter that can, but does not have to, include a first photonic crystal on its surface to tailor thermal emission coupled to, in a high-view-factor geometry, a second photonic filter selected to reflect infrared radiation back to the emitter while passing visible light. This structure is highly efficient as compared to standard incandescent light bulbs.
High diffraction efficiency of three-layer diffractive optics designed for wide temperature range and large incident angle.
Mao, Shan; Cui, Qingfeng; Piao, Mingxu; Zhao, Lidong
A mathematical model of diffraction efficiency and polychromatic integral diffraction efficiency affected by environment temperature change and incident angle for three-layer diffractive optics with different dispersion materials is put forward, and its effects are analyzed. Taking optical materials N-FK5 and N-SF1 as the substrates of multilayer diffractive optics, the effect on diffraction efficiency and polychromatic integral diffraction efficiency with intermediate materials POLYCARB is analyzed with environment temperature change as well as incident angle. Therefore, three-layer diffractive optics can be applied in more wide environmental temperature ranges and larger incident angles for refractive-diffractive hybrid optical systems, which can obtain better image quality. Analysis results can be used to guide the hybrid imaging optical system design for optical engineers. PMID:27140370
Designing nitrogen-enriched echinus-like carbon capsules for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction and lithium ion storage
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, Chuangang; Wang, Lixia; Zhao, Yang; Ye, Minhui; Chen, Qing; Feng, Zhihai; Qu, Liangti
Both structural and compositional modulations are important for high-performance electrode materials in energy conversion/storage devices. Here hierarchical-structure nitrogen-rich hybrid porous carbon capsules with bamboo-like carbon nanotube whiskers (N-CC@CNTs) grown in situ have been specifically designed, which combine the advantageous features of high surface area, abundant active sites, easy access to medium and favorable mass transport. As a result, the newly prepared N-CC@CNTs show highly efficient catalytic activity in oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media for fuel cells, which not only outperforms commercial Pt-based catalysts in terms of kinetic limiting current, stability and tolerance to methanol crossover effect, but is also better than most of the nanostructured carbon-based catalysts reported previously. On the other hand, as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, the N-CC@CNTs obtained also exhibit an excellent reversible capacity of ca. 1337 mA h g-1 at 0.5 A g-1, outstanding rate capability and long cycling stability, even at a current density of 20 A g-1. The capacity is the highest among all the heteroatom-doped carbon materials reported so far, and is even higher than that of many of the composites of metal, metal oxides or metal sulfides with carbon materials.Both structural and compositional modulations are important for high-performance electrode materials in energy conversion/storage devices. Here hierarchical-structure nitrogen-rich hybrid porous carbon capsules with bamboo-like carbon nanotube whiskers (N-CC@CNTs) grown in situ have been specifically designed, which combine the advantageous features of high surface area, abundant active sites, easy access to medium and favorable mass transport. As a result, the newly prepared N-CC@CNTs show highly efficient catalytic activity in oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media for fuel cells, which not only outperforms commercial Pt-based catalysts in terms of kinetic limiting
New III-V cell design approaches for very high efficiency. Annual subcontract report, 1 August 1990--31 July 1991
Lundstrom, M.S.; Melloch, M.R.; Lush, G.B.; O`Bradovich, G.J.; Young, M.P.
This report describes progress during the first year of a three-year project. The objective of the research is to examine new design approaches for achieving very high conversion efficiencies. The program is divided into two areas. The first centers on exploring new thin-film approaches specifically designed for III-V semiconductors. The second area centers on exploring design approaches for achieving high conversion efficiencies without requiring extremely high quality material. Research activities consisted of an experimental study of minority carrier recombination in n-type, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-deposited GaAs, an assessment of the minority carrier lifetimes in n-GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy, and developing a high-efficiency cell fabrication process.
High efficiency, long life terrestrial solar panel
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chao, T.; Khemthong, S.; Ling, R.; Olah, S.
The design of a high efficiency, long life terrestrial module was completed. It utilized 256 rectangular, high efficiency solar cells to achieve high packing density and electrical output. Tooling for the fabrication of solar cells was in house and evaluation of the cell performance was begun. Based on the power output analysis, the goal of a 13% efficiency module was achievable.
New III-V cell design approaches for very high efficiency. Annual subcontract report, 1 August 1991--31 July 1992
Lundstrom, M.S.; Melloch, M.R.; Lush, G.B.; Patkar, M.P.; Young, M.P.
This report describes to examine new solar cell desip approaches for achieving very high conversion efficiencies. The program consists of two elements. The first centers on exploring new thin-film approaches specifically designed for M-III semiconductors. Substantial efficiency gains may be possible by employing light trapping techniques to confine the incident photons, as well as the photons emitted by radiative recombination. The thin-film approach is a promising route for achieving substantial performance improvements in the already high-efficiency, single-junction, III-V cell. The second element of the research involves exploring desip approaches for achieving high conversion efficiencies without requiring extremely high-quality material. This work has applications to multiple-junction cells, for which the selection of a component cell often involves a compromise between optimum band pp and optimum material quality. It could also be a benefit manufacturing environment by making the cell`s efficiency less dependent on materialquality.
A hybrid MAC protocol design for energy-efficient very-high-throughput millimeter wave, wireless sensor communication networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jian, Wei; Estevez, Claudio; Chowdhury, Arshad; Jia, Zhensheng; Wang, Jianxin; Yu, Jianguo; Chang, Gee-Kung
This paper presents an energy-efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for very-high-throughput millimeter-wave (mm-wave) wireless sensor communication networks (VHT-MSCNs) based on hybrid multiple access techniques of frequency division multiplexing access (FDMA) and time division multiplexing access (TDMA). An energy-efficient Superframe for wireless sensor communication network employing directional mm-wave wireless access technologies is proposed for systems that require very high throughput, such as high definition video signals, for sensing, processing, transmitting, and actuating functions. Energy consumption modeling for each network element and comparisons among various multi-access technologies in term of power and MAC layer operations are investigated for evaluating the energy-efficient improvement of proposed MAC protocol.
Superstructure high efficiency photovoltaics
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wagner, M.; So, L. C.; Leburton, J. P.
A novel class of photovoltaic cascade structures is introduced which features multijunction upper subcells. These superstructure high efficiency photovoltaics (SHEP's) exhibit enhanced upper subcell spectral response because of the additional junctions which serve to reduce bulk recombination losses by decreasing the mean collection distance for photogenerated minority carriers. Two possible electrical configurations were studied and compared: a three-terminal scheme that allows both subcells to be operated at their individual maximum power points and a two-terminal configuration with an intercell ohmic contact for series interconnection. The three-terminal devices were found to be superior both in terms of beginning-of-life expectancy and radiation tolerance. Realistic simulations of three-terminal AlGaAs/GaAs SHEP's show that one sun AMO efficiencies in excess of 26 percent are possible.
Very High Efficiency Solar Cell Modules
Barnett, A.; Kirkpatrick, D.; Honsberg, C.; Moore, D.; Wanlass, M.; Emery, K.; Schwartz, R.; Carlson, D.; Bowden, S.; Aiken, D.; Gray, A.; Kurtz, S.; Kazmerski, L., et al
The Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) program is developing integrated optical system - PV modules for portable applications that operate at greater than 50% efficiency. We are integrating the optical design with the solar cell design, and have entered previously unoccupied design space. Our approach is driven by proven quantitative models for the solar cell design, the optical design, and the integration of these designs. Optical systems efficiency with an optical efficiency of 93% and solar cell device results under ideal dichroic splitting optics summing to 42.7 {+-} 2.5% are described.
High efficiency photoionization detector
Anderson, David F.
A high efficiency photoionization detector using tetraaminoethylenes in a gaseous state having a low ionization potential and a relative photoionization cross section which closely matches the emission spectrum of xenon gas. Imaging proportional counters are also disclosed using the novel photoionization detector of the invention. The compound of greatest interest is TMAE which comprises tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene which has a measured ionization potential of 5.36.+-.0.02 eV, and a vapor pressure of 0.35 torr at 20.degree. C.
High efficiency photoionization detector
Anderson, D.F.
A high efficiency photoionization detector is described using tetraaminoethylenes in a gaseous state having a low ionization potential and a relative photoionization cross section which closely matches the emission spectrum of xenon gas. Imaging proportional counters are also disclosed using the novel photoionization detector of the invention. The compound of greatest interest is TMAE which comprises tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene which has a measured ionization potential of 5.36 [+-] 0.02 eV, and a vapor pressure of 0.35 torr at 20 C. 6 figs.
Design of high-resolution and multilevel reference pattern for improvement of both light utilization efficiency and signal-to-noise ratio in coaxial holographic data storage.
Nobukawa, Teruyoshi; Nomura, Takanori
A high-resolution and multilevel designed reference pattern (DRP) is presented for improvement of both light utilization efficiency and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of reconstructed images in coaxial holographic data storage. With a DRP, the desired Fourier power spectrum of a reference beam is obtained. Numerical and experimental results show that the DRP increases the SNR compared with that of a random phase mask (RPM). Moreover, the light utilization efficiency of the DRP is higher than that of a high-resolution RPM. In addition, the effect of the phase level and the pixel pitch of DRPs on the SNR and the light utilization efficiency are investigated. PMID:24921144
Robert J. Copeland; Yevgenia Gershanovich; Brian Windecker
This project investigated an efficient and low cost method of auto-thermally reforming natural gas to hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Reforming is the highest cost step in producing products such as methanol and Fisher Tropsch liquids (i.e., gas to liquids); and reducing the cost of reforming is the key to reducing the cost of these products. Steam reforming is expensive because of the high cost of the high nickel alloy reforming tubes (i.e., indirectly fired reforming tubes). Conventional auto-thermal or Partial Oxidation (POX) reforming minimizes the size and cost of the reformers and provides a near optimum mixture of CO and hydrogen. However POX requires pure oxygen, which consumes power and significantly increases the cost to reforming. Our high efficiency process extracts oxygen from low-pressure air with novel oxygen sorbent and transfers the oxygen to a nickel-catalyzed reformer. The syngas is generated at process pressure (typically 20 to 40 bar) without nitrogen dilution and has a 1CO to 2H{sub 2} ratio that is near optimum for the subsequent production of Fisher-Tropsch liquid to liquids and other chemicals (i.e., Gas to Liquids, GTL). Our high process efficiency comes from the way we transfer the oxygen into the reformer. All of the components of the process, except for the oxygen sorbent, are commonly used in commercial practice. A process based on a longlived, regenerable, oxygen transfer sorbent could substantially reduce the cost of natural gas reforming to syngas. Lower cost syngas (CO + 2H{sub 2}) that is the feedstock for GTL would reduce the cost of GTL and for other commercial applications (e.g., methanol, other organic chemicals). The vast gas resources of Alaska's North Slope (ANS) offer more than 22 Tcf of gas and GTL production in this application alone, and could account for as much as 300,000 to 700,000 bpd for 20 to 30+ years. We developed a new sorbent, which is an essential part of the High Efficiency Oxygen Process (HOP). We tested the
New silicon cell design concepts for 20 percent AMI efficiency
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wolf, M.
The basic design principles for obtaining high efficiency in silicon solar cells are reviewed. They critically involve very long minority carrier lifetimes, not so much to attain high collection efficiency, but primarily for increased output voltages. Minority carrier lifetime, however, is sensitive to radiation damage, and particularly in low resistivity silicon, on which the high efficiency design is based. Radiation resistant space cells will therefore have to follow differing design principles than high efficiency terrestrial cells.
Bratman, V.L.; Kol`chugin, B.D.; Samsonov, S.V.; Volkov, A.B.
The Cyclotron Autoresonance Maser (CARM) is a well-known variety of FEMs. Unlike the ubitron in which electrons move in a periodical undulator field, in the CARM the particles move along helical trajectories in a uniform magnetic field. Since it is much simpler to generate strong homogeneous magnetic fields than periodical ones for a relatively low electron energy ({Brit_pounds}{le}1-3 MeV) the period of particles` trajectories in the CARM can be sufficiently smaller than in the undulator in which, moreover, the field decreases rapidly in the transverse direction. In spite of this evident advantage, the number of papers on CARM is an order less than on ubitron, which is apparently caused by the low (not more than 10 %) CARM efficiency in experiments. At the same time, ubitrons operating in two rather complicated regimes-trapping and adiabatic deceleration of particles and combined undulator and reversed guiding fields - yielded efficiencies of 34 % and 27 %, respectively. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that high efficiency can be reached even for a simplest version of the CARM. In order to reduce sensitivity to an axial velocity spread of particles, a short interaction length where electrons underwent only 4-5 cyclotron oscillations was used in this work. Like experiments, a narrow anode outlet of a field-emission electron gun cut out the {open_quotes}most rectilinear{close_quotes} near-axis part of the electron beam. Additionally, magnetic field of a small correcting coil compensated spurious electron oscillations pumped by the anode aperture. A kicker in the form of a sloping to the axis frame with current provided a control value of rotary velocity at a small additional velocity spread. A simple cavity consisting of a cylindrical waveguide section restricted by a cut-off waveguide on the cathode side and by a Bragg reflector on the collector side was used as the CARM-oscillator microwave system.
High Efficiency Engine Technologies Program
Rich Kruiswyk
Caterpillar's Product Development and Global Technology Division carried out a research program on waste heat recovery with support from DOE (Department of Energy) and the DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory. The objective of the program was to develop a new air management and exhaust energy recovery system that would demonstrate a minimum 10% improvement in thermal efficiency over a base heavy-duty on-highway diesel truck engine. The base engine for this program was a 2007 C15 15.2L series-turbocharged on-highway truck engine with a LPL (low-pressure loop) exhaust recirculation system. The focus of the program was on the development of high efficiency turbomachinery and a high efficiency turbocompound waste heat recovery system. The focus of each area of development was as follows: (1) For turbine stages, the focus was on investigation and development of technologies that would improve on-engine exhaust energy utilization compared to the conventional radial turbines in widespread use today. (2) For compressor stages, the focus was on investigating compressor wheel design parameters beyond the range typically utilized in production, to determine the potential efficiency benefits thereof. (3) For turbocompound, the focus was on the development of a robust bearing system that would provide higher bearing efficiencies compared to systems used in turbocompound power turbines in production. None of the turbocharger technologies investigated involved addition of moving parts, actuators, or exotic materials, thereby increasing the likelihood of a favorable cost-value tradeoff for each technology. And the turbocompound system requires less hardware addition than competing bottoming cycle technologies, making it a more attractive solution from a cost and packaging standpoint. Main outcomes of the program are as follows: (1) Two turbine technologies that demonstrated up to 6% improvement in turbine efficiency on gas stand and 1-3% improvement in thermal efficiency in
Design and experimental investigation of highly efficient resonance-domain diffraction gratings in the visible spectral region.
Barlev, Omri; Golub, Michael A; Friesem, Asher A; Nathan, Menachem
Surface-relief resonance-domain diffraction gratings with deep and dense grooves provide considerable changes in light propagation direction, wavefront curvature, and nearly 100% Bragg diffraction efficiency usually attributed only to volume optical holograms. In this paper, we present design, computer simulation, fabrication, and experimental results of binary resonance-domain diffraction gratings in the visible spectral region. Performance of imperfectly fabricated diffraction groove profiles was optimized by controlling the DC and the depth of the grooves. Indeed, more than 97% absolute Bragg diffraction efficiency was measured at the 635 nm wavelength with binary gratings having periods of 520 nm and groove depths of about 1000 nm, fabricated by direct electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching. PMID:23207376
Molecular design rule of phthalocyanine dyes for highly efficient near-IR performance in dye-sensitized solar cells.
Kimura, Mutsumi; Nomoto, Hirotaka; Suzuki, Hiroyuki; Ikeuchi, Takuro; Matsuzaki, Hiroyuki; Murakami, Takuro N; Furube, Akihiko; Masaki, Naruhiko; Griffith, Matthew J; Mori, Shogo
A series of zinc-phthalocyanine sensitizers (PcS16-18) with different adsorption sites have been designed and synthesized in order to investigate the dependence of adsorption-site structures on the solar-cell performances in zinc-phthalocyanine based dye-sensitized solar cells. The change of adsorption site affected the electron injection efficiency from the photoexcited dye into the nanocrystalline TiO2 semiconductor, as monitored by picosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The zinc-phthalocyanine sensitizer PcS18, possessing one carboxylic acid directly attached to the ZnPc ring and six 2,6-diisopropylphenoxy units, showed a record power conversion efficiency value of 5.9 % when used as a light-harvesting dye on a TiO2 electrode under one simulated solar condition. PMID:23576330
Design of resonant cavity structure for efficient high-temperature operation of single-photon avalanche photodiodes.
Zavvari, Mahdi; Abedi, Kambiz; Karimi, Mohammad
A novel design of a single-photon avalanche photodiode (SPAD) is proposed based on resonant cavity (RC) structure, and its performance is studied. In the proposed structure, InAlAs/InGaAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) are employed as top and bottom mirrors and the quantum efficiency (QE) of the absorption region is calculated considering the effect of the RC. Results show that using 12 periods of DBRs as a bottom reflector without incorporation of a top mirror can enhance the QE to about 90% at room temperature. For this RC-enhanced SPAD, a single-photon quantum efficiency (SPQE) is obtained of about 0.35 at T=300 K. For temperatures lower than T=260 K, SPQE is about 1. Results show that although the RC doesn't affect the dark current, for a given SPQE the dark count rate is lower for the RC-SPAD. PMID:24922220
Study on Design of High Efficiency and Light Weight Composite Propeller Blade for a Regional Turboprop Aircraft
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kong, Changduk; Lee, Kyungsun
In this study, aerodynamic and structural design of the composite propeller blade for a regional turboprop aircraft is performed. The thin and wide chord propeller blade of high speed turboprop aircraft should have proper strength and stiffness to carry various kinds of loads such as high aerodynamic bending and twisting moments and centrifugal forces. Therefore the skin-spar-foam sandwich structure using high strength and stiffness carbon/epoxy composite materials is used to improve the lightness. A specific design procedure is proposed in this work as follows; firstly the aerodynamic configuration design, which is acceptable for the design requirements, is carried out using the in-house code developed by authors, secondly the structure design loads are determined through the aerodynamic load case analysis, thirdly the spar flange and the skin are preliminarily sized by consideration of major bending moments and shear forces using both the netting rule and the rule of mixture, and finally, the stress analysis is performed to confirm the structural safety and stability using finite element analysis commercial code, MSC. NASTRAN/PATRAN. Furthermore the additional analysis is performed to confirm the structural safety due to bird strike impact on the blade during flight operation using a commercial code, ANSYS. To realize the proposed propeller design, the prototype blades are manufactured by the following procedure; the carbon/epoxy composite fabric prepregs are laid up for skin and spar on a mold using the hand lay-up method and consolidated with a proper temperature and vacuum in the oven. To finalize the structural design, the full-scale static structural test is performed under the simulated aerodynamic loads using 3 point loading method. From the experimental results, it is found that the designed blade has a good structural integrity, and the measured results agree well with the analytical results as well.
Development of High Efficiency Clean Combustion Engine Designs for Spark-Ignition and Compression-Ignition Internal Combustion Engines
Marriott, Craig; Gonzalez, Manual; Russell, Durrett
This report summarizes activities related to the revised STATEMENT OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES (SOPO) dated June 2010 for the Development of High-Efficiency Clean Combustion engine Designs for Spark-Ignition and Compression-Ignition Internal Combustion Engines (COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NUMBER DE-FC26-05NT42415) project. In both the spark- (SI) and compression-ignition (CI) development activities covered in this program, the goal was to develop potential production-viable internal combustion engine system technologies that both reduce fuel consumption and simultaneously met exhaust emission targets. To be production-viable, engine technologies were also evaluated to determine if they would meet customer expectations of refinement in terms of noise, vibration, performance, driveability, etc. in addition to having an attractive business case and value. Prior to this activity, only proprietary theoretical / laboratory knowledge existed on the combustion technologies explored The research reported here expands and develops this knowledge to determine series-production viability. Significant SI and CI engine development occurred during this program within General Motors, LLC over more than five years. In the SI program, several engines were designed and developed that used both a relatively simple multi-lift valve train system and a Fully Flexible Valve Actuation (FFVA) system to enable a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion process. Many technical challenges, which were unknown at the start of this program, were identified and systematically resolved through analysis, test and development. This report documents the challenges and solutions for each SOPO deliverable. As a result of the project activities, the production viability of the developed clean combustion technologies has been determined. At this time, HCCI combustion for SI engines is not considered production-viable for several reasons. HCCI combustion is excessively sensitive to control variables
Configuration design studies and wind tunnel tests of an energy efficient transport with a high-aspect-ratio supercritical wing
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Henne, P. A.; Dahlin, J. A.; Peavey, C. C.; Gerren, D. S.
The results of design studies and wind tunnel tests of high aspect ratio supercritical wings suitable for a medium range, narrow body transport aircraft flying near M=0.80 were presented. The basic characteristics of the wing design were derived from system studies of advanced transport aircraft where detailed structural and aerodynamic tradeoffs were used to determine the most optimum design from the standpoint of fuel usage and direct operating cost. These basic characteristics included wing area, aspect ratio, average thickness, and sweep. The detailed wing design was accomplished through application of previous test results and advanced computational transonic flow procedures. In addition to the basic wing/body development, considerable attention was directed to nacelle/plyon location effects, horizontal tail effects, and boundary layer transition effects. Results of these tests showed that the basic cruise performance objectives were met or exceeded.
Highly efficient ring-opening reaction of azlactone-based copolymer platforms for the design of functionalized materials.
Laquièvre, Aurélie; Allaway, Naomi S; Lyskawa, Joël; Woisel, Patrice; Lefebvre, Jean-Marc; Fournier, David
Azlactone-based homopolymers and copolymers were successfully synthesized using the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process. The functional monomer 2-styryl-4,4-dimethylazlactone (SDA) was first homopolymerized in bulk then copolymerized with styrene, leading to (co)polymers with low polydispersity indices (PDI = 1.10-1.20). The reactive azlactone rings, located along the backbone of the copolymers were subjected to highly efficient ring-opening reactions with functionalized primary amine derivatives incorporating a fluorescent (naphthalene) or an electrochemical (ferrocene) probes, a biological fragment (glutathione), a sugar unit (β-cyclodextrin), or an oligomeric fluorinated moiety, leading to materials with various interesting properties. PMID:22508541
A high-efficiency traveling-wave thermoacoustic refrigerator for cryogenic cooling operation: thermodynamic design and prelimnianry experiment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ren, Jia; Luo, Ercang; Zhang, Liming; Hu, Jianying; Dai, Wei
This paper theoretically studied a traveling-wave thermoacoustic cryocooler (TWTAC), simultaneously comparing with an inertance-tube pulse tube cryocooler operating in liquid nitrogen temperature range. The same core thermodynamic components are fixed and used in the both cryocoolers. First, thermodynamic design and optimization mainly on their phase shifting devices are made. For 77 K operation, the theoretical results show that the TWTAC has an increase of efficiency by about 10% compared with the inertance pulse tube cryocooler. Then, preliminary experiments on the TWTAC driven by a linear compressor were conducted. So far, the traveling-wave thermoacoustic cryocooler has achieved a no-load refrigeration temperature of 135 K with a pressure ratio of 1.15, and the reasons for huge different between the theoretical and experimental results are being indentified.
Anthraquinone-based intramolecular charge-transfer compounds: computational molecular design, thermally activated delayed fluorescence, and highly efficient red electroluminescence.
Zhang, Qisheng; Kuwabara, Hirokazu; Potscavage, William J; Huang, Shuping; Hatae, Yasuhiro; Shibata, Takumi; Adachi, Chihaya
Red fluorescent molecules suffer from large, non-radiative internal conversion rates (k(IC)) governed by the energy gap law. To design efficient red thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a large fluorescence rate (k(F)) as well as a small energy difference between the lowest singlet and triplet excited states (ΔE(ST)) is necessary. Herein, we demonstrated that increasing the distance between donor (D) and acceptor (A) in intramolecular-charge-transfer molecules is a promising strategy for simultaneously achieving small ΔE(ST) and large k(F). Four D-Ph-A-Ph-D-type molecules with an anthraquinone acceptor, phenyl (Ph) bridge, and various donors were designed, synthesized, and compared with corresponding D-A-D-type molecules. Yellow to red TADF was observed from all of them. The k(F) and ΔE(ST) values determined from the measurements of quantum yield and lifetime of the fluorescence and TADF components are in good agreement with those predicted by corrected time-dependent density functional theory and are approximatively proportional to the square of the cosine of the theoretical twisting angles between each subunit. However, the introduction of a Ph-bridge was found to enhance k(F) without increasing ΔE(ST). Molecular simulation revealed a twisting and stretching motion of the N-C bond in the D-A-type molecules, which is thought to lower ΔE(ST) and k(F) but raise k(IC), that was experimentally confirmed in both solution and doped film. OLEDs containing D-Ph-A-Ph-D-type molecules with diphenylamine and bis(4-biphenyl)amine donors demonstrated maximum external quantum efficiencies of 12.5% and 9.0% with emission peaks at 624 and 637 nm, respectively. PMID:25469624
Final LDRD report : design and fabrication of advanced device structures for ultra high efficiency solid state lighting.
Koleske, Daniel David; Bogart, Katherine Huderle Andersen; Shul, Randy John; Wendt, Joel Robert; Crawford, Mary Hagerott; Allerman, Andrew Alan; Fischer, Arthur Joseph
The goal of this one year LDRD was to improve the overall efficiency of InGaN LEDs by improving the extraction of light from the semiconductor chip. InGaN LEDs are currently the most promising technology for producing high efficiency blue and green semiconductor light emitters. Improving the efficiency of InGaN LEDs will enable a more rapid adoption of semiconductor based lighting. In this LDRD, we proposed to develop photonic structures to improve light extraction from nitride-based light emitting diodes (LEDs). While many advanced device geometries were considered for this work, we focused on the use of a photonic crystal for improved light extraction. Although resonant cavity LEDs and other advanced structures certainly have the potential to improve light extraction, the photonic crystal approach showed the most promise in the early stages of this short program. The photonic crystal (PX)-LED developed here incorporates a two dimensional photonic crystal, or photonic lattice, into a nitride-based LED. The dimensions of the photonic crystal are selected such that there are very few or no optical modes in the plane of the LED ('lateral' modes). This will reduce or eliminate any radiation in the lateral direction so that the majority of the LED radiation will be in vertical modes that escape the semiconductor, which will improve the light-extraction efficiency. PX-LEDs were fabricated using a range of hole diameters and lattice constants and compared to control LEDs without a photonic crystal. The far field patterns from the PX-LEDs were dramatically modified by the presence of the photonic crystal. An increase in LED brightness of 1.75X was observed for light measured into a 40 degree emission cone with a total increase in power of 1.5X for an unencapsulated LED.
High Efficiency Room Air Conditioner
Bansal, Pradeep
This project was undertaken as a CRADA project between UT-Battelle and Geberal Electric Company and was funded by Department of Energy to design and develop of a high efficiency room air conditioner. A number of novel elements were investigated to improve the energy efficiency of a state-of-the-art WAC with base capacity of 10,000 BTU/h. One of the major modifications was made by downgrading its capacity from 10,000 BTU/hr to 8,000 BTU/hr by replacing the original compressor with a lower capacity (8,000 BTU/hr) but high efficiency compressor having an EER of 9.7 as compared with 9.3 of the original compressor. However, all heat exchangers from the original unit were retained to provide higher EER. The other subsequent major modifications included- (i) the AC fan motor was replaced by a brushless high efficiency ECM motor along with its fan housing, (ii) the capillary tube was replaced with a needle valve to better control the refrigerant flow and refrigerant set points, and (iii) the unit was tested with a drop-in environmentally friendly binary mixture of R32 (90% molar concentration)/R125 (10% molar concentration). The WAC was tested in the environmental chambers at ORNL as per the design rating conditions of AHAM/ASHRAE (Outdoor- 95F and 40%RH, Indoor- 80F, 51.5%RH). All these modifications resulted in enhancing the EER of the WAC by up to 25%.
High-efficiency axial compressor: Final report
Bettner, J.L.; Sehra, A.K.
An aerodynamic design study was conducted to configure an industrial-size gas turbine compressor of 14.0:1 pressure ratio and 800 lb/sec flow for achieving maximum efficiency. Starting with an initial configuration based on conventional design practice, compressor design parameters were progressively optimized, leading to a 1.8% improvement in the adiabatic efficiency over that of the conventional design. To further improve the efficiency potential of this design, several advanced design concepts were investigated. It was found that incorporation of airfoils with swept leading edges and customization of the airfoil camber and endwall region would result in an additional adiabatic efficiency potential of 1%. The projected polytropic efficiency of the final advanced concept compressor design was estimated at 92.8%, which is 2 to 3% higher than the current high-efficiency aircraft turbine engine compressors. As a part of this design study, the influence of variable geometry on the flow and efficiency (at design speed) was also investigated. It was estimated that the efficiency decrement associated with a 25% reduction in the design flow, achieved by a system of variable inlet guide vanes and the front five stators, was about 4.0%. The corresponding efficiency penalty with variable IGV-only was estimated to be in excess of 10%.
Results of design studies and wind tunnel tests of high-aspect-ratio supercritical wings for an energy efficient transport
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Steckel, D. K.; Dahlin, J. A.; Henne, P. A.
These basic characteristics of critical wings included wing area, aspect ratio, average thickness, and sweep as well as practical constraints on the planform and thickness near the wing root to allow for the landing gear. Within these constraints, a large matrix of wing designs was studied with spanwise variations in the types of airfoils and distribution of lift as well as some small planform changes. The criteria by which the five candidate wings were chosen for testing were the cruise and buffet characteristics in the transonic regime and the compatibility of the design with low speed (high-lift) requirements. Five wing-wide-body configurations were tested in the NASA Ames 11-foot transonic wind tunnel. Nacelles and pylons, flap support fairings, tail surfaces, and an outboard aileron were also tested on selected configurations.
Junior High Gets Energy Efficient VAV System
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Modern Schools, 1977
Minnesota's Isanti Junior High, designed with an energy efficient variable air volume system, is an innovative school selected for display at the 1977 Exhibition of School Architecture in Las Vegas. (Author/MLF)
A New Molecular Design Based on Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence for Highly Efficient Organic Light Emitting Diodes.
Rajamalli, Pachaiyappan; Senthilkumar, Natarajan; Gandeepan, Parthasarathy; Huang, Pei-Yun; Huang, Min-Jie; Ren-Wu, Chen-Zheng; Yang, Chi-Yu; Chiu, Ming-Jui; Chu, Li-Kang; Lin, Hao-Wu; Cheng, Chien-Hong
Two benzoylpyridine-carbazole based fluorescence materials DCBPy and DTCBPy, bearing two carbazolyl and 4-(t-butyl)carbazolyl groups, respectively, at the meta and ortho carbons of the benzoyl ring, were synthesized. These molecules show very small ΔEST of 0.03 and 0.04 eV and transient PL characteristics indicating that they are thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials. In addition, they show extremely different photoluminescent quantum yields in solution and in the solid state: in cyclohexane the value are 14 and 36%, but in the thin films, the value increase to 88.0 and 91.4%, respectively. The OLEDs using DCBPy and DTCBPy as dopants emit blue and green light with EQEs of 24.0 and 27.2%, respectively, and with low efficiency roll-off at practical brightness level. The crystal structure of DTCBPy reveals a substantial interaction between the ortho donor (carbazolyl) and acceptor (4-pyridylcarbonyl) unit. This interaction between donor and acceptor substituents likely play a key role to achieve very small ΔEST with high photoluminescence quantum yield. PMID:26709617
Design of an Ultra-Efficient GaN High Power Amplifier for Radar Front-Ends Using Active Harmonic Load-Pull
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Thrivikraman, Tushar; Hoffman, James
This work presents a new measurement technique, mixed-signal active harmonic load-pull (MSALP) developed by Anterverta-mw in partnership with Maury Microwave, that allows for wide-band ultra-high efficiency amplifiers to be designed using GaN technology. An overview of the theory behind active load-pull is presented and why load-pull is important for high-power device characterization. In addition, an example procedure is presented that outlines a methodology for amplifier design using this measurement system. Lastly, measured results of a 10W GaN amplifier are presented. This work aims to highlight the benefit of using this sophisticated measurement systems for to optimize amplifier design for real radar waveforms that in turn will simplify implementation of space-based radar systems
(New process modeling, design and control strategies for energy efficiency, high product quality and improved productivity in the process industries)
Not Available
Highlights are reported of work to date on: resilient design and control of chemical reactors (polymerization, packed bed), operation of complex processing systems (compensators for multivariable systems with delays and Right Half Plane zeroes, process identification and controller design for multivariable systems, nonlinear systems control, distributed parameter systems), and computer-aided design software (CONSYD, POLYRED, expert systems). 15 figs, 54 refs. (DLC)
[New process modeling, design and control strategies for energy efficiency, high product quality and improved productivity in the process industries
Not Available
Highlights are reported of work to date on: resilient design and control of chemical reactors (polymerization, packed bed), operation of complex processing systems (compensators for multivariable systems with delays and Right Half Plane zeroes, process identification and controller design for multivariable systems, nonlinear systems control, distributed parameter systems), and computer-aided design software (CONSYD, POLYRED, expert systems). 15 figs, 54 refs. (DLC)
Hwang, K. S.; Koestler, D. J.
Disclosed is a dwelling furnace having at least one clam-shell type primary heat exchanger in parallel orientation with a secondary heat exchanger, both the primary and secondary heat exchangers being vertically oriented relative to a furnace housing and parallel to the flow of air to be heated. The primary heat exchanger has a combustion chamber in the lower end thereof, and the lower end of the secondary heat exchanger exhausts into a tertiary heat exchanger oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary and secondary heat exchangers and horizontally relative to the housing, below the combustion chambers of the primary heat exchangers and below the exhaust outlet of the secondary heat exchanger. The tertiary heat exchanger includes a plurality of condensation tubes for retrieving the latent heat of condensation of the combustion gases. The furnace further comprises an induced draft blower for drawing combustion gases through the heat exchangers and inducting sufficient air to the combustion chamber of the primary heat exchanger for efficient combustion.
Hwang, K. S.; Koestler, D. J.
Disclosed is a dwelling furnace having at least one clam-shell type primary heat exchanger in parallel orientation with a secondary heat exchanger, both the primary and secondary heat exchangers being vertically oriented relative to a furnace housing and parallel to the flow of air to be heated. The primary heat exchanger has a combustion chamber in the lower end thereof, and the lower end of the secondary heat exchanger exhausts into a tertiary heat exchanger oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary and secondary heat exchangers and horizontally relative to the housing, below the combustion chambers of the primary heat exchangers and below the exhaust outlet of the secondary heat exchanger. The tertiary heat exchanger includes a plurality of condensation tubes for retrieving the latent heat of condensation of the combustion gases. The furnace further comprises an induced draft blower for drawing combustion gases through the heat exchangers and inducting sufficient air to the combustion chamber of the primary heat exchanger for efficient combustion.
Design and optimization of a highly efficient optical multipass system for γ-ray beam production from electron laser beam Compton scattering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dupraz, K.; Cassou, K.; Delerue, N.; Fichot, P.; Martens, A.; Stocchi, A.; Variola, A.; Zomer, F.; Courjaud, A.; Mottay, E.; Druon, F.; Gatti, G.; Ghigo, A.; Hovsepian, T.; Riou, J. Y.; Wang, F.; Mueller, A. C.; Palumbo, L.; Serafini, L.; Tomassini, P.
A new kind of nonresonant optical recirculator, dedicated to the production of γ rays by means of Compton backscattering, is described. This novel instrument, inspired by optical multipass systems, has its design focused on high flux and very small spectral bandwidth of the γ-ray beam. It has been developed to fulfill the project specifications of the European Extreme Light Infrastructure "Nuclear Pillar," i.e., the Gamma Beam System. Our system allows a single high power laser pulse to recirculate 32 times synchronized on the radio frequency driving accelerating cavities for the electron beam. Namely, the polarization of the laser beam and crossing angle between laser and electrons are preserved all along the 32 passes. Moreover, optical aberrations are kept at a negligible level. The general tools developed for designing, optimizing, and aligning the system are described. A detailed simulation demonstrates the high efficiency of the device.
High-Efficiency Solar Cells for Large-Scale Electricity Generation & Design Considerations for the Related Optics (Presentation)
Kurtz, S.; Olson, J.; Geisz, J.; Friedman, D.; McMahon, W.; Ptak, A.; Wanlass, M.k; Kibbler, A.; Kramer, C.; Ward, S.; Duda, A.; Young, M.; Carapella, J.
The photovoltaic industry has been growing exponentially at an average rate of about 35%/year since 1979. Recently, multijunction concentrator cell efficiencies have surpassed 40%. Combined with concentrating optics, these can be used for electricity generation.
Considerations for efficient airflow design in cleanrooms
Xu, Tengfang
A high-performance cleanroom should provide efficient energy performance in addition to effective contamination control. Energy-efficient designs can yield capital and operational cost savings, and can be part of a strategy to improve productivity in the cleanroom industry. Based upon in-situ measurement data from ISO Class 5 clean rooms, this article discusses key factors affecting cleanroom air system performance and benefits of efficient airflow design in clean rooms. Cleanroom HVAC systems used in the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries are very energy intensive, requiring large volumes of cleaned air to remove or dilute contaminants for satisfactory operations. There is a tendency, however, to design excessive airflow rates into cleanroom HVAC systems, due to factors such as design conservatism, lack of thorough understanding of airflow requirements, concerns about cleanliness reliability, and potential design and operational liabilities. Energy use of cleanroom environmental systems varies with system type and design, cleanroom functions, and the control of critical parameters such as temperature and humidity. In particular, cleanroom cleanliness requirements specified by cleanliness class have an impact on overall energy use. A previous study covering Europe and the US reveals annual cleanroom electricity usage for cooling and fan energy varies significantly depending on cleanliness class, and may account for up to three-quarters of total annual operating costs. A study on a semiconductor cleanroom in Japan found air delivery systems account for more than 30% of total power consumption. It is evident that the main factors dictating cleanroom operation energy include airflow rates and HVAC system efficiency. Improving energy efficiency in clean rooms may potentially contribute to significant savings in the initial costs of the facilities as well as operation and maintenance costs. For example, energy consumption by a typical chip
Schuetz, Mark A.
A burner assembly provides for 100% premixing of fuel and air by drawing the air into at least one high velocity stream of fuel without power assist. Specifically, the nozzle assembly for injecting the fuel into a throat comprises a plurality of nozzles in a generally circular array. Preferably, swirl is imparted to the air/fuel mixture by angling the nozzles. The diffuser comprises a conical primary diffuser followed by a cusp diffuser.
Advanced high efficient liquid transport garments
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Elkins, W.; Williams, W.
The heat transfer characteristics, design, fabrication, and current and anticipated applications of a new liquid transport garment (LTG) are discussed. The new LTG is being constructed from highly efficient liquid transport modules which have been developed to replace the current tygon tubing networks for applications in Apollo and other liquid cooling garment designs.
Design of toroidal transformers for maximum efficiency
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Dayton, J. A., Jr.
The design of the most efficient toroidal transformer that can be built given the frequency, volt-ampere rating, magnetic flux density, window fill factor, and materials is described. With the above all held constant and only the dimensions of the magnetic core varied, the most efficient design occurs when the copper losses equal 60 percent of the iron losses. When this criterion is followed, efficiency is only slightly dependent on design frequency and fill factor. The ratios of inside diameter to outside diameter and height to build of the magnetic core that result in transformers of maximum efficiency are computed.
Design Principles for Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanomaterials as Highly Efficient Catalysts for Fuel Cells and Metal-Air Batteries.
Zhao, Zhenghang; Li, Mingtao; Zhang, Lipeng; Dai, Liming; Xia, Zhenhai
Oxygen reduction reaction/oxygen evolution reaction (ORR/OER) catalytic activities of p-orbital heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials are demonstrated to correlate to the combination of the electron affinity and electronegativity of doping elements, which serves as an activity descriptor for the entire family of p-block element dopants. Such a descriptor has predictive power and enables effective design of new bifunctional catalysts with enhanced ORR/OER activities. PMID:26418520
Design of a high efficiency ultrathin CdS/CdTe solar cell using back surface field and backside distributed Bragg reflector.
Khosroabadi, Saeed; Keshmiri, Seyyed Hossein
A high efficiency CdS/CdTe solar cell was designed with a reduced CdTe absorber-layer thickness and a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) as an optical reflector and a ZnTe layer as back surface field (BSF) layer. Simulation results showed that with combination of DBR and BSF layers and 0.3 µm thick CdTe, the conversion efficiency was increased about 3.2% as compared with a reference cell (with 4 µm thick CdTe layer). It was also shown that the efficiency can be increased up to 6.02% by using a long carrier lifetime in the absorber layer. Under global AM 1.5G conditions, the proposed cell structure had an open-circuit voltage of 1.062 V, a short-circuit current density of 24.64 mA/cm², and a fill factor of 81.3%, corresponding to a total area conversion efficiency of 21.02%. PMID:24922397
Design of high-efficiency vibration energy harvesters and experimental functional tests for improving bandwidth and tunability
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Somà, A.; De Pasquale, G.
The reduction of power consumption of sensors allows the local power supply or wireless sensor networks. This paper introduces the results of design and experiments on devices for harvesting energy from vibrations of machines. The main contribution of this research is the empirical evaluation of different technical solutions able to improve harvester performances and sensing system duty cycle. Satisfactory results have been achieved in lowering of resonance by levitating suspensions and in increasing of Q-factor by studying the air flows. Output power values of 10mW (5.7Hz, 1.4g) and 115mW (3.2Hz, 0.2g) were obtained for piezoelectric and inductive harvesters respectively.
High-Efficiency Autonomous Coherent Lidar
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Gatt, Philip; Henderson, Sammy W.; Hannon, Stephen M.
A useful measure of sensor performance is the transceiver system efficiency n (sub sys). Which consists of the antenna efficiency n (sub a) and optical and electronic losses. Typically, the lidar equation and the antenna efficiency are defined in terms of the telescope aperture area. However, during the assembly of a coherent transceiver, it is important to measure the system efficiency before the installation of the beamexpanding telescope (i.e., the untruncated-beam system efficiency). Therefore, to accommodate both truncated and untruncated beam efficiency measurements, we define the lidar equation and the antenna efficiency in terms of the beam area rather than the commonly used aperture area referenced definition. With a well-designed Gaussian-beam lidar, aperture area referenced system efficiencies of 15 to 20 % (23-31% relative to the beam area) are readily achievable. In this paper we compare the differences between these efficiency definitions. We then describe techniques by which high efficiency can be achieved, followed by a discussion several novel auto alignment techniques developed to maintain high efficiency.
High Efficiency, High Performance Clothes Dryer
Peter Pescatore; Phil Carbone
This program covered the development of two separate products; an electric heat pump clothes dryer and a modulating gas dryer. These development efforts were independent of one another and are presented in this report in two separate volumes. Volume 1 details the Heat Pump Dryer Development while Volume 2 details the Modulating Gas Dryer Development. In both product development efforts, the intent was to develop high efficiency, high performance designs that would be attractive to US consumers. Working with Whirlpool Corporation as our commercial partner, TIAX applied this approach of satisfying consumer needs throughout the Product Development Process for both dryer designs. Heat pump clothes dryers have been in existence for years, especially in Europe, but have not been able to penetrate the market. This has been especially true in the US market where no volume production heat pump dryers are available. The issue has typically been around two key areas: cost and performance. Cost is a given in that a heat pump clothes dryer has numerous additional components associated with it. While heat pump dryers have been able to achieve significant energy savings compared to standard electric resistance dryers (over 50% in some cases), designs to date have been hampered by excessively long dry times, a major market driver in the US. The development work done on the heat pump dryer over the course of this program led to a demonstration dryer that delivered the following performance characteristics: (1) 40-50% energy savings on large loads with 35 F lower fabric temperatures and similar dry times; (2) 10-30 F reduction in fabric temperature for delicate loads with up to 50% energy savings and 30-40% time savings; (3) Improved fabric temperature uniformity; and (4) Robust performance across a range of vent restrictions. For the gas dryer development, the concept developed was one of modulating the gas flow to the dryer throughout the dry cycle. Through heat modulation in a
MIC-SVM: Designing A Highly Efficient Support Vector Machine For Advanced Modern Multi-Core and Many-Core Architectures
You, Yang; Song, Shuaiwen; Fu, Haohuan; Marquez, Andres; Mehri Dehanavi, Maryam; Barker, Kevin J.; Cameron, Kirk; Randles, Amanda; Yang, Guangwen
Support Vector Machine (SVM) has been widely used in data-mining and Big Data applications as modern commercial databases start to attach an increasing importance to the analytic capabilities. In recent years, SVM was adapted to the field of High Performance Computing for power/performance prediction, auto-tuning, and runtime scheduling. However, even at the risk of losing prediction accuracy due to insufficient runtime information, researchers can only afford to apply offline model training to avoid significant runtime training overhead. To address the challenges above, we designed and implemented MICSVM, a highly efficient parallel SVM for x86 based multi-core and many core architectures, such as the Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs and Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor (MIC).
Advanced high efficiency concentrator cells
Gale, R. . Varian Research Center)
This report describes research to develop the technology needed to demonstrate a monolithic, multijunction, two-terminal, concentrator solar cell with a terrestrial power conversion efficiency greater than 35%. Under three previous subcontracts, Varian developed many of the aspects of a technology needed to fabricate very high efficiency concentrator cells. The current project was aimed at exploiting the new understanding of high efficiency solar cells. Key results covered in this report are as follows. (1) A 1.93-eV AlGaAs/1.42-eV GaAs metal-interconnected cascade cell was manufactured with a one-sun efficiency at 27.6% at air mass 1.5 (AM1.5) global. (2) A 1.0eV InGaAs cell was fabricated on the reverse'' side of a low-doped GaAs substrate with a one-sun efficiency of 2.5% AM1.5 diffuse and a short-circuit current of 14.4 mA/cm{sup 2}. (3) Small-scale manufacturing of GaAs p/n concentrator cells was attempted and obtained an excellent yield of high-efficiency cells. (4) Grown-in tunnel junction cell interconnects that are transparent and thermally stable using C and Si dopants were developed. 10 refs.
A Designed TiO2 /Carbon Nanocomposite as a High-Efficiency Lithium-Ion Battery Anode and Photocatalyst.
Peng, Liang; Zhang, Huijuan; Bai, Yuanjuan; Feng, Yangyang; Wang, Yu
Herein, a peapod-like TiO2 /carbon nanocomposite has successfully been synthesized by a rational method for the first time. The novel nanostructure exhibits a distinct feature of TiO2 nanoparticles encapsulated inside and the carbon fiber coating outside. In the synthetic process, H2 Ti3 O7 nanotubes serve as precursors and templates, and glucose molecules act as the green carbon source. With the alliciency of hydrogen bonding between H2 Ti3 O7 and glucose, a thin polymer layer is hydrothermally assembled and subsequently converted into carbon fibers through calcinations under an inert atmosphere. Meanwhile, the precursors of H2 Ti3 O7 nanotubes are transformed into the TiO2 nanoparticles encapsulated in carbon fibers. The achieved unique nanocomposites can be used as excellent anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and photocatalytic reagents in the degradation of rhodamine B. Due to the synergistic effect derived from TiO2 nanoparticles and carbon fibers, the obtained peapod-like TiO2 /carbon cannot only deliver a high specific capacity of 160 mAh g(-1) over 500 cycles in LIBs, but also perform a much faster photodegradation rate than bare TiO2 and P25. Furthermore, owing to the low cost, environmental friendliness as well as abundant source, this novel TiO2 /carbon nanocomposite will have a great potential to be extended to other application fields, such as specific catalysis, gas sensing, and photovoltaics. PMID:26310518
High efficiency solar panel /HESP/
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stella, P. M.; Gay, C.; Uno, F.; Scott-Monck, J.
A family of high efficiency, weldable silicon solar cells, incorporating nearly every feature of advanced cell technology developed in the past four years, was produced and subjected to space qualification testing. This matrix contained both field and non-field cells ranging in thickness from 0.10 mm to 0.30 mm, and in base resistivity from nominal two to one hundred ohm-cm. Initial power outputs as high as 20 mW/sq cm (14.8% AM0 efficiency) were produced by certain cell types within the matrix.
New process modeling [sic], design, and control strategies for energy efficiency, high product quality, and improved productivity in the process industries. Final project report
Ray, W. Harmon
This project was concerned with the development of process design and control strategies for improving energy efficiency, product quality, and productivity in the process industries. In particular, (i) the resilient design and control of chemical reactors, and (ii) the operation of complex processing systems, was investigated. Specific topics studied included new process modeling procedures, nonlinear controller designs, and control strategies for multiunit integrated processes. Both fundamental and immediately applicable results were obtained. The new design and operation results from this project were incorporated into computer-aided design software and disseminated to industry. The principles and design procedures have found their way into industrial practice.
Design of Spur Gears for Improved Efficiency
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Anderson, N. E.; Loewenthal, S. H.
A method to calculate spur gear system loss for a wide range of gear geometries and operating conditions was used to determine design requirements for an efficient gearset. The effects of spur gear size, pitch, ratio, pitch line velocity and load on efficiency were determined. Peak efficiencies were found to be greater for large diameter and fine pitched gears and tare (no-load) losses were found to be significant.
Efficient Viscous Design of Realistic Aircraft Configurations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Campbell, Richard L.
This paper addresses the use of the Constrained Direct Iterative Surface Curvature (CDISC) design method in the aircraft design process. A discussion of some of the requirements for practical use of CFD in the design process is followed by a description of different CFD design methods, along with their relative strengths and weaknesses. A detailed description of the CDISC design method highlights some of the aspects of the method that provide computational efficiency and portability, as well as the flow and geometry constraint capabilities. In addition, an efficient approach to multipoint design, the Weighted Averaging of Geometries (WAG) method, is described and illustrated using a couple of simple examples. The CDISC and WAG methods are then applied to a complex generic business jet geometry using an unstructured grid flow solver to demonstrate the multipoint and multicomponent design capabilities of these methods. Introduction
Enhancing Instructional Design Efficiency: Methodologies Employed by Instructional Designers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roytek, Margaret A.
Instructional systems design (ISD) has been frequently criticised as taking too long to implement, calling for a reduction in cycle time--the time that elapses between project initiation and delivery. While instructional design research has historically focused on increasing "learner" efficiencies, the study of what instructional designers do to…
Enabling High Efficiency Ethanol Engines
Szybist, J.; Confer, K.
Delphi Automotive Systems and ORNL established this CRADA to explore the potential to improve the energy efficiency of spark-ignited engines operating on ethanol-gasoline blends. By taking advantage of the fuel properties of ethanol, such as high compression ratio and high latent heat of vaporization, it is possible to increase efficiency with ethanol blends. Increasing the efficiency with ethanol-containing blends aims to remove a market barrier of reduced fuel economy with E85 fuel blends, which is currently about 30% lower than with petroleum-derived gasoline. The same or higher engine efficiency is achieved with E85, and the reduction in fuel economy is due to the lower energy density of E85. By making ethanol-blends more efficient, the fuel economy gap between gasoline and E85 can be reduced. In the partnership between Delphi and ORNL, each organization brought a unique and complementary set of skills to the project. Delphi has extensive knowledge and experience in powertrain components and subsystems as well as overcoming real-world implementation barriers. ORNL has extensive knowledge and expertise in non-traditional fuels and improving engine system efficiency for the next generation of internal combustion engines. Partnering to combine these knowledge bases was essential towards making progress to reducing the fuel economy gap between gasoline and E85. ORNL and Delphi maintained strong collaboration throughout the project. Meetings were held regularly, usually on a bi-weekly basis, with additional reports, presentations, and meetings as necessary to maintain progress. Delphi provided substantial hardware support to the project by providing components for the single-cylinder engine experiments, engineering support for hardware modifications, guidance for operational strategies on engine research, and hardware support by providing a flexible multi-cylinder engine to be used for optimizing engine efficiency with ethanol-containing fuels.
Design of spur gears for improved efficiency
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Anderson, N. E.; Loewenthal, S. H.
A method to calculate spur gear system power loss for a wide range of gear geometries and operating conditions is used to determine design requirements for an efficient gearset. The effects of spur gear size, pitch, ratio, pitch-line-velocity and load on efficiency are shown. A design example is given to illustrate how the method is to be applied. In general, peak efficiencies were found to be greater for larger diameter and fine pitched gears and tare (no-load) losses were found to be significant.
High efficiency stationary hydrogen storage
Hynek, S.; Fuller, W.; Truslow, S.
Stationary storage of hydrogen permits one to make hydrogen now and use it later. With stationary hydrogen storage, one can use excess electrical generation capacity to power an electrolyzer, and store the resultant hydrogen for later use or transshipment. One can also use stationary hydrogen as a buffer at fueling stations to accommodate non-steady fueling demand, thus permitting the hydrogen supply system (e.g., methane reformer or electrolyzer) to be sized to meet the average, rather than the peak, demand. We at ADL designed, built, and tested a stationary hydrogen storage device that thermally couples a high-temperature metal hydride to a phase change material (PCM). The PCM captures and stores the heat of the hydriding reaction as its own heat of fusion (that is, it melts), and subsequently returns that heat of fusion (by freezing) to facilitate the dehydriding reaction. A key component of this stationary hydrogen storage device is the metal hydride itself. We used nickel-coated magnesium powder (NCMP) - magnesium particles coated with a thin layer of nickel by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Magnesium hydride can store a higher weight fraction of hydrogen than any other practical metal hydride, and it is less expensive than any other metal hydride. We designed and constructed an experimental NCM/PCM reactor out of 310 stainless steel in the form of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger, with the tube side packed with NCMP and the shell side filled with a eutectic mixture of NaCL, KCl, and MgCl{sub 2}. Our experimental results indicate that with proper attention to limiting thermal losses, our overall efficiency will exceed 90% (DOE goal: >75%) and our overall system cost will be only 33% (DOE goal: <50%) of the value of the delivered hydrogen. It appears that NCMP can be used to purify hydrogen streams and store hydrogen at the same time. These prospects make the NCMP/PCM reactor an attractive component in a reformer-based hydrogen fueling station.
Evaluating efficiency and robustness in cilia design
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guo, Hanliang; Kanso, Eva
Motile cilia are used by many eukaryotic cells to transport flow. Cilia-driven flows are important to many physiological functions, yet a deep understanding of the interplay between the mechanical structure of cilia and their physiological functions in healthy and diseased conditions remains elusive. To develop such an understanding, one needs a quantitative framework to assess cilia performance and robustness when subject to perturbations in the cilia apparatus. Here we link cilia design (beating patterns) to function (flow transport) in the context of experimentally and theoretically derived cilia models. We particularly examine the optimality and robustness of cilia design. Optimality refers to efficiency of flow transport, while robustness is defined as low sensitivity to variations in the design parameters. We find that suboptimal designs can be more robust than optimal ones. That is, designing for the most efficient cilium does not guarantee robustness. These findings have significant implications on the understanding of cilia design in artificial and biological systems.
Evaluating efficiency and robustness in cilia design.
Guo, Hanliang; Kanso, Eva
Motile cilia are used by many eukaryotic cells to transport flow. Cilia-driven flows are important to many physiological functions, yet a deep understanding of the interplay between the mechanical structure of cilia and their physiological functions in healthy and diseased conditions remains elusive. To develop such an understanding, one needs a quantitative framework to assess cilia performance and robustness when subject to perturbations in the cilia apparatus. Here we link cilia design (beating patterns) to function (flow transport) in the context of experimentally and theoretically derived cilia models. We particularly examine the optimality and robustness of cilia design. Optimality refers to efficiency of flow transport, while robustness is defined as low sensitivity to variations in the design parameters. We find that suboptimal designs can be more robust than optimal ones. That is, designing for the most efficient cilium does not guarantee robustness. These findings have significant implications on the understanding of cilia design in artificial and biological systems. PMID:27078459
TDDFT screening auxiliary withdrawing group and design the novel D-A-π-A organic dyes based on indoline dye for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.
Yang, Zhenqing; Liu, Yun; Liu, Chunmeng; Lin, Chundan; Shao, Changjin
Based on the experimentally synthesized dye JZ145, we designed a series of novel D-A-π-A dyes SPL201-SPL211 with different π-conjugated bridges and a new auxiliary withdrawing group for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT(TDDFT). The molecular structures, energy levels, absorption spectra, light-harvesting efficiency (LHE), driving force of injection(ΔGinj) and regeneration(ΔGreg), electron dipole moment (μnormal) and lifetime of the first excited state(τ) were all scrutinized in details. Results reveal that the additional withdrawing group A2 and the π-conjugated group di-η-hexyl-substituted cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT) are more promising functional groups for the organic dyes with D-A-π-A structure. We further designed SPL212 and SPL213 by employing indoline group as donor, the above screened functional groups as π-conjugated bridge and additional withdrawing group, biscarbodithiolic acid and dicyanovinyl sulfonic acid groups as acceptor group. We found that SPL212 exhibits not only a higher molar extinction coefficient with an increment of 30.8%, larger excited state lifetime and an obvious redshift of 201nm but also a broader absorption spectrum covering the entire visible range even up to near-IR of 1200nm compared to JZ145. So, SPL212 can be used as a promising candidate for DSSCs. In addition, the results also prove that biscarbodithiolic acid may be more favorable than dicyanovinylsulfonic acid as acceptor group in DSSCs. PMID:27269476
High efficiency, low cost scrubber upgrades
Klingspor, J.S.; Walters, M.
ABB introduced the LS-2 technology; a limestone based wet FGD system, which is capable of producing high purity gypsum from low grade limestone, in late 1995. Drawing from 30,000 MWe of worldwide wet FGD experience, ABB has incorporated several innovations in the new system designed to reduce the overall cost of SO{sub 2} compliance. Collectively, these improvements are referred to as LS-2. The improvements include a compact high efficiency absorber, a simple dry grinding system, a closed coupled flue gas reheat system, and a tightly integrated dewatering system. The compact absorber includes features such a high velocity spray zone, significantly improved gas-liquid contact system, compact reaction tank, and a high velocity mist eliminator. The LS-2 system is being demonstrated at Ohio Edison's Niles Plant at the 130 MWe level, and this turnkey installation was designed and erected in a 20-month period. At Niles, all of the gypsum is sold to a local wallboard manufacturer. Many of the features included in the LS-2 design and demonstrated at Niles can be used to improve the efficiency and operation of existing systems including open spray towers and tray towers. The SO{sub 2} removal efficiency can be significantly improved by installing the high efficiency LS-2 style spray header design and the unique wall rings. The absorber bypass can be eliminated or reduced by including the LS-2 style high velocity mist eliminator. Also, the LS-2 style spray header design combined with wall rings allow for an increase in absorber gas velocity at a maintained or improved performance without the need for costly upgrades of the absorber recycle pumps. the first upgrade using LS-2 technology was done at CPA's Coal Creek Station (2{times}545 MWe). The experience form the scrubber upgrade at Coal Creek is discussed along with operating results.
High Energy Efficiency Air Conditioning
Edward McCullough; Patrick Dhooge; Jonathan Nimitz
This project determined the performance of a new high efficiency refrigerant, Ikon B, in a residential air conditioner designed to use R-22. The refrigerant R-22, used in residential and small commercial air conditioners, is being phased out of production in developed countries beginning this year because of concerns regarding its ozone depletion potential. Although a replacement refrigerant, R-410A, is available, it operates at much higher pressure than R-22 and requires new equipment. R-22 air conditioners will continue to be in use for many years to come. Air conditioning is a large part of expensive summer peak power use in many parts of the U.S. Previous testing and computer simulations of Ikon B indicated that it would have 20 - 25% higher coefficient of performance (COP, the amount of cooling obtained per energy used) than R-22 in an air-cooled air conditioner. In this project, a typical new R-22 residential air conditioner was obtained, installed in a large environmental chamber, instrumented, and run both with its original charge of R-22 and then with Ikon B. In the environmental chamber, controlled temperature and humidity could be maintained to obtain repeatable and comparable energy use results. Tests with Ikon B included runs with and without a power controller, and an extended run for several months with subsequent analyses to check compatibility of Ikon B with the air conditioner materials and lubricant. Baseline energy use of the air conditioner with its original R-22 charge was measured at 90 deg F and 100 deg F. After changeover to Ikon B and a larger expansion orifice, energy use was measured at 90 deg F and 100 deg F. Ikon B proved to have about 19% higher COP at 90 deg F and about 26% higher COP at 100 deg F versus R-22. Ikon B had about 20% lower cooling capacity at 90 deg F and about 17% lower cooling capacity at 100 deg F versus R-22 in this system. All results over multiple runs were within 1% relative standard deviation (RSD). All of these
High-efficiency solid state power amplifier
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wallis, Robert E. (Inventor); Cheng, Sheng (Inventor)
A high-efficiency solid state power amplifier (SSPA) for specific use in a spacecraft is provided. The SSPA has a mass of less than 850 g and includes two different X-band power amplifier sections, i.e., a lumped power amplifier with a single 11-W output and a distributed power amplifier with eight 2.75-W outputs. These two amplifier sections provide output power that is scalable from 11 to 15 watts without major design changes. Five different hybrid microcircuits, including high-efficiency Heterostructure Field Effect Transistor (HFET) amplifiers and Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) phase shifters have been developed for use within the SSPA. A highly efficient packaging approach enables the integration of a large number of hybrid circuits into the SSPA.
Thermal modeling of high efficiency AMTEC cells
Ivanenok, J.F. III; Sievers, R.K.; Crowley, C.J.
Remotely condensed Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Conversion (AMTEC) cells achieve high efficiency by thermally isolating the hot {beta} Alumina Solid Electrolyte (BASE) tube from the cold condensing region. In order to design high efficiency AMTEC cells the designer must understand the heat losses associated with the AMTEC process. The major parasitic heat losses are due to conduction and radiation, and significant coupling of the two mechanisms occurs. This paper describes an effort to characterize the thermal aspects of the model PL-6 AMTEC cell and apply this understanding to the design of a higher efficiency AMTEC cell, model PL-8. Two parallel analyses were used to model the thermal characteristics of PL-6. The first was a lumped node model using the classical electric circuit analogy and the second was a detailed finite-difference model. The lumped node model provides high speed and reasonable accuracy, and the detailed finite-difference model provides a more accurate, as well as visual, description of the cell temperature profiles. The results of the two methods are compared to the as-measured PL-6 data. PL-6 was the first cell to use a micromachined condenser to lower the radiation losses to the condenser, and it achieved a conversion efficiency of 15% (3 W output/20 W Input) at a temperature of 1050 K.
Operational efficiency: Automatic ascent flight design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
The expected increase in launch vehicle operations to support Space Station Freedom and a Lunar/Mars exploration initiative will require a more efficient approach to ascent flight design and operations. A concept is presented of continuous improvement in ascent flight design through an evolutionary process beginning with today's vehicles and continuing into the next century with the Advanced Launch System (ALS) and Advanced Manned Launch System (AMLS). A pictorial view is given of the improvement path described. The detailed objectives necessary to obtain efficiency improvements are described. The technology milestones along this evolutionary path are outlined and the accomplishments to date are summarized. The technology issues are discussed which must be addressed.
High Efficiency Germanium Immersion Gratings
Kuzmenko, P J; Davis, P J; Little, S L; Little, L M; Bixler, J V
We have fabricated several germanium immersion gratings by single crystal, single point diamond flycutting on an ultra-precision lathe. Use of a dead sharp tool produces groove corners less than 0.1 micron in radius and consequently high diffraction efficiency. We measured first order efficiencies in immersion of over 80% at 10.6 micron wavelength. Wavefront error was low averaging 0.06 wave rms (at 633 nm) across the full aperture. The grating spectral response was free of ghosts down to our detection limit of 1 part in 10{sup 4}. Scatter should be low based upon the surface roughness. Measurement of the spectral line profile of a CO{sub 2} laser sets an upper bound on total integrated scatter of 0.5%.
High efficiency germanium immersion gratings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kuzmenko, Paul J.; Davis, Pete J.; Little, Steve L.; Little, Liesl M.; Bixler, Jay V.
We have fabricated several germanium immersion gratings by single crystal, single point diamond flycutting on an ultra-precision lathe. Use of a dead sharp tool produces groove corners less than 0.1 micron in radius and consequently high diffraction efficiency. We measured first order efficiencies in immersion of over 80% at 10.6 micron wavelength. Wavefront error was low averaging 0.06 wave rms (at 633 nm) across the full aperture. The grating spectral response was free of ghosts down to our detection limit of 1 part in 104. Scatter should be low based upon the surface roughness. Measurement of the spectral line profile of a CO II laser sets an upper bound on total integrated scatter of 0.5%.
A simple, high efficiency, high resolution spectropolarimeter
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Barden, Samuel C.
A simple concept is described that uses volume phase holographic gratings as polarizing dispersers for a high efficiency, high resolution spectropolarimeter. Although the idea has previously been mentioned in the literature as possible, such a concept has not been explored in detail. Performance analysis is presented for a VPHG spectropolarimeter concept that could be utilized for both solar and night-time astronomy. Instrumental peak efficiency can approach 100% with spectral dispersions permitting R~200,000 spectral resolution with diffraction limited telescopes. The instrument has 3-channels: two dispersed image planes with orthogonal polarization and an undispersed image plane. The concept has a range of versatility where it could be configured (with appropriate half-wave plates) for slit-fed spectroscopy or without slits for snapshot/hyperspectral/tomographic spectroscopic imaging. Multiplex gratings could also be used for the simultaneous recording of two separate spectral bands or multiple instruments could be daisy chained with beam splitters for further spectral coverage.
Efficient airflow design for cleanrooms improves business bottom lines
Xu, Tengfang
Based on a review of airflow design factors and in-situ energy measurements in ISO Cleanliness Class-5 cleanrooms, this paper addresses the importance of energy efficiency in airflow design and opportunities of cost savings in cleanroom practices. The paper discusses design factors that can long lastingly affect cleanroom system performance, and demonstrates benefits of energy efficient cleanroom design from viewpoints of environmental control and business operations. The paper suggests that a high performance cleanroom should not only be effective in contamination control, but also be efficient in energy and environmental performance. The paper also suggests that energy efficient design practice stands to bring in immediate capital cost savings and operation cost savings, and should be regarded by management as a strategy to improve business bottom lines.
Highly Efficient Multilayer Thermoelectric Devices
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Boufelfel, Ali
Multilayer thermoelectric devices now at the prototype stage of development exhibit a combination of desirable characteristics, including high figures of merit and high performance/cost ratios. These devices are capable of producing temperature differences of the order of 50 K in operation at or near room temperature. A solvent-free batch process for mass production of these state-of-the-art thermoelectric devices has also been developed. Like prior thermoelectric devices, the present ones have commercial potential mainly by virtue of their utility as means of controlled cooling (and/or, in some cases, heating) of sensors, integrated circuits, and temperature-critical components of scientific instruments. The advantages of thermoelectric devices for such uses include no need for circulating working fluids through or within the devices, generation of little if any noise, and high reliability. The disadvantages of prior thermoelectric devices include high power consumption and relatively low coefficients of performance. The present development program was undertaken in the hope of reducing the magnitudes of the aforementioned disadvantages and, especially, obtaining higher figures of merit for operation at and near room temperature. Accomplishments of the program thus far include development of an algorithm to estimate the heat extracted by, and the maximum temperature drop produced by, a thermoelectric device; solution of the problem of exchange of heat between a thermoelectric cooler and a water-cooled copper block; retrofitting of a vacuum chamber for depositing materials by sputtering; design of masks; and fabrication of multilayer thermoelectric devices of two different designs, denoted I and II. For both the I and II designs, the thicknesses of layers are of the order of nanometers. In devices of design I, nonconsecutive semiconductor layers are electrically connected in series. Devices of design II contain superlattices comprising alternating electron
Design of Structurally Efficient Tapered Struts
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Messinger, Ross
This report describes the analytical study of two full-scale tapered composite struts. The analytical study resulted in the design of two structurally efficient carbon/epoxy struts in accordance with NASA-specified geometries and loading conditions. Detailed stress analysis was performed of the insert, end fitting, and strut body to obtain an optimized weight with positive margins. Two demonstration struts were fabricated based on a well-established design from a previous Space Shuttle strut development program.
High Efficiency Solar Integrated Roof Membrane Product
Partyka, Eric; Shenoy, Anil
This project was designed to address the Solar Energy Technology Program objective, to develop new methods to integrate photovoltaic (PV) cells or modules within a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) application that will result in lower installed cost as well as higher efficiencies of the encapsulated/embedded PV module. The technology assessment and development focused on the evaluation and identification of manufacturing technologies and equipment capable of producing such low-cost, high-efficiency, flexible BIPV solar cells on single-ply roofing membranes.
Design, construction and evaluation of a 12.2 GHz, 4.0 kW-CW high efficiency klystron amplifier. [for satellite-borne TV broadcast transmitters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Vishida, J. M.; Brodersen, L. K.
An analytical and experimental program is described, for studying design techniques for optimizing the conversion efficiency of klystron amplifiers, and to utilize these techniques in the development and fabrication of an X-band 4 kW cw klystron, for use in satellite-borne television broadcast transmitters. The design is based on a technique for increasing the RF beam current by using the second harmonic space charge forces in the bunched beam. Experimental analysis was also made of a method to enhance circuit efficiency in the klystron cavities. The design incorporates a collector which is demountable from the tube to facilitate multistage depressed collector experiments employing an axisymmetric, electrostatic collector for linear beam microwave tubes.
Design approaches to more energy efficient engines
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Saunders, N. T.; Colladay, R. S.; Macioce, L. E.
In 1976 NASA initiated the Aircraft Energy Efficiency (ACEE) Program to assist in the development of technology for more fuel-efficient aircraft for commercial airline use. The Energy Efficient Engine (EEE) Project of the ACEE program is intended to lay the advanced-technology foundation for a new generation of turbofan engines. This project, planned as a seven-year cooperative government-industry effort, is aimed at developing and demonstrating advanced component and systems technologies for engines that could be introduced into airline service by the late 1980s or early 1990s. In addition to fuel savings, new engines must offer potential for being economically attractive to the airline users and environmentally acceptable. A description is presented of conceptual energy-efficient engine designs which offer potential for achieving all of the goals established for the EEE Project.
Designed synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes@Cu@MoS2 hybrid as advanced electrocatalyst for highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Feng; Li, Jing; Lin, Xiaoqing; Li, Xinzhe; Fang, Yiyun; Jiao, Lixin; An, Xincai; Fu, Yan; Jin, Jun; Li, Rong
Design and synthesis of non-precious-metal catalyst for efficient electrochemical transformation of water to molecular hydrogen in acid environments is of paramount importance in reducing energy losses during the water splitting process. Here, the hybrid material of MoS2-coated Cu loaded on the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs@Cu@MoS2) was synthesized using chemical process and hydrothermal method. It was found that the participation of MWCNTs and Cu nanoparticles not only improved the electrical conductivity of the catalyst, but also further enhanced the catalytic activity by synergistic effect with edge-exposed MoS2-coating. Electrochemical experiments demonstrated that the catalyst exhibited excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with large cathode currents (small overpotential of 184 mV for 10 mA cm-2 current density) and a Tafel slope as small as 62 mV per decade. Furthermore, it was discovered that the current density of this composite catalyst had a little decrease after the continual 1000 cycling, which showed the catalyst had a high stability in the recycling process. These findings confirmed that this catalyst was a useful and earth-abundant material for water splitting.
New high-efficiency silicon solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Daud, T.; Crotty, G. T.
A design for silicon solar cells was investigated as an approach to increasing the cell open-circuit voltage and efficiency for flat-plate terrestrial photovoltaic applications. This deviates from past designs, where either the entire front surface of the cell is covered by a planar junction or the surface is textured before junction formation, which results in an even greater (up to 70%) junction area. The heavily doped front region and the junction space charge region are potential areas of high recombination for generated and injected minority carriers. The design presented reduces junction area by spreading equidiameter dot junctions across the surface of the cell, spaced about a diffusion length or less from each other. Various dot diameters and spacings allowed variations in total junction area. A simplified analysis was done to obtain a first-order design optimization. Efficiencies of up to 19% can be obtained. Cell fabrication involved extra masking steps for selective junction diffusion, and made surface passivation a key element in obtaining good collection. It also involved photolithography, with line widths down to microns. A method is demonstrated for achieving potentially high open-circuit voltages and solar-cell efficiencies.
High-rate counting efficiency of VLPC
Hogue, H.H.
A simple model is applied to describe dependencies of Visible Light Photon Counter (VLPC) characteristics on temperature and operating voltage. Observed counting efficiency losses at high illumination, improved by operating at higher temperature, are seen to be a consequence of de-biasing within the VLPC structure. A design improvement to minimize internal de-biasing for future VLPC generations is considered. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}
High-efficiency concentrator silicon solar cells
Sinton, R.A.; Cuevas, A.; King, R.R.; Swanson, R.M. . Solid-State Electronics Lab.)
This report presents results from extensive process development in high-efficiency Si solar cells. An advanced design for a 1.56-cm{sup 2} cell with front grids achieved 26% efficiency at 90 suns. This is especially significant since this cell does not require a prismatic cover glass. New designs for simplified backside-contact solar cells were advanced from a status of near-nonfunctionality to demonstrated 21--22% for one-sun cells in sizes up to 37.5 cm{sup 2}. An efficiency of 26% was achieved for similar 0.64-cm{sup 2} concentrator cells at 150 suns. More fundamental work on dopant-diffused regions is also presented here. The recombination vs. various process and physical parameters was studied in detail for boron and phosphorous diffusions. Emitter-design studies based solidly upon these new data indicate the performance vs design parameters for a variety of the cases of most interest to solar cell designers. Extractions of p-type bandgap narrowing and the surface recombination for p- and n-type regions from these studies have a generality that extends beyond solar cells into basic device modeling. 68 refs., 50 figs.
Design of Structurally Efficient Tapered Struts (SETS)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Deo, Ravi; Benner, Harry; Vincent, Dawson; Olason, Eric; Harrison, Richard
A study was conducted to develop mass efficient composite struts. A closed-form design methodology for composite struts was developed using well established analyses to predict Euler buckling, local wall buckling; compression strength, damage tolerance, and interlaminar shear at geometric gradients. The methodology was coded in a spreadsheet suitable for convenient and rapid sizing of tapered composite struts. This spreadsheet analysis was used to determine the influence of several variables such as material stiffness, strut diameter, and material allowables on strut weight for given loading conditions. The comparison showed that, while the Park Aerospace design method was well suited to preliminary sizing for a conservative design, the closed-form-analyses-based spreadsheet accounts for all possible failure modes and is a good optimum strut design tool. The report concludes with a set of recommendations for future work in analytical design and analysis methodology enhancements.
Energy efficient engine fan component detailed design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Halle, J. E.; Michael, C. J.
The fan component which was designed for the energy efficient engine is an advanced high performance, single stage system and is based on technology advancements in aerodynamics and structure mechanics. Two fan components were designed, both meeting the integrated core/low spool engine efficiency goal of 84.5%. The primary configuration, envisioned for a future flight propulsion system, features a shroudless, hollow blade and offers a predicted efficiency of 87.3%. A more conventional blade was designed, as a back up, for the integrated core/low spool demonstrator engine. The alternate blade configuration has a predicted efficiency of 86.3% for the future flight propulsion system. Both fan configurations meet goals established for efficiency surge margin, structural integrity and durability.
High-efficiency photovoltaic cells
Yang, H.T.; Zehr, S.W.
High efficiency solar converters comprised of a two cell, non-lattice matched, monolithic stacked semiconductor configuration using optimum pairs of cells having bandgaps in the range 1.6 to 1.7 eV and 0.95 to 1.1 eV, and a method of fabrication thereof, are disclosed. The high band gap subcells are fabricated using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) or molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to produce the required AlGaAs layers of optimized composition, thickness and doping to produce high performance, heteroface homojunction devices. The low bandgap subcells are similarly fabricated from AlGa(As)Sb compositions by LPE, MBE or MOCVD. These subcells are then coupled to form a monolithic structure by an appropriate bonding technique which also forms the required transparent intercell ohmic contact (IOC) between the two subcells. Improved ohmic contacts to the high bandgap semiconductor structure can be formed by vacuum evaporating to suitable metal or semiconductor materials which react during laser annealing to form a low bandgap semiconductor which provides a low contact resistance structure.
Design approaches to more energy efficient engines
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Saunders, N. T.; Colladay, R. S.; Macioce, L. E.
The status of NASA's Energy Efficient Engine Project, a comparative government-industry effort aimed at advancing the technology base for the next generation of large turbofan engines for civil aircraft transports is summarized. Results of recently completed studies are reviewed. These studies involved selection of engine cycles and configurations that offer potential for at least 12% lower fuel consumption than current engines and also are economically attractive and environmentally acceptable. Emphasis is on the advancements required in component technologies and systems design concepts to permit future development of these more energy efficient engines.
High efficiency shale oil recovery
Adams, C.D.
The overall project objective is to demonstrate the high efficiency of the Adams Counter-Current shale oil recovery process. The efficiency will first be demonstrated at bench-scale, in the current phase, after which the demonstration will be extended to the operation of a small pilot plant. Thus the immediate project objective is to obtain data on oil shale retorting operations in a small batch rotary kiln that will be representative of operations in the proposed continuous process pilot plant. Although an oil shale batch sample is sealed in the batch kiln from the start until the end of the run, the process conditions for the batch are the same as the conditions that an element of oil shale would encounter in a larger continuous process kiln. For example, similar conditions of heatup rate, oxidation of the residue and cool-down prevail for the element in both systems. This batch kiln is a unit constructed in a 1987 Phase I SBIR tar sand retorting project. The kiln worked fairly well in that project; however, the need for certain modifications was observed. These modifications are now underway to simplify the operation and make the data and analysis more exact. The second quarter agenda consisted of (a) kiln modifications; (b) sample preparation; and (c) Heat Transfer calibration runs (part of proposal task number 3 -- to be completed by the end of month 7).
Design of a Three-Layer Antireflection Coating for High Efficiency Indium Phosphide Solar Cells Using a Chemical Oxide as First Layer
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Moulot, Jacques; Faur, Mircea; Faur, Maria; Goradia, Chandra; Goradia, Manju; Bailey, Sheila
It is well known that the behavior of III-V compound based solar cells is largely controlled by their surface, since the majority of light generated carriers (63% for GaAs and 79% for InP) are created within 0.2 microns of the illuminated surface of the cell. Consequently, the always observed high surface recombination velocity (SRV) on these cells is a serious limiting factor for their high efficiency performance, especially for those with the p-n junction made by either thermal diffusion or ion implantation. A good surface passivation layer, ideally, a grown oxide as opposed to a deposited one, will cause a significant reduction in the SRV without adding interface problems, thus improving the performance of III-V compound based solar cells. Another significant benefit to the overall performance of the solar cells can be achieved by a substantial reduction of their large surface optical reflection by the use of a well designed antireflection (AR) coating. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of using a chemically grown, thermally and chemically stable oxide, not only for surface passivation but also as an integral part of a 3- layer AR coating for thermally diffused p(+)n InP solar cells. A phosphorus-rich interfacial oxide, In(PO3)3, is grown at the surface of the p(+) emitter using an etchant based on HNO3, o-H3PO4 and H2O2. This oxide has the unique properties of passivating the surface as well as serving as a fairly efficient antireflective layer yielding a measured record high AM0, 25 C, open-circuit voltage of 890.3 mV on a thermally diffused InP(Cd,S) solar cell. Unlike conventional single layer AR coatings such as ZnS, Sb2O3, SiO or double layer AR coatings such as ZnS/MgF2 deposited by e-beam or resistive evaporation, this oxide preserves the stoichiometry of the InP surface. We show that it is possible to design a three-layer AR coating for a thermally diffused InP solar cell using the In(PO3)3 grown oxide as the first layer and Al2O3, MgF2 or
Design of a three-layer antireflection coating for high efficiency indium phosphide solar cells using a chemical oxide as first layer
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Moulot, Jacques; Faur, M.; Faur, M.; Goradia, C.; Goradia, M.; Bailey, S.
It is well known that the behavior of III-V compound based solar cells is largely controlled by their surface, since the majority of light generated carriers (63% for GaAs and 79% for InP) are created within 0.2 mu m of the surface of the illuminated cell. Consequently, the always observed high surface recombination velocity (SRV) on these cells is a serious limiting factor for their high efficiency performance, especially for those with p-n junction made by either thermal diffusion or ion implantation. A good surface passivation layer, ideally a grown oxide as opposed to a deposited one, will cause a significant reduction in the SRV without adding interface problems, thus improving the performance of III-V compound based solar cells. Another significant benefit to the overall performance of the solar cells can be achieved by a substantial reduction of their large surface optical reflection by the use of a well designed antireflection (AR) coating. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of using a chemically grown thermally and chemically stable oxide, not only for surface passivation but also as an integral part of a 3-layer AR coating for thermally diffused p+n InP solar cells. A phosphorus-rich interfacial oxide, In(PO3)3, is grown at the surface of the p+ emitter using an etchant based on HNO3, o-H3PO4 and H2O2. This oxide has the unique properties of passivating the surface as well as serving as an efficient antireflective layer yielding a measured record high AMO open-circuit voltage of 890.3 mV on a thermally diffused InP(Cd,S) solar cell. Unlike conventional single layer AR coatings such as ZnS, Sb2O3, SiO or double layer AR coatings such as ZnS/MgF2 deposited by e-beam or resistive evaporation, this oxide preserves the stoichiometry of the InP surface. We show that it is possible to design a three-layer AR coating for a thermally diffused InP solar cell using the In(PO3)3 grown oxide as the first layer and Al2O3 and MgF2 as the second and third
High efficiency laser spectrum conditioner
Greiner, Norman R.
A high efficiency laser spectrum conditioner for generating a collinear parallel output beam containing a predetermined set of frequencies from a multifrequency laser. A diffraction grating and spherical mirror are used in combination, to disperse the various frequencies of the input laser beam and direct these frequencies along various parallel lines spatially separated from one another to an apertured mask. Selection of the desired frequencies is accomplished by placement of apertures at locations on the mask where the desired frequencies intersect the mask. A recollimated parallel output beam with the desired set of frequencies is subsequently generated utilizing a mirror and grating matched and geometrically aligned in the same manner as the input grating and mirror.
High efficiency low cost solar cell power
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bekey, I.; Blocker, W.
A concept for generating high-efficiency, low-cost, solar-cell power is outlined with reference to solar cell parameters, optical concentrators, and thermal control procedures. A design for a 12.5-kw power module for space operation is discussed noting the optical system, spectrum splitter, light conversion system, cell cooling, power conditioner, and tracking mechanism. It is found that for an unconcentrated array, efficiency approaches 60% when ten or more bandgaps are used. For a 12-band system, a computer program distributed bandgaps for maximum efficiency and equal cell currents. Rigid materials and thin films have been proposed for optical components and prisms, gratings, and dichroic mirrors have been recommended for spectrum splitting. Various radiator concepts are noted including that of Weatherston and Smith (1960) and Hedgepeth and Knapp (1978). The concept may be suitable for the Solar Power Satellite.
Methodologies for high efficiency perovskite solar cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Park, Nam-Gyu
Since the report on long-term durable solid-state perovskite solar cell in 2012, perovskite solar cells based on lead halide perovskites having organic cations such as methylammonium CH3NH3PbI3 or formamidinium HC(NH2)2PbI3 have received great attention because of superb photovoltaic performance with power conversion efficiency exceeding 22 %. In this review, emergence of perovskite solar cell is briefly introduced. Since understanding fundamentals of light absorbers is directly related to their photovoltaic performance, opto-electronic properties of organo lead halide perovskites are investigated in order to provide insight into design of higher efficiency perovskite solar cells. Since the conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cell is found to depend significantly on perovskite film quality, methodologies for fabricating high quality perovskite films are particularly emphasized, including various solution-processes and vacuum deposition method.
High efficiency shale oil recovery
Adams, D.C.
The overall project objective is to demonstrate the high efficiency of the Adams Counter-Current shale oil recovery process. The efficiency will first be demonstrated on a small scale, in the current phase, after which the demonstration will be extended to the operation of a small pilot plant. Thus the immediate project objective is to obtain data on oil shale retorting operations in a small batch rotary kiln that will be representative of operations in the proposed continuous process pilot plant. Although an oil shale batch sample is sealed in the batch kiln from the start until the end of the run, the process conditions for the batch are the same as the conditions that an element of oil shale would encounter in a continuous process kiln. Similar chemical and physical (heating, mixing) conditions exist in both systems. The two most important data objectives in this phase of the project are to demonstrate (1) that the heat recovery projected for this project is reasonable and (2) that an oil shale kiln will run well and not plug up due to sticking and agglomeration. The following was completed and is reported on this quarter: (1) A software routine was written to eliminate intermittently inaccurate temperature readings. (2) We completed the quartz sand calibration runs, resolving calibration questions from the 3rd quarter. (3) We also made low temperature retorting runs to identify the need for certain kiln modifications and kiln modifications were completed. (4) Heat Conductance data on two Pyrolysis runs were completed on two samples of Occidental oil shale.
High efficiency shale oil recovery
Adams, D.C.
The overall project objective is to demonstrate the high efficiency of the Adams Counter-Current shale oil recovery process. The efficiency will first be demonstrated at bench-scale, in the current phase, after which the demonstration will be extended to the operation of a small pilot plant. Thus the immediate project objective is to obtain data on oil shale retorting operations in a small batch rotary kiln that will be representative of operations in the proposed continuous process pilot plant. Although a batch oil shale sample will be sealed in the batch kiln from the start until the end of the run, the process conditions for the batch will be the same as the conditions that an element of oil shale would encounter in a large continuous process kiln. For example, similar conditions of heat-up rate (20 deg F/min during the pyrolysis), oxidation of the residue and cool-down will prevail for the element in both systems. This batch kiln is a unit constructed in a 1987 Phase I SBIR tar sand retorting project. The kiln worked fairly well in that project; however, the need for certain modifications was observed. These modifications are now underway to simplify the operation and make the data and analysis more exact. The agenda for the first three months of the project consisted of the first of nine tasks and was specified as the following four items: 1. Sample acquisition and equipment alteration: Obtain seven oil shale samples, of varying grade each 10 lb or more, and samples of quartz sand. Order equipment for kiln modification. 3. Set up and modify kiln for operation, including electric heaters on the ends of the kiln. 4. Connect data logger and make other repairs and changes in rotary batch kiln.
High efficiency shale oil recovery
Adams, D.C.
The overall project objective is to demonstrate the high efficiency of the Adams Counter-Current shale oil recovery process. The efficiency will first be demonstrated on a small scale, in the current phase, after which the demonstration will be extended to the operation of a small pilot plant. Thus the immediate project objective is to obtain data on oil shale retorting operations in a small batch rotary kiln that will be representative of operations in the proposed continuous process pilot plant. Although an oil shale batch sample is sealed in the batch kiln from the start until the end of the run, the process conditions for the batch are the same as the conditions that an element of oil shale would encounter in a continuous process kiln. Similar chemical and physical conditions (heating, mixing, pyrolysis, oxidation) exist in both systems.The two most important data objectives in this phase of the project are to demonstrate (1) that the heat recovery projected for this project is reasonable and (2) that an oil shale kiln will run well and not plug up due to sticking and agglomeration. The following was completed this quarter. (1) Twelve pyrolysis runs were made on five different oil shales. All of the runs exhibited a complete absence of any plugging, tendency. Heat transfer for Green River oil shale in the rotary kiln was 84.6 Btu/hr/ft[sup 2]/[degrees]F, and this will provide for ample heat exchange in the Adams kiln. (2) One retorted residue sample was oxidized at 1000[degrees]F. Preliminary indications are that the ash of this run appears to have been completely oxidized. (3) Further minor equipment repairs and improvements were required during the course of the several runs.
High-Aperture-Efficiency Horn Antenna
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Pickens, Wesley; Hoppe, Daniel; Epp, Larry; Kahn, Abdur
A horn antenna (see Figure 1) has been developed to satisfy requirements specific to its use as an essential component of a high-efficiency Ka-band amplifier: The combination of the horn antenna and an associated microstrip-patch antenna array is required to function as a spatial power divider that feeds 25 monolithic microwave integrated-circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers. The foregoing requirement translates to, among other things, a further requirement that the horn produce a uniform, vertically polarized electromagnetic field in its patches identically so that the MMICs can operate at maximum efficiency. The horn is fed from a square waveguide of 5.9436-mm-square cross section via a transition piece. The horn features cosine-tapered, dielectric-filled longitudinal corrugations in its vertical walls to create a hard boundary condition: This aspect of the horn design causes the field in the horn aperture to be substantially vertically polarized and to be nearly uniform in amplitude and phase. As used here, cosine-tapered signifies that the depth of the corrugations is a cosine function of distance along the horn. Preliminary results of finite-element simulations of performance have shown that by virtue of the cosine taper the impedance response of this horn can be expected to be better than has been achieved previously in a similar horn having linearly tapered dielectric- filled longitudinal corrugations. It is possible to create a hard boundary condition by use of a single dielectric-filled corrugation in each affected wall, but better results can be obtained with more corrugations. Simulations were performed for a one- and a three-corrugation cosine-taper design. For comparison, a simulation was also performed for a linear- taper design (see Figure 2). The three-corrugation design was chosen to minimize the cost of fabrication while still affording acceptably high performance. Future designs using more corrugations per wavelength are expected to provide better
High efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sah, C. Tang
A review of the entire research program since its inception ten years ago is given. The initial effort focused on the effects of impurities on the efficiency of silicon solar cells to provide figures of maximum allowable impurity density for efficiencies up to about 16 to 17%. Highly accurate experimental techniques were extended to characterize the recombination properties of the residual imputities in the silicon solar cell. A numerical simulator of the solar cell was also developed, using the Circuit Technique for Semiconductor Analysis. Recent effort focused on the delineation of the material and device parameters which limited the silicon efficiency to below 20% and on an investigation of cell designs to break the 20% barrier. Designs of the cell device structure and geometry can further reduce recombination losses as well as the sensitivity and criticalness of the fabrication technology required to exceed 20%. Further research is needed on the fundamental characterization of the carrier recombination properties at the chemical impurity and physical defect centers. It is shown that only single crystalline silicon cell technology can be successful in attaining efficiencies greater than 20%.
High Efficiency Cascade Solar Cells
Shuguang Deng, Seamus Curran, Igor Vasiliev
This report summarizes the main work performed by New Mexico State University and University of Houston on a DOE sponsored project High Efficiency Cascade Solar Cells. The main tasks of this project include materials synthesis, characterization, theoretical calculations, organic solar cell device fabrication and test. The objective of this project is to develop organic nano-electronic-based photovoltaics. Carbon nanotubes and organic conjugated polymers were used to synthesize nanocomposites as the new active semiconductor materials that were used for fabricating two device architectures: thin film coating and cascade solar cell fiber. Chemical vapor deposition technique was employed to synthesized a variety of carbon nanotubes (single-walled CNT, doubled-walled CNT, multi-walled CNT, N-doped SWCNT, DWCNT and MWCNT, and B-doped SWCNT, DWCNT and MWCNT) and a few novel carbon structures (CNT-based nanolance, nanocross and supported graphene film) that have potential applications in organic solar cells. Purification procedures were developed for removing amorphous carbons from carbon nanotubes, and a controlled oxidation method was established for partial truncation of fullerene molecules. Carbon nanotubes (DWCNT and DWCNT) were functionalized with fullerenes and dyes covalently and used to form nanocomposites with conjugated polymers. Biologically synthesized Tellurium nanotubes were used to form composite with the conjugated polymers as well, which generated the highest reported optical limiting values from composites. Several materials characterization technique including SEM/TEM, Raman, AFM, UV-vis, adsorption and EDS were employed to characterize the physical and chemical properties of the carbon nanotubes, the functionalized carbon nanotubes and the nanocomposites synthesized in this project. These techniques allowed us to have a spectroscopic and morphological control of the composite formation and to understand the materials assembled. A parallel 136-CPU
Quantum wells for high-efficiency photovoltaics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alonso-Álvarez, Diego; Ekins-Daukes, Nicholas
Over the last couple of decades, there has been an intense research on strain balanced semiconductor quantum wells (QW) to increase the efficiency of multi-junction solar (MJ) solar cells grown monolithically on germanium. So far, the most successful application of QWs have required just to tailor a few tens of nanometers the absorption edge of a given subcell in order to reach the optimum spectral position. However, the demand for higher efficiency devices requiring 3, 4 or more junctions, represents a major difference in the challenges QWs must face: tailoring the absorption edge of a host material is not enough, but a complete new device, absorbing light in a different spectral region, must be designed. Among the most important issues to solve is the need for an optically thick structure to absorb enough light while keeping excellent carrier extraction using highly strained materials. Improvement of the growth techniques, smarter device designs - involving superlattices and shifted QWs, for example - or the use of quantum wires rather than QWs, have proven to be very effective steps towards high efficient MJ solar cells based on nanostructures in the last couple of years. But more is to be done to reach the target performances. This work discusses all these challenges, the limitations they represent and the different approaches that are being used to overcome them.
Efficient Design in a DC to DC Converter Unit
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bruemmer, Joel E.; Williams, Fitch R.; Schmitz, Gregory V.
Space Flight hardware requires high power conversion efficiencies due to limited power availability and weight penalties of cooling systems. The International Space Station (ISS) Electric Power System (EPS) DC-DC Converter Unit (DDCU) power converter is no exception. This paper explores the design methods and tradeoffs that were utilized to accomplish high efficiency in the DDCU. An isolating DC to DC converter was selected for the ISS power system because of requirements for separate primary and secondary grounds and for a well-regulated secondary output voltage derived from a widely varying input voltage. A flyback-current-fed push-pull topology or improved Weinberg circuit was chosen for this converter because of its potential for high efficiency and reliability. To enhance efficiency, a non-dissipative snubber circuit for the very-low-Rds-on Field Effect Transistors (FETs) was utilized, redistributing the energy that could be wasted during the switching cycle of the power FETs. A unique, low-impedance connection system was utilized to improve contact resistance over a bolted connection. For improved consistency in performance and to lower internal wiring inductance and losses a planar bus system is employed. All of these choices contributed to the design of a 6.25 KW regulated dc to dc converter that is 95 percent efficient. The methodology used in the design of this DC to DC Converter Unit may be directly applicable to other systems that require a conservative approach to efficient power conversion and distribution.
Efficient, Multi-Scale Designs Take Flight
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Engineers can solve aerospace design problems faster and more efficiently with a versatile software product that performs automated structural analysis and sizing optimization. Collier Research Corporation's HyperSizer Structural Sizing Software is a design, analysis, and documentation tool that increases productivity and standardization for a design team. Based on established aerospace structural methods for strength, stability, and stiffness, HyperSizer can be used all the way from the conceptual design to in service support. The software originated from NASA s efforts to automate its capability to perform aircraft strength analyses, structural sizing, and weight prediction and reduction. With a strategy to combine finite element analysis with an automated design procedure, NASA s Langley Research Center led the development of a software code known as ST-SIZE from 1988 to 1995. Collier Research employees were principal developers of the code along with Langley researchers. The code evolved into one that could analyze the strength and stability of stiffened panels constructed of any material, including light-weight, fiber-reinforced composites.
Energy efficient circuit design using nanoelectromechanical relays
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Venkatasubramanian, Ramakrishnan
Nano-electromechanical (NEM) relays are a promising class of emerging devices that offer zero off-state leakage and behave like an ideal switch. Recent advances in planar fabrication technology have demonstrated that microelectromechanical (MEMS) scale miniature relays could be manufactured reliably and could be used to build fully functional, complex integrated circuits. The zero leakage operation of relays has renewed the interest in relay based low power logic design. This dissertation explores circuit architectures using NEM relays and NEMS-CMOS heterogeneous integration. Novel circuit topologies for sequential logic, memory, and power management circuits have been proposed taking into consideration the NEM relay device properties and optimizing for energy efficiency and area. In nanoscale electromechanical devices, dispersion forces like Van der Waals' force (vdW) affect the pull-in stability of the relay devices significantly. Verilog-A electromechanical model of the suspended gate relay operating at 1V with a nominal air gap of 5 - 10nm has been developed taking into account all the electrical, mechanical and dispersion effects. This dissertation explores different relay based latch and flip-flop topologies. It has been shown that as few as 4 relay cells could be used to build flip-flops. An integrated voltage doubler based flip flop that improves the performance by 2X by overdriving Vgb has been proposed. Three NEM relay based parallel readout memory bitcell architectures have been proposed that have faster access time, and remove the reliability issues associated with previously reported serial readout architectures. A paradigm shift in design of power switches using NEM relays is proposed. An interesting property of the relay device is that the ON state resistance (Ron) of the NEM relay switch is constant and is insensitive to the gate slew rate. This coupled with infinite OFF state resistance (Roff ) offers significant area and power advantages over CMOS
Efficiency and reliability assessments of retrofitted high-efficiency motors
Hsu, John S.; Otaduy, P.J.; Dueck, J.D.
The majority of electric-motor applications are pumps, fans, blowers, and certain compressors that follow the load torque pattern described in this paper. It has been known for many years that simply replacing the old motor with a high-efficiency motor might not produce the expected efficiency gain. This paper suggests the calculations for the effective efficiency and temperature rise of the high-efficiency motor. The reliability in terms of temperature rise, downsizing, power factor, harmonics, mechanical structure, etc., are discussed.
Efficient high-permeability fracturing offshore
Phillipi, M.; Farabee, M.
Offshore operators can more efficiently and effectively perform high-permeability and conventional hydraulic fracture treatments by blending treatment slurries under microprocessor control, adding undiluted acid on-the-fly, and altering sand concentrations and other slurry properties instantaneously. A two-skid system has been designed with these considerations in mind. The system, which can be shipped efficiently in ISO containers, has been tested on fluids up to 210-cp viscosity and can step or ramp sand concentrations up to a maximum of 20 lb/gal. All additives, including acid treatments, are added on-the-fly; leftover additives and acids may be stored for future jobs. The system may be applied in most conditions, including offshore wells requiring conventional or high-permeability fracture treatments and certain land-based wells in remote areas where a compact skid is needed. Three significant benefits have resulted from using the compact-skid system: offshore operators have been able to ship the skid system at 20% of shipping costs of non-ISO equipment; on-the-fly mixing has prevented material waste associated with batch-mixing; and volumes pumped on actual jobs have closely matched job designs. Data have been collected from several Gulf of Mexico jobs run with the two-part skid system that has been designed for conducting hydraulic fracture treatments from offshore rigs.
High efficiency turbine blade coatings.
Youchison, Dennis L.; Gallis, Michail A.
The development of advanced thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) that exhibit lower thermal conductivity through better control of electron beam - physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) processing is of prime interest to both the aerospace and power industries. This report summarizes the work performed under a two-year Lab-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project (38664) to produce lower thermal conductivity, graded-layer thermal barrier coatings for turbine blades in an effort to increase the efficiency of high temperature gas turbines. This project was sponsored by the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Investment Area. Therefore, particular importance was given to the processing of the large blades required for industrial gas turbines proposed for use in the Brayton cycle of nuclear plants powered by high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). During this modest (~1 full-time equivalent (FTE)) project, the processing technology was developed to create graded TBCs by coupling ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) with substrate pivoting in the alumina-YSZ system. The Electron Beam - 1200 kW (EB-1200) PVD system was used to deposit a variety of TBC coatings with micron layered microstructures and reduced thermal conductivity below 1.5 W/m.K. The use of IBAD produced fully stoichiometric coatings at a reduced substrate temperature of 600 oC and a reduced oxygen background pressure of 0.1 Pa. IBAD was also used to successfully demonstrate the transitioning of amorphous PVD-deposited alumina to the -phase alumina required as an oxygen diffusion barrier and for good adhesion to the substrate Ni2Al3 bondcoat. This process replaces the time consuming thermally grown oxide formation required before the YSZ deposition. In addition to the process technology, Direct Simulation Monte Carlo plume modeling and spectroscopic characterization of the PVD plumes were performed. The project consisted of five tasks. These included the production of layered
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hein, L. A.; Myers, W. N.
Vertical axis wind turbine incorporates several unique features to extract more energy from wind increasing efficiency 20% over conventional propeller driven units. System also features devices that utilize solar energy or chimney effluents during periods of no wind.
Influence of some design parameters on the efficiency of solar cells with down-conversion and down shifting of high-energy photons
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Badescu, Viorel; De Vos, Alexis
In this paper we analyze the system proposed by Trupke et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 92, 1668 (2002)] to increase solar cell efficiency. The system consists of adding to the solar cell a so-called down-converter, which is a device able to convert the high-energy incident photons into photons of lower energy. The contribution consists of taking account (i) the nonradiative recombination in both solar cell and converter, (ii) the refractive index of solar cell and converter materials, and (iii) the solar radiation concentration. Two configurations are studied: the cell and rear converter (C-RC) and front converter and cell (FC-C). The main conclusions of this work are as follow. (1) For ideal down-converters, with radiative recombination only, the solar energy conversion efficiency may be, or may not be, increased by adding a front (or a rear) down-converter to the cell, depending on the value of the solar cell refractive index. (2) More realistic systems, where nonradiative recombinations exist inside the converter, are also considered. The efficiency of the FC-C system is generally less than the efficiency of a single cell. C-RC systems perform better than the cell operating alone for some values of the refractive indices. (3) C-RC systems perform generally better than FC-C systems whatever the values of the refractive indices and the concentration ratio.
High-Efficiency Klystron For Television Transmitters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ramins, Peter; Dayton, James; Mccune, Earl, Sr.; Kosmahl, Henry
Improved klystron designed for use as final amplifier in ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) television transmitter. New device incorporates multistage depressed collector (MSDC) of advanced design to increase efficiency by recovering, from spent electron beam, some of residual kinetic energy otherwise dissipated as heat. Concept applied to increase efficiencies of microwave communication, equipment, radar systems, and particle-beam accelerators.
High-Efficiency Microwave Power Amplifier
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sims, Williams H.
A high-efficiency power amplifier that operates in the S band (frequencies of the order of a few gigahertz) utilizes transistors operating under class-D bias and excitation conditions. Class-D operation has been utilized at lower frequencies, but, until now, has not been exploited in the S band. Nominally, in class D operation, a transistor is switched rapidly between "on" and "off" states so that at any given instant, it sustains either high current or high voltage, but not both at the same time. In the ideal case of zero "on" resistance, infinite "off" resistance, zero inductance and capacitance, and perfect switching, the output signal would be a perfect square wave. Relative to the traditional classes A, B, and C of amplifier operation, class D offers the potential to achieve greater power efficiency. In addition, relative to class-A amplifiers, class-D amplifiers are less likely to go into oscillation. In order to design this amplifier, it was necessary to derive mathematical models of microwave power transistors for incorporation into a larger mathematical model for computational simulation of the operation of a class-D microwave amplifier. The design incorporates state-of-the-art switching techniques applicable only in the microwave frequency range. Another major novel feature is a transmission-line power splitter/combiner designed with the help of phasing techniques to enable an approximation of a square-wave signal (which is inherently a wideband signal) to propagate through what would, if designed in a more traditional manner, behave as a more severely band-limited device (see figure). The amplifier includes an input, a driver, and a final stage. Each stage contains a pair of GaAs-based field-effect transistors biased in class D. The input signal can range from -10 to +10 dBm into a 50-ohm load. The table summarizes the performances of the three stages
Tips for selecting highly efficient cyclones
Amrein, D.L.
Cyclone dust collectors have been used--and misused--all over the world for more than 100 years. One reason for the misuse is a common perception among users that all cyclones are created equal--that is, as long as a cyclone resembles a cylinder with an attached cone, it will do its job. However, to maximize separation efficiency in a specific application requires a precise cyclone design, engineered to exact fit many possible variables. A well-designed cyclone, for instance, can achieve efficiencies as high s 99.9+% when operated properly within the envelope of its specifications. Nonetheless, cyclones are often used only as first-stage filters for performing crude separations, with final collections being carried out by more-costly baghouses and scrubbers. Compared with baghouses and scrubbers, cyclones have two important considerations in their favor. One, they are almost invariably safer--in terms of the potential for generating fires and explosions--than fabric filters. Second, cyclones have lower maintenance costs since there are no filter media to replace. The paper discusses the operation, design, and troubleshooting of cyclones.
Efficient design of CMOS TSC checkers
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Biddappa, Anita; Shamanna, Manjunath K.; Maki, Gary; Whitaker, Sterling
This paper considers the design of an efficient, robustly testable, CMOS Totally Self-Checking (TSC) Checker for k-out-of-2k codes. Most existing implementations use primitive gates and assume the single stuck-at fault model. The self-testing property has been found to fail for CMOS TSC checkers under the stuck-open fault model due to timing skews and arbitrary delays in the circuit. A new four level design using CMOS primitive gates (NAND, NOR, INVERTERS) is presented. This design retains its properties under the stuck-open fault model. Additionally, this method offers an impressive reduction (greater than 70 percent) in gate count, gate inputs, and test set size when compared to the existing method. This implementation is easily realizable and is based on Anderson's technique. A thorough comparative study has been made on the proposed implementation and Kundu's implementation and the results indicate that the proposed one is better than Kundu's in all respects for k-out-of-2k codes.
Development of high-efficiency solar cells on silicon web
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rohatgi, A.; Meier, D. L.; Campbell, R. B.; Seidensticker, R. G.; Rai-Choudhury, P.
High-efficiency dendritic cells were discussed. The influence of twin planes and heat treatment on the location and effect of trace impurities was of particular interest. Proper heat treatment often increases efficiency by causing impurities to pile up at twin planes. Oxide passivation had a beneficial effect on efficiency. A very efficient antireflective (AR) coating of zinc selenide and magnesium fluoride was designed and fabricated. An aluminum back-surface reflector was also effective.
Rational design of aggregation-induced emission luminogen with weak electron donor-acceptor interaction to achieve highly efficient undoped bilayer OLEDs.
Chen, Long; Jiang, Yibin; Nie, Han; Hu, Rongrong; Kwok, Hoi Sing; Huang, Fei; Qin, Anjun; Zhao, Zujin; Tang, Ben Zhong
In this work, two tailored luminogens (TPE-NB and TPE-PNPB) consisting of tetraphenylethene (TPE), diphenylamino, and dimesitylboryl as a π-conjugated linkage, electron donor, and electron acceptor, respectively, are synthesized and characterized. Their thermal stabilities, photophysical properties, solvachromism, fluorescence decays, electronic structures, electrochemical behaviors, and electroluminescence (EL) properties are investigated systematically, and the impacts of electron donor-acceptor (D-A) interaction on optoelectronic properties are discussed. Due to the presence of a TPE unit, both luminogens show aggregation-induced emission, but strong D-A interaction causes a decrease in emission efficiency and red-shifts in photoluminescence and EL emissions. The luminogen, TPE-PNPB, with a weak D-A interaction fluoresces strongly in solid film with a high fluorescence quantum yield of 94%. The trilayer OLED [ITO/NPB (60 nm)/TPE-PNPB (20 nm)/TPBi (40 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm)] utilizing TPE-PNPB as a light emitter shows a peak luminance of 49 993 cd m(-2) and high EL efficiencies up to 15.7 cd A(-1), 12.9 lm W(-1), and 5.12%. The bilayer OLED [ITO/TPE-PNPB (80 nm)/TPBi (40 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm)] adopting TPE-PNPB as a light emitter and hole transporter simultaneously affords even better EL efficiencies of 16.2 cd A(-1), 14.4 lm W(-1), and 5.35% in ambient air, revealing that TPE-PNPB is an eximious p-type light emitter. PMID:25254940
High efficiency ground data transmission
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Dickinson, W. B.
It is demonstrated that state-of-the-art communications technology can be implemented and reliably operated on a global basis to increase the transmission rates and efficiencies on circuits with bandwidths greater than the typical speech channel. Optimization is affected by optimum clock recovery procedures, multilevel pulse amplitude modulation, single sideband amplitude modulation, transversal filter equalizers, data scrambling, and active compensation for phase instability.
Assess the key physics that underpins high-hydro coupling-efficiency in NDCX-II experiments and high-gain heavy ion direct drive target designs using proven hydro codes like HYDRA
Barnard, J. J.; Hay, M. J.; Logan, B. G.; Ng, S. F.; Perkins, L. J.; Veitzer, S.; Yu, S. S.
The simulations provided in this milestone have solidified the theoretical underpinning of direct drive targets and also the ability to design experiments on NDCX II that will enhance our understanding of ion-beam hydrodynamic coupling, and thus be relevant to IFE. For the case of the IFE targets, we have studied hydro and implosion efficiency using HYDRA in ID, a starting point towards the goal of polar direct drive in geometry compatible with liquid wall chambers. Recent analysis of direct drive fusion energy targets using heavy ion beams has found high coupling efficiency of ion beam energy into implosion energy. However, to obtain optimal coupling, the ion energy must increase during the pulse in order to penetrate the outflowing ablated material, and deposit the energy close enough to the fuel so that the fuel achieves sufficient implosion velocity. We have computationally explored ID (radial) time dependent models of ion driven direct drive capsule implosions using the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) code HYDRA, to help validate the theoretical analysis done so far, particularly exploring the effects of varying the ion energy and ion current over the course of the pulse. On NDCX II, experiments have been proposed to explore issues of ion penetration of the outflowing plasma over the course of the ion pulse. One possibility is to create a first pulse of ions that heats a planar target, and produces an outflow of material. A second pulse, {approx}10 ns after the first, of higher ion energy (and hence larger projected range) will interact with this outflow before reaching and further heating the target. We have investigated whether the change in range can be tailored to match the evolution of the ablation front. We have carried out simulations using the one-dimensional hydrodynamic code DISH and HYDRA to set parameters for this class of experiments. DISH was upgraded with an ion deposition algorithm, and we have carried out ID (planar) simulations. HYDRA was
High efficiency thermionic converter studies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Huffman, F. N.; Sommer, A. H.; Balestra, C. L.; Briere, T. R.; Lieb, D.; Oettinger, P. E.; Goodale, D. B.
Research in thermionic energy conversion technology is reported. The objectives were to produce converters suitable for use in out of core space reactors, radioisotope generators, and solar satellites. The development of emitter electrodes that operate at low cesium pressure, stable low work function collector electrodes, and more efficient means of space charge neutralization were investigated to improve thermionic converter performance. Potential improvements in collector properties were noted with evaporated thin film barium oxide coatings. Experiments with cesium carbonate suggest this substance may provide optimum combinations of cesium and oxygen for thermionic conversion.
Design and evaluation of area-efficient and wide-range impedance analysis circuit for multichannel high-quality brain signal recording system
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Iwagami, Takuma; Tani, Takaharu; Ito, Keita; Nishino, Satoru; Harashima, Takuya; Kino, Hisashi; Kiyoyama, Koji; Tanaka, Tetsu
To enable chronic and stable neural recording, we have been developing an implantable multichannel neural recording system with impedance analysis functions. One of the important things for high-quality neural signal recording is to maintain well interfaces between recording electrodes and tissues. We have proposed an impedance analysis circuit with a very small circuit area, which is implemented in a multichannel neural recording and stimulating system. In this paper, we focused on the design of an impedance analysis circuit configuration and the evaluation of a minimal voltage measurement unit. The proposed circuit has a very small circuit area of 0.23 mm2 designed with 0.18 µm CMOS technology and can measure interface impedances between recording electrodes and tissues in ultrawide ranges from 100 Ω to 10 MΩ. In addition, we also successfully acquired interface impedances using the proposed circuit in agarose gel experiments.
High energy efficient solid state laser sources
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Byer, Robert L.
Recent progress in the development of highly efficient coherent optical sources was reviewed. This work has focused on nonlinear frequency conversion of the highly coherent output of the non-planar ring laser oscillators developed earlier in the program, and includes high efficiency second harmonic generation and the operation of optical parametric oscillators for wavelength diversity and tunability.
High energy efficient solid state laser sources
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Byer, Robert L.
Recent progress in the development of highly efficient coherent optical sources is reviewed. This work focusses on nonlinear frequency conversion of the highly coherent output of the Non-Planar Ring Laser Oscillators developed earlier in the program, and includes high efficiency second harmonic generation and the operation of optical parametric oscillators for wavelength diversity and tunability.
High Efficiency Centrifugal Compressor for Rotorcraft Applications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Medic, Gorazd; Sharma, Om P.; Jongwook, Joo; Hardin, Larry W.; McCormick, Duane C.; Cousins, William T.; Lurie, Elizabeth A.; Shabbir, Aamir; Holley, Brian M.; Van Slooten, Paul R.
The report "High Efficiency Centrifugal Compressor for Rotorcraft Applications" documents the work conducted at UTRC under the NRA Contract NNC08CB03C, with cost share 2/3 NASA, and 1/3 UTRC, that has been extended to 4.5 years. The purpose of this effort was to identify key technical barriers to advancing the state-of-the-art of small centrifugal compressor stages; to delineate the measurements required to provide insight into the flow physics of the technical barriers; to design, fabricate, install, and test a state-of-the-art research compressor that is representative of the rear stage of an axial-centrifugal aero-engine; and to acquire detailed aerodynamic performance and research quality data to clarify flow physics and to establish detailed data sets for future application. The design activity centered on meeting the goal set outlined in the NASA solicitation-the design target was to increase efficiency at higher work factor, while also reducing the maximum diameter of the stage. To fit within the existing Small Engine Components Test Facility at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and to facilitate component re-use, certain key design parameters were fixed by UTRC, including impeller tip diameter, impeller rotational speed, and impeller inlet hub and shroud radii. This report describes the design effort of the High Efficiency Centrifugal Compressor stage (HECC) and delineation of measurements, fabrication of the compressor, and the initial tests that were performed. A new High-Efficiency Centrifugal Compressor stage with a very challenging reduction in radius ratio was successfully designed, fabricated and installed at GRC. The testing was successful, with no mechanical problems and the running clearances were achieved without impeller rubs. Overall, measured pressure ratio of 4.68, work factor of 0.81, and at design exit corrected flow rate of 3 lbm/s met the target requirements. Polytropic efficiency of 85.5 percent and stall margin of 7.5 percent were
High efficiency x-band TWT amplifiers
Naqvi, S.; Kerslick, G.S.; Nation, J.A.; Wang, Q.
The authors report on a research program to increase the efficiency of relativistic traveling wave amplifiers to > 50%. The two stage amplifier consists of a bunching periodic structure with phase velocity and a decelerating section with phase velocity significantly lower than the beam velocity. The position of the decelerating stage with respect to the bunching stage is chosen such that the narrowest bunches are sustained in the decelerating field for the longest possible time before significant debunching occurs. Two schemes are under investigation. In the first scheme, a resistive sever is placed between the two stages to suppress temporal phenomena. In the second scheme, the bunching and decelerating stages merge into each other by a gradual change in the iris radius over a wavelength. An absorbing section in this case is placed before the start of the bunching stage. A Coaxial extraction geometry is used in both schemes. Efficiencies obtained from MAGIC simulations are comparable to those obtained in high efficiency klystrons (50--50%) but carry the important advantage of broad-bandwidth, low sensitivity on dimensions, low surface fields, and simplicity of design.
Highly Efficient Vector-Inversion Pulse Generators
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rose, Franklin
Improved transmission-line pulse generators of the vector-inversion type are being developed as lightweight sources of pulsed high voltage for diverse applications, including spacecraft thrusters, portable x-ray imaging systems, impulse radar systems, and corona-discharge systems for sterilizing gases. In this development, more than the customary attention is paid to principles of operation and details of construction so as to the maximize the efficiency of the pulse-generation process while minimizing the sizes of components. An important element of this approach is segmenting a pulse generator in such a manner that the electric field in each segment is always below the threshold for electrical breakdown. One design of particular interest, a complete description of which was not available at the time of writing this article, involves two parallel-plate transmission lines that are wound on a mandrel, share a common conductor, and are switched in such a manner that the pulse generator is divided into a "fast" and a "slow" section. A major innovation in this design is the addition of ferrite to the "slow" section to reduce the size of the mandrel needed for a given efficiency.
Advanced High Efficiency Thermoelectric Materials
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Flanders, Laffite; Cummer, Keith R.; Feinsinger, Joseph; Heshmatpour, Ben
The research effort at Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., which has been aimed at improving the performance of the currently used thermoelectric (TE) materials has identified a number of improved formulations for the standard n-type PbTe and p-type TAGS. The preliminary test results appear to indicate nearly 50% higher thermal to electric energy conversion efficiency for these new PbTe and TAGS formulations. Effort is continuing to confirm the preliminary test results and validate the materials fabrication processes. Multiple batches of the newly developed TE materials will be prepared and characterized for thermoelectric properties. The selected TE materials will be subjected to degradation analysis and life modeling to determine any deterioration in the TE properties as a function of time and operating temperatures. This effort also includes measurement of sublimation rates as a function of temperature for the selected materials. The results for the initial sublimation tests are quite encouraging and show appreciable reduction in sublimation rate for TAGS 80 and the modified TAGS alloys. Future effort will include determination of effect of sublimation on TE characteristics for the selected TE materials. Microanalysis technique such as optical and electron microscopy, XRD and EDSX will be used to determine the microstructural characteristics of the TE materials at various stages of their simulated operating life. Based on the results of these studies the n-type and p-type materials with the highest power conversion efficiency and the lowest degradation rate will be selected for use in fabrication of future thermoelectric devices.
Energy efficient engine combustor test hardware detailed design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Zeisser, M. H.; Greene, W.; Dubiel, D. J.
The combustor for the Energy Efficient Engine is an annular, two-zone component. As designed, it either meets or exceeds all program goals for performance, safety, durability, and emissions, with the exception of oxides of nitrogen. When compared to the configuration investigated under the NASA-sponsored Experimental Clean Combustor Program, which was used as a basis for design, the Energy Efficient Engine combustor component has several technology advancements. The prediffuser section is designed with short, strutless, curved-walls to provide a uniform inlet airflow profile. Emissions control is achieved by a two-zone combustor that utilizes two types of fuel injectors to improve fuel atomization for more complete combustion. The combustor liners are a segmented configuration to meet the durability requirements at the high combustor operating pressures and temperatures. Liner cooling is accomplished with a counter-parallel FINWALL technique, which provides more effective heat transfer with less coolant.
Efficient high density train operations
Gordon, Susanna P.; Evans, John A.
The present invention provides methods for preventing low train voltages and managing interference, thereby improving the efficiency, reliability, and passenger comfort associated with commuter trains. An algorithm implementing neural network technology is used to predict low voltages before they occur. Once voltages are predicted, then multiple trains can be controlled to prevent low voltage events. Further, algorithms for managing inference are presented in the present invention. Different types of interference problems are addressed in the present invention such as "Interference. During Acceleration", "Interference Near Station Stops", and "Interference During Delay Recovery." Managing such interference avoids unnecessary brake/acceleration cycles during acceleration, immediately before station stops, and after substantial delays. Algorithms are demonstrated to avoid oscillatory brake/acceleration cycles due to interference and to smooth the trajectories of closely following trains. This is achieved by maintaining sufficient following distances to avoid unnecessary braking/accelerating. These methods generate smooth train trajectories, making for a more comfortable ride, and improve train motor reliability by avoiding unnecessary mode-changes between propulsion and braking. These algorithms can also have a favorable impact on traction power system requirements and energy consumption.
Measurements of weak interactions between truncated substrates and a hammerhead ribozyme by competitive kinetic analyses: implications for the design of new and efficient ribozymes with high sequence specificity
Kasai, Yasuhiro; Shizuku, Hideki; Takagi, Yasuomi; Warashina, Masaki; Taira, Kazunari
Exploitation of ribozymes in a practical setting requires high catalytic activity and strong specificity. The hammerhead ribozyme R32 has considerable potential in this regard since it has very high catalytic activity. In this study, we have examined how R32 recognizes and cleaves a specific substrate, focusing on the mechanism behind the specificity. Comparing rates of cleavage of a substrate in a mixture that included the correct substrate and various substrates with point mutations, we found that R32 cleaved the correct substrate specifically and at a high rate. To clarify the source of this strong specificity, we quantified the weak interactions between R32 and various truncated substrates, using truncated substrates as competitive inhibitors since they were not readily cleaved during kinetic measurements of cleavage of the correct substrate, S11. We found that the strong specificity of the cleavage reaction was due to a closed form of R32 with a hairpin structure. The self-complementary structure within R32 enabled the ribozyme to discriminate between the correct substrate and a mismatched substrate. Since this hairpin motif did not increase the Km (it did not inhibit the binding interaction) or decrease the kcat (it did not decrease the cleavage rate), this kind of hairpin structure might be useful for the design of new ribozymes with strong specificity and high activity. PMID:12034825
High Efficiency, Illumination Quality OLEDs for Lighting
Joseph Shiang; James Cella; Kelly Chichak; Anil Duggal; Kevin Janora; Chris Heller; Gautam Parthasarathy; Jeffery Youmans; Joseph Shiang
The goal of the program was to demonstrate a 45 lumen per watt white light device based upon the use of multiple emission colors through the use of solution processing. This performance level is a dramatic extension of the team's previous 15 LPW large area illumination device. The fundamental material system was based upon commercial polymer materials. The team was largely able to achieve these goals, and was able to deliver to DOE a 90 lumen illumination source that had an average performance of 34 LPW a 1000 cd/m{sup 2} with peak performances near 40LPW. The average color temperature is 3200K and the calculated CRI 85. The device operated at a brightness of approximately 1000cd/m{sup 2}. The use of multiple emission colors particularly red and blue, provided additional degrees of design flexibility in achieving white light, but also required the use of a multilayered structure to separate the different recombination zones and prevent interconversion of blue emission to red emission. The use of commercial materials had the advantage that improvements by the chemical manufacturers in charge transport efficiency, operating life and material purity could be rapidly incorporated without the expenditure of additional effort. The program was designed to take maximum advantage of the known characteristics of these material and proceeded in seven steps. (1) Identify the most promising materials, (2) assemble them into multi-layer structures to control excitation and transport within the OLED, (3) identify materials development needs that would optimize performance within multilayer structures, (4) build a prototype that demonstrates the potential entitlement of the novel multilayer OLED architecture (5) integrate all of the developments to find the single best materials set to implement the novel multilayer architecture, (6) further optimize the best materials set, (7) make a large area high illumination quality white OLED. A photo of the final deliverable is shown. In
Design of a highly efficient and wide pH electro-Fenton oxidation system with molecular oxygen activated by ferrous-tetrapolyphosphate complex.
Wang, Li; Cao, Menghua; Ai, Zhihui; Zhang, Lizhi
In this study, a novel electro-Fenton (EF) system was developed with iron wire, activated carbon fiber, and sodium tetrapolyphosphate (Na6TPP) as the anode, cathode, and electrolyte, respectively. This Na6TPP-EF system could efficiently degrade atrazine in a wide pH range of 4.0-10.2. The utilization of Na6TPP instead of Na2SO4 as the electrolyte enhanced the atrazine degradation rate by 130 times at an initial pH of 8.0. This dramatic enhancement was attributed to the formation of ferrous-tetrapolyphosphate (Fe(II)-TPP) complex from the electrochemical corrosion (ECC) and chemical corrosion (CC) of iron electrode in the presence of Na6TPP. The Fe(II)-TPP complex could provide an additional molecular oxygen activation pathway to produce more H2O2 and (•)OH via a series single-electron transfer processes, producing the Fe(III)-TPP complex. The cycle of Fe(II)/Fe(III) was easily realized through the electrochemical reduction (ECR) process on the cathode. More interestingly, we found that the presence of Na6TPP could prevent the iron electrode from excessive corrosion via phosphorization in the later stage of the Na6TPP-EF process, avoiding the generation of iron sludge. Gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and ion chromatography were used to investigate the degradation intermediates to propose a possible atrazine oxidation pathway in the Na6TPP-EF system. These interesting findings provide some new insight on the development of a low-cost and highly efficient EF system for wastewater treatment in a wide pH range. PMID:25631474
High efficiency solar photovoltaic power module concept
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bekey, I.
The investigation of a preliminary concept for high efficiency solar power generation in space is presented. The concept was a synergistic combination of spectral splitting, tailored bandgap cells, high concentration ratios, and cool cell areas.
High-Efficiency dc/dc Converter
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sturman, J.
High-efficiency dc/dc converter has been developed that provides commonly used voltages of plus or minus 12 Volts from an unregulated dc source of from 14 to 40 Volts. Unique features of converter are its high efficiency at low power level and ability to provide output either larger or smaller than input voltage.
Novel High Efficient Organic Photovoltaic Materials
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sun, Sam; Haliburton, James; Wang, Yi-Qing; Fan, Zhen; Taft, Charles; Maaref, Shahin; Bailey, Sheila (Technical Monitor)
Solar energy is a renewable, nonpolluting, and most abundant energy source for human exploration of a remote site or outer space. In order to generate appreciable electrical power in space or on the earth, it is necessary to collect sunlight from large areas and with high efficiency due to the low density of sunlight. Future organic or polymer (plastic) solar cells appear very attractive due to their unique features such as light weight, flexible shape, tunability of energy band-gaps via versatile molecular or supramolecular design, synthesis, processing and device fabrication schemes, and much lower cost on large scale industrial production. It has been predicted that supramolecular and nano-phase separated block copolymer systems containing electron rich donor blocks and electron deficient acceptor blocks may facilitate the charge carrier separation and migration due to improved electronic ultrastructure and morphology in comparison to polymer composite system. This presentation will describe our recent progress in the design, synthesis and characterization of a novel block copolymer system containing donor and acceptor blocks covalently attached. Specifically, the donor block contains an electron donating alkyloxy derivatized polyphenylenevinylene (RO-PPV), the acceptor block contains an electron withdrawing alkyl-sulfone derivatized polyphenylenevinylene (SF-PPV). The key synthetic strategy includes the synthesis of each individual block first, then couple the blocks together. While the donor block has a strong PL emission at around 560 nm, and acceptor block has a strong PL emission at around 520 nm, the PL emissions of final block copolymers are severely quenched. This verifies the expected electron transfer and charge separation due to interfaces of donor and acceptor nano phase separated blocks. The system therefore has potential for variety light harvesting applications, including high efficient photovoltaic applications.
A design guide for energy-efficient research laboratories
Wishner, N.; Chen, A.; Cook, L.; Bell, G.C.; Mills, E.; Sartor, D.; Avery, D.; Siminovitch, M.; Piette, M.A.
This document--A Design Guide for Energy-Efficient Research Laboratories--provides a detailed and holistic framework to assist designers and energy managers in identifying and applying advanced energy-efficiency features in laboratory-type environments. The Guide fills an important void in the general literature and compliments existing in-depth technical manuals. Considerable information is available pertaining to overall laboratory design issues, but no single document focuses comprehensively on energy issues in these highly specialized environments. Furthermore, practitioners may utilize many antiquated rules of thumb, which often inadvertently cause energy inefficiency. The Guide helps its user to: introduce energy decision-making into the earliest phases of the design process, access the literature of pertinent issues, and become aware of debates and issues on related topics. The Guide does focus on individual technologies, as well as control systems, and important operational factors such as building commissioning. However, most importantly, the Guide is intended to foster a systems perspective (e.g. right sizing) and to present current leading-edge, energy-efficient design practices and principles.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Simons, Rainee N. (Inventor); Wintucky, Edwin G. (Inventor)
One or more embodiments of the present invention pertain to an all solid-state microwave power module. The module includes a plurality of solid-state amplifiers configured to amplify a signal using a low power stage, a medium power stage, and a high power stage. The module also includes a power conditioner configured to activate a voltage sequencer (e.g., bias controller) when power is received from a power source. The voltage sequencer is configured to sequentially apply voltage to a gate of each amplifier and sequentially apply voltage to a drain of each amplifier.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Simons, Rainee N (Inventor); Wintucky, Edwin G (Inventor)
One or more embodiments of the present invention pertain to an all solid-state microwave power module. The module includes a plurality of solid-state amplifiers configured to amplify a signal using a low power stage, a medium power stage, and a high power stage. The module also includes a power conditioner configured to activate a voltage sequencer (e.g., bias controller) when power is received from a power source. The voltage sequencer is configured to sequentially apply voltage to a gate of each amplifier and sequentially apply voltage to a drain of each amplifier.
Summary of high-efficiency solar-cell research
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kachare, R.
High-efficiency solar-cell activities supporting efforts to achieve the DOE Five-Year Plan goals are summarized. Specific objectives are to identify and resolve key generic problems that limit cell efficiency to below theoretically predicted values and to design and fabricate cells having efficiences equal to or greater than 20% (AM1.5). Theoretical curves for various p-n junction cells were shown. The effects of practical barriers on cell efficiency was depicted along with the modeling parameters. Cell design parameters used in the analyses were described. The usefulness and present limitations of the existing modeling capabilities were presented. The historical evolution of the efficiencies of cells made from web and edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) silicon ribbons were also described. The status of contemporary higher-efficiency technical capabilities and future activities to raise efficiencies were stated.
Multicolor, High Efficiency, Nanotextured LEDs
Jung Han; Arto Nurmikko
We report on research results in this project which synergize advanced material science approaches with fundamental optical physics concepts pertaining to light-matter interaction, with the goal of solving seminal problems for the development of very high performance light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the blue and green for Solid State Lighting applications. Accomplishments in the duration of the contract period include (i) heteroepitaxy of nitrogen-polar LEDs on sapphire, (ii) heteroepitaxy of semipolar (11{bar 2}2) green LEDs on sapphire, (iii) synthesis of quantum-dot loaded nanoporous GaN that emits white light without phosphor conversion, (iv) demonstration of the highest quality semipolar (11{bar 2}2) GaN on sapphire using orientation-controlled epitaxy, (v) synthesis of nanoscale GaN and InGaN medium, and (vi) development of a novel liftoff process for manufacturing GaN thin-film vertical LEDs. The body of results is presented in this report shows how a solid foundation has been laid, with several noticeable accomplishments, for innovative research, consistent with the stated milestones.
Energy efficient engine preliminary design and integration study
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Gray, D. E.
The technology and configurational requirements of an all new 1990's energy efficient turbofan engine having a twin spool arrangement with a directly coupled fan and low-pressure turbine, a mixed exhaust nacelle, and a high 38.6:1 overall pressure ratio were studied. Major advanced technology design features required to provide the overall benefits were a high pressure ratio compression system, a thermally actuated advanced clearance control system, lightweight shroudless fan blades, a low maintenance cost one-stage high pressure turbine, a short efficient mixer and structurally integrated engine and nacelle. A conceptual design analysis was followed by integration and performance analyses of geared and direct-drive fan engines with separate or mixed exhaust nacelles to refine previously designed engine cycles. Preliminary design and more detailed engine-aircraft integration analysis were then conducted on the more promising configurations. Engine and aircraft sizing, fuel burned, and airframe noise studies on projected 1990's domestic and international aircraft produced sufficient definition of configurational and advanced technology requirements to allow immediate initiation of component technology development.
Novel High Efficient Organic Photovoltaic Materials
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sun, Sam; Haliburton, James; Fan, Zben; Taft, Charles; Wang, Yi-Qing; Maaref, Shahin; Mackey, Willie R. (Technical Monitor)
In man's mission to the outer space or a remote site, the most abundant, renewable, nonpolluting, and unlimited external energy source is light. Photovoltaic (PV) materials can convert light into electrical power. In order to generate appreciable electrical power in space or on the Earth, it is necessary to collect sunlight from large areas due to the low density of sunlight, and this would be very costly using current commercially available inorganic solar cells. Future organic or polymer based solar cells seemed very attractive due to several reasons. These include lightweight, flexible shape, ultra-fast optoelectronic response time (this also makes organic PV materials attractive for developing ultra-fast photo detectors), tunability of energy band-gaps via molecular design, versatile materials synthesis and device fabrication schemes, and much lower cost on large-scale industrial production. It has been predicted that nano-phase separated block copolymer systems containing electron rich donor blocks and electron deficient acceptor blocks will facilitate the charge separation and migration due to improved electronic ultrastructure and morphology in comparison to current polymer composite photovoltaic system. This presentation will describe our recent progress in the design, synthesis and characterization of a novel donor-bridge-acceptor block copolymer system for potential high-efficient organic optoelectronic applications. Specifically, the donor block contains an electron donating alkyloxy derivatized polyphenylenevinylene, the acceptor block contains an electron withdrawing alkyl-sulfone derivatized polyphenylenevinylene, and the bridge block contains an electronically neutral non-conjugated aliphatic hydrocarbon chain. The key synthetic strategy includes the synthesis of each individual block first, then couple the blocks together. While the donor block stabilizes the holes, the acceptor block stabilizes the electrons. The bridge block is designed to hinder
Transonic and Supersonic Wind-Tunnel Tests of Wing-Body Combinations Designed for High Efficiency at a Mach Number of 1.41
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Grant, Frederick C.; Sevier, John R., Jr.
Wind-tunnel force tests of a number of wing-body combinations designed for high lift-drag ratio at a Mach number of 1.41 are reported. Five wings and six bodies were used in making up the various wing-body combinations investigated. All the wings had the same highly swept dis- continuously tapered plan form with NACA 65A-series airfoil sections 4 percent thick at the root tapering linearly to 3 percent thick at the tip. The bodies were based on the area distribution of a Sears-Haack body of revolution for minimum drag with a given length and volume. These wings and bodies were used to determine the effects of wing twist., wing twist and camber, wing leading-edge droop, a change from circular to elliptical body cross-sectional shape, and body indentation by the area-rule and streamline methods. The supersonic test Mach numbers were 1.41 and 2.01. The transonic test Mach number range was from 0.6 to 1.2. For the transition-fixed condition and at a Reynolds number of 2.7 x 10(exp 6) based on the mean aerodynamic chord, the maximum value of lift- drag ratio at a Mach number of 1.41 was 9.6 for a combination with a twisted wing and an indented body of elliptical cross section. The tests indicated that the transonic rise in minimum drag was low and did not change appreciably up to the highest test Mach number of 2.01. The lower values of lift-drag ratio obtained at a Mach number of 2.01 can be attributed to the increase of drag due to lift with Mach number.
High efficiency quasi-monochromatic infrared emitter
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brucoli, Giovanni; Bouchon, Patrick; Haïdar, Riad; Besbes, Mondher; Benisty, Henri; Greffet, Jean-Jacques
Incandescent radiation sources are widely used as mid-infrared emitters owing to the lack of alternative for compact and low cost sources. A drawback of miniature hot systems such as membranes is their low efficiency, e.g., for battery powered systems. For targeted narrow-band applications such as gas spectroscopy, the efficiency is even lower. In this paper, we introduce design rules valid for very generic membranes demonstrating that their energy efficiency for use as incandescent infrared sources can be increased by two orders of magnitude.
High efficiency quasi-monochromatic infrared emitter
Brucoli, Giovanni; Besbes, Mondher; Benisty, Henri Greffet, Jean-Jacques; Bouchon, Patrick; Haïdar, Riad
Incandescent radiation sources are widely used as mid-infrared emitters owing to the lack of alternative for compact and low cost sources. A drawback of miniature hot systems such as membranes is their low efficiency, e.g., for battery powered systems. For targeted narrow-band applications such as gas spectroscopy, the efficiency is even lower. In this paper, we introduce design rules valid for very generic membranes demonstrating that their energy efficiency for use as incandescent infrared sources can be increased by two orders of magnitude.
Space solar cells - High efficiency and radiation damage
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Brandhorst, H. W., Jr.; Bernatowicz, D. T.
The proceedings of the Third Solar Cell High Efficiency and Radiation Damage Meeting are outlined. The topics covered included high efficiency silicon solar cells, silicon solar cell radiation damage, GaAs solar cell performance, and 30 percent conversion devices. The study of radiation damage from a fundamental defect-centered basis is discussed and evaluated as a focus of future work. 18% AM0 efficiency and 0.7 V open-circuit voltages are designated as achievable goals for silicon solar cells, and the potential for 30% AM0 efficiencies from monolithic tandem cell designs without sunlight concentration is noted. In addition to its potential for 20% AM0 efficiencies, the GaAs cell offers the possibility of a radiation-insensitive power supply when operated at temperatures near 200 C.
Energy efficient engine: High pressure turbine uncooled rig technology report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Gardner, W. B.
Results obtained from testing five performance builds (three vane cascades and two rotating rigs of the Energy Efficient Engine uncooled rig have established the uncooled aerodynamic efficiency of the high-pressure turbine at 91.1 percent. This efficiency level was attained by increasing the rim speed and annulus area (AN(2)), and by increasing the turbine reaction level. The increase in AN(2) resulted in a performance improvement of 1.15 percent. At the design point pressure ratio, the increased reaction level rig demonstrated an efficiency of 91.1 percent. The results of this program have verified the aerodynamic design assumptions established for the Energy Efficient Engine high-pressure turbine component.
High-efficiency crystalline silicon technology development
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Prince, M. B.
The rationale for pursuing high efficiency crystalline silicon technology research is discussed. Photovoltaic energy systems are reviewed as to their cost effectiveness and their competitiveness with other energy systems. The parameters of energy system life are listed and briefly reviewed.
Multi Band Gap High Efficiency Converter (RAINBOW)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bekey, I.; Lewis, C.; Phillips, W.; Shields, V.; Stella, P.
The RAINBOW multi band gap system represents a unique combination of solar cells, concentrators and beam splitters. RAINBOW is a flexible system which can readily expand as new high efficiency components are developed.
High efficiency klystron for the SPS application
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Larue, A. D.
The enhancement of klystron efficiency through the use of collector depression, that is by recovering energy from the spent electron beam after microwave amplification, was investigated. Design considerations included noise, harmonics, cooling, and service life. The mod anode, to be employed for beam control, and the depressed collector, used in spent electron beam energy recovery, are described.
Design and optimization of efficient magnetic coils for biomedical applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ram Rakhyani, Anil Kumar
Magnetic fields are permeable to the biological tissues and can induce electric field in the conductive structures. Some medical devices take advantage of this ability to transfer energy from the source to the receiving site without direct contact. Prosthetic devices such as retinal implants use time-varying magnetic field to achieve wireless power transfer to the implanted magnetic coil. However, devices such as magnetic stimulators use the induction principle to create an electric field at the stimulation site. Efficiency of these devices is primarily dependent on the design of the magnetic coils. Therefore, in this work, we designed and validated efficient magnetic coils for wireless power transfer to implanted devices and magnetic stimulation of the peripheral nerves. Typical wireless power transfer (WPT) systems uses two-coil based design to achieve contactless power transfer to the implanted electronics. These systems achieve low power transfer efficiency (< 30%) and frequency bandwidth. Moreover, efficient wireless system requires high coupling and load variation tolerance during device operation. To design an electromagnetic safe WPT system, the power absorbed by the tissue and radiated field due to the proximal magnetic coils needs to be minimized. In this work, we proposed a multi-coil power transfer system which solves some of the current challenges. The proposed multi-coil WPT system achieves more than twice the power transfer efficiency, controllable voltage gain, wider frequency bandwidth, higher tolerance to coupling and load variations, lower absorbed power in the tissue and lower radiated field from the magnetic coil than a comparable two-coil system. In this work, we have developed analytic models of the multi-coil WPT system and validated the accuracy of the solutions using experiments. Magnetic coils play an important role in controlling the distribution of induced electric field inside the nerve during magnetic stimulation. In the past
High efficiency shale oil recovery. [Kilntrol program
Adams, D.C.
The overall project objective is to demonstrate the high efficiency of the Adams Counter-Current shale oil recovery process. The efficiency is first being demonstrated at bench scale, in the current phase, after which the demonstration will be extended to the operation of a small pilot plant. Thus the immediate project objective is to obtain data on oil shale retorting operations in a small batch rotary kiln that will be representative of operations in the proposed continuous process pilot plant. This batch kiln is a unit constructed in a 1987 Phase I SBIR tar sand retorting project. The kiln worked fairly well in that project; however, the need for certain modifications was observed. These modifications, now completed, provide for a great improvement in the operation and make the data and analysis more exact. Last quarter we reported on equipment modifications and refurbishments which resulted in a sophisticated analytical rotary kiln. As we began operating the equipment this quarter, we observed that the software package was inadequate for our purpose and that the appropriate software could not be purchased as a shelf item. Therefore, we were required to modify the equipment interface and to write our own software. The quartz sand kiln calibration runs have been completed and the results are included in this report. Computer Interface: The computer interface was designed on CTR-05, DAS-08 and MUX-32 Boards from ComputerBoards Inc. We purchased a software program, Control EG by Quinn-Curtis, to use with these boards. As we began operating the equipment we realized that the software control was inadequately sensitive for our system as it would not provide time-proportioning output. This problem was resolved by writing our own software and providing time-proportioning duty cycles for the output to each of five heaters. We have entitled this program Kilntrol.'' It is included in the Appendix of this report.
Algorithmic Processes for Increasing Design Efficiency.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Terrell, William R.
Discusses the role of algorithmic processes as a supplementary method for producing cost-effective and efficient instructional materials. Examines three approaches to problem solving in the context of developing training materials for the Naval Training Command: application of algorithms, quasi-algorithms, and heuristics. (EAO)
On the Asymptotic Relative Efficiency of Planned Missingness Designs.
Rhemtulla, Mijke; Savalei, Victoria; Little, Todd D
In planned missingness (PM) designs, certain data are set a priori to be missing. PM designs can increase validity and reduce cost; however, little is known about the loss of efficiency that accompanies these designs. The present paper compares PM designs to reduced sample (RN) designs that have the same total number of data points concentrated in fewer participants. In 4 studies, we consider models for both observed and latent variables, designs that do or do not include an "X set" of variables with complete data, and a full range of between- and within-set correlation values. All results are obtained using asymptotic relative efficiency formulas, and thus no data are generated; this novel approach allows us to examine whether PM designs have theoretical advantages over RN designs removing the impact of sampling error. Our primary findings are that (a) in manifest variable regression models, estimates of regression coefficients have much lower relative efficiency in PM designs as compared to RN designs, (b) relative efficiency of factor correlation or latent regression coefficient estimates is maximized when the indicators of each latent variable come from different sets, and (c) the addition of an X set improves efficiency in manifest variable regression models only for the parameters that directly involve the X-set variables, but it substantially improves efficiency of most parameters in latent variable models. We conclude that PM designs can be beneficial when the model of interest is a latent variable model; recommendations are made for how to optimize such a design. PMID:25217133
The emerging High Efficiency Video Coding standard (HEVC)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Raja, Gulistan; Khan, Awais
High definition video (HDV) is becoming popular day by day. This paper describes the performance analysis of latest upcoming video standard known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). HEVC is designed to fulfil all the requirements for future high definition videos. In this paper, three configurations (intra only, low delay and random access) of HEVC are analyzed using various 480p, 720p and 1080p high definition test video sequences. Simulation results show the superior objective and subjective quality of HEVC.
Improving Design Efficiency for Large-Scale Heterogeneous Circuits
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gregerson, Anthony
Despite increases in logic density, many Big Data applications must still be partitioned across multiple computing devices in order to meet their strict performance requirements. Among the most demanding of these applications is high-energy physics (HEP), which uses complex computing systems consisting of thousands of FPGAs and ASICs to process the sensor data created by experiments at particles accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Designing such computing systems is challenging due to the scale of the systems, the exceptionally high-throughput and low-latency performance constraints that necessitate application-specific hardware implementations, the requirement that algorithms are efficiently partitioned across many devices, and the possible need to update the implemented algorithms during the lifetime of the system. In this work, we describe our research to develop flexible architectures for implementing such large-scale circuits on FPGAs. In particular, this work is motivated by (but not limited in scope to) high-energy physics algorithms for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the LHC. To make efficient use of logic resources in multi-FPGA systems, we introduce Multi-Personality Partitioning, a novel form of the graph partitioning problem, and present partitioning algorithms that can significantly improve resource utilization on heterogeneous devices while also reducing inter-chip connections. To reduce the high communication costs of Big Data applications, we also introduce Information-Aware Partitioning, a partitioning method that analyzes the data content of application-specific circuits, characterizes their entropy, and selects circuit partitions that enable efficient compression of data between chips. We employ our information-aware partitioning method to improve the performance of the hardware validation platform for evaluating new algorithms for the CMS experiment. Together, these research efforts help to improve the efficiency
Efficient prediction designs for random fields
Müller, Werner G; Pronzato, Luc; Rendas, Joao; Waldl, Helmut
For estimation and predictions of random fields, it is increasingly acknowledged that the kriging variance may be a poor representative of true uncertainty. Experimental designs based on more elaborate criteria that are appropriate for empirical kriging (EK) are then often non-space-filling and very costly to determine. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using a compound criterion inspired by an equivalence theorem type relation to build designs quasi-optimal for the EK variance when space-filling designs become unsuitable. Two algorithms are proposed, one relying on stochastic optimization to explicitly identify the Pareto front, whereas the second uses the surrogate criteria as local heuristic to choose the points at which the (costly) true EK variance is effectively computed. We illustrate the performance of the algorithms presented on both a simple simulated example and a real oceanographic dataset. © 2014 The Authors. Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:26300698
Design criteria for high temperature filters
Peukert, W.
In power generation systems, overall efficiency can be increased if the hot and eventually pressurized gases from a coal combustor or a gasifier are cleaned at high temperatures so that a gas turbine can be operated with the off-gases. Overall efficiencies might be increased from 38% to above 50%. In numerous other applications in the metal, ceramic and process industry hot gases have to be cleaned. This is often done by quenching with subsequent conventional scrubbing or filter technology. In order to use the heat content efficiently dust particles have to be separated at elevated temperature with the additional advantage of avoiding possible corrosion and plugging due to cooling. At elevated temperature, also gaseous pollutants can be collected simultaneously together with particulate matter in a high temperature dry scrubber or granular bed. The paper describes high-temperature filter media, regeneration of filter medium, testing essential for high-temperature applications, and design of the baghouse.
Operational efficiency: Automatic ascent flight design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Major objectives, milestones, key contacts, major accomplishments, technology issues, and candidate programs of the automatic ascent flight design are outlined. Topics discussed include: advanced avionics concepts; advanced training concepts; telerobotics/telepresence; integrated command and control; advanced software integration; atmospheric adaptive guidance; and health status and monitoring concept. This presentation is represented by viewgraphs only.
Technology Development for High Efficiency Optical Communications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Farr, William H.
Deep space optical communications is a significantly more challenging operational domain than near Earth space optical communications, primarily due to effects resulting from the vastly increased range between transmitter and receiver. The NASA Game Changing Development Program Deep Space Optical Communications Project is developing four key technologies for the implementation of a high efficiency telecommunications system that will enable greater than 10X the data rate of a state-of-the-art deep space RF system (Ka-band) for similar transceiver mass and power burden on the spacecraft. These technologies are a low mass spacecraft disturbance isolation assembly, a flight qualified photon counting detector array, a high efficiency flight laser amplifier and a high efficiency photon counting detector array for the ground-based receiver.
Design and synthesis of a chiral uranium-based microporous metal organic framework with high SHG efficiency and sequestration potential for low-valent actinides.
Wang, Yanlong; Li, Yuxiang; Bai, Zhuanling; Xiao, Chengliang; Liu, Zhiyong; Liu, Wei; Chen, Lanhua; He, Weiwei; Diwu, Juan; Chai, Zhifang; Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E; Wang, Shuao
The solvothermal reaction of [tris-(4-carboxylphenyl)phosphineoxide] (H3TPO) with UO2(NO3)2·6H2O in DMF affords a uranium-based chiral, microporous, metal-organic framework compound [(CH3)2NH2][UO2(TPO)]·4DMF·12.5H2O (SCU-3) that exhibits the highest void volume (68.8%) and second-harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency (1.54 KDP) for an actinide compound reported to date. The combination of large channels and the coordination capabilities of P=O moieties in the structure enables SCU-3 to capture large amounts of Th(iv) from aqueous solutions, providing a new strategy for preparing heterobimetallic 5f/5f compounds, and may lead to applications in nuclear waste management. PMID:26459775
High-efficiency filtration meets IAQ goals
Aaronson, E.L. ); Fencl, F. )
This article describes multi-stage filtration system which provided initial cost savings and is expected to save even more in energy costs while fulfilling IAQ requirements. The use of high-efficiency filtration has enabled the city of Kansas City, Mo., to save an estimated $500,000 in initial HVAC system costs for its Bartle Hall expansion project, which is currently under construction. Once operational, the new HVAC system, with its high-efficiency filters, is expected to save thousands of dollars per week more in energy costs while also delivering superior indoor air quality (IAQ).
Measure Guideline. High Efficiency Natural Gas Furnaces
Brand, L.; Rose, W.
This measure guideline covers installation of high-efficiency gas furnaces, including: when to install a high-efficiency gas furnace as a retrofit measure; how to identify and address risks; and the steps to be used in the selection and installation process. The guideline is written for Building America practitioners and HVAC contractors and installers. It includes a compilation of information provided by manufacturers, researchers, and the Department of Energy as well as recent research results from the Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR) Building America team.
Measure Guideline: High Efficiency Natural Gas Furnaces
Brand, L.; Rose, W.
This Measure Guideline covers installation of high-efficiency gas furnaces. Topics covered include when to install a high-efficiency gas furnace as a retrofit measure, how to identify and address risks, and the steps to be used in the selection and installation process. The guideline is written for Building America practitioners and HVAC contractors and installers. It includes a compilation of information provided by manufacturers, researchers, and the Department of Energy as well as recent research results from the Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR) Building America team.
Proposal for superstructure based high efficiency photovoltaics
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wagner, M.; Leburton, J. P.
A novel class of cascade structures is proposed which features multijunction upper subcells, referred to as superstructure high-efficiency photovoltaics (SHEPs). The additional junctions enhance spectral response and improve radiation tolerance by reducing bulk recombination losses. This is important because ternary III-V alloys, which tend to have short minority-carrier diffusion lengths, are the only viable materials for the high-bandgap upper subcells required for cascade solar cells. Realistic simulations of AlGaAs SHEPs show that one-sun AM0 efficiencies in excess of 26 percent are possible.
Processing technology for high efficiency silicon solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Spitzer, M. B.; Keavney, C. J.
Recent advances in silicon solar cell processing have led to attainment of conversion efficiency approaching 20%. The basic cell design is investigated and features of greatest importance to achievement of 20% efficiency are indicated. Experiments to separately optimize high efficiency design features in test structures are discussed. The integration of these features in a high efficiency cell is examined. Ion implantation has been used to achieve optimal concentrations of emitter dopant and junction depth. The optimization reflects the trade-off between high sheet conductivity, necessary for high fill factor, and heavy doping effects, which must be minimized for high open circuit voltage. A second important aspect of the design experiments is the development of a passivation process to minimize front surface recombination velocity. The manner in which a thin SiO2 layer may be used for this purpose is indicated without increasing reflection losses, if the antireflection coating is properly designed. Details are presented of processing intended to reduce recombination at the contact/Si interface. Data on cell performance (including CZ and ribbon) and analysis of loss mechanisms are also presented.
Newly-designed complex ternary Pt/PdCu nanoboxes anchored on three-dimensional graphene framework for highly efficient ethanol oxidation.
Hu, Chuangang; Cheng, Huhu; Zhao, Yang; Hu, Yue; Liu, Yong; Dai, Liming; Qu, Liangti
Newly-designed ternary Pt/PdCu nanoboxes on three-dimensional graphene framework (Pt/PdCu/3DGF) have been fabricated via a dual solvothermal strategy. This structurally well-defined Pt/PdCu/3DGF system possesses an approximately 4-fold improvement in catalytic activity for ethanol oxidation in alkaline media over the commercial 20% Pt/C catalyst as normalized by the total mass of active metals, showing the great potential for direct fuel cell applications. PMID:22886893
Rational Design and Synthesis of New, High Efficiency, Multipotent Schiff Base-1,2,4-triazole Antioxidants Bearing Butylated Hydroxytoluene Moieties.
Yehye, Wageeh A; Abdul Rahman, Noorsaadah; Saad, Omar; Ariffin, Azhar; Abd Hamid, Sharifah Bee; Alhadi, Abeer A; Kadir, Farkaad A; Yaeghoobi, Marzieh; Matlob, Abdulsalam A
A new series of multipotent antioxidants (MPAOs), namely Schiff base-1,2,4-triazoles attached to the oxygen-derived free radical scavenging moiety butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were designed and subsequently synthesized. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the designed antioxidants was established alongside the prediction of activity spectra for substances (PASS). The antioxidant activities of the synthesized compounds 4-10 were tested by the DPPH bioassay. The synthesized compounds 4-10 inhibited stable DPPH free radicals at a level that is 10(-4) M more than the well-known standard antioxidant BHT. Compounds 8-10 with para-substituents were less active than compounds 4 and 5 with trimethoxy substituents compared to those with a second BHT moiety (compounds 6 and 7). With an IC50 of 46.13 ± 0.31 µM, compound 6 exhibited the most promising in vitro inhibition at 89%. Therefore, novel MPAOs containing active triazole rings, thioethers, Schiff bases, and BHT moieties are suggested as potential antioxidants for inhibiting oxidative stress processes and scavenging free radicals, hence, this combination of functions is anticipated to play a vital role in repairing cellular damage, preventing various human diseases and in medical therapeutic applications. PMID:27367658
Efficient multimedia encryption via entropy codec design
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Chung-Ping; Kuo, C.-C. Jay
Efficient encryption algorithms are essential to multimedia data security, since the data size is large and real-time processing is often required. After discussing limitations of previous work on multimedia encryption, we propose a novel methodology for confidentiality, which turns entropy coders into encryption ciphers by using multiple statistical models. The choice of statistical models and the order in which they are applied are kept secret as the key Two encryption schemes are constructed by applying this methodology to the Huffman coder and the QM coder. It is shown that security is achieved without sacrificing the compression performance and the computational speed. The schemes can be applied to most modern compression systems such as MPEG audio, MPEG video and JPEG/JPEG2000 image compression.
High-efficiency 20 W yellow VECSEL.
Kantola, Emmi; Leinonen, Tomi; Ranta, Sanna; Tavast, Miki; Guina, Mircea
A high-efficiency optically pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser emitting 20 W at a wavelength around 588 nm is demonstrated. The semiconductor gain chip emitted at a fundamental wavelength around 1170-1180 nm and the laser employed a V-shaped cavity. The yellow spectral range was achieved by intra-cavity frequency doubling using a LBO crystal. The laser could be tuned over a bandwidth of ~26 nm while exhibiting watt-level output powers. The maximum conversion efficiency from absorbed pump power to yellow output was 28% for continuous wave operation. The VECSEL's output could be modulated to generate optical pulses with duration down to 570 ns by directly modulating the pump laser. The high-power pulse operation is a key feature for astrophysics and medical applications while at the same time enables higher slope efficiency than continuous wave operation owing to decreased heating. PMID:24663985
High efficiency novel window air conditioner
Bansal, Pradeep
This paper presents the technical development of a high efficiency window air conditioner. In order to achieve higher energy efficiency ratio (EER), the original capacity of the R410A unit was downgraded by replacing the original compressor with a lower capacity but higher EER compressor, while all heat exchangers and the chassis from the original unit were retained. The other subsequent major modifications included – the AC fan motor being replaced with a brushless high efficiency electronically commuted motor (ECM) motor, the capillary tube being replaced with a needle valve to better control the refrigerant flow and refrigerant set points, andmore » R410A being replaced with drop-in environmentally friendly binary mixture of R32 (85% molar concentration)/R125 (15% molar concentration). All these modifications resulted in significant EER enhancement of the modified unit.« less
High efficiency novel window air conditioner
Bansal, Pradeep
This paper presents the technical development of a high efficiency window air conditioner. In order to achieve higher energy efficiency ratio (EER), the original capacity of the R410A unit was downgraded by replacing the original compressor with a lower capacity but higher EER compressor, while all heat exchangers and the chassis from the original unit were retained. The other subsequent major modifications included – the AC fan motor being replaced with a brushless high efficiency electronically commuted motor (ECM) motor, the capillary tube being replaced with a needle valve to better control the refrigerant flow and refrigerant set points, and R410A being replaced with drop-in environmentally friendly binary mixture of R32 (85% molar concentration)/R125 (15% molar concentration). All these modifications resulted in significant EER enhancement of the modified unit.
The paper discusses the evaluation of a multistaged combustion burner design on a 0.6 MW package boiler simulator for in-furnace NOx control and high combustion efficiency. Both deep air staging, resulting in a three-stage configuration, and boiler front wall fuel staging of undo...
Development of High Efficiency (14%) Solar Cell Array Module
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Iles, P. A.; Khemthong, S.; Olah, S.; Sampson, W. J.; Ling, K. S.
High efficiency solar cells required for the low cost modules was developed. The production tooling for the manufacture of the cells and modules was designed. The tooling consisted of: (1) back contact soldering machine; (2) vacuum pickup; (3) antireflective coating tooling; and (4) test fixture.
High Efficiency Mode Converter for Low-Frequency Gyrotron
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Minami, Ryutaro; Kariya, Tsuyoshi; Imai, Tsuyoshi; Mitsunaka, Yoshika; Sakamoto, Keishi
A high efficiency quasi-optical (QO) mode converter for high-power, low-frequency gyrotron have been designed and tested. For low-frequency gyrotrons, the scales of the mode converter are comparatively small on the wavelength scale, thus causing significant diffraction losses. Over-1 MW power gyrotron with TE8,3 cavity at 28 GHz have been developed, which has a high efficiency mode converter designed by the use of numerical methods for launcher optimization. This calculation is sufficiently optimized to maximize the fractional Gaussian content of the far field. The total transmission efficiency from the mode converter to output window is 94.7%. For the experimental result of first tube, the output power of more than 1 MW has been obtained with about 40% efficiency and output burn pattern agrees fairly with the calculated profiles, which imply the design appropriateness. Besides, the frequency dependence for diffraction loss is discussed, and these results give the guiding design principle of the mode converter for high-power, low-frequency and long-pulse gyrotrons.
Design considerations in an efficient electric motorcycle
Mohamed-Nour, H.I.; Quigley, J.W.; Das, R.
This paper presents the design procedure and experimental evaluation of an economical electric motorcycle. A commercial motorcycle, powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE), has been converted to run an on a dc electric motor fed by batteries. A theoretical model has been developed and applied for predicting the motorcycle performance. After conversion, the motorcycle was thoroughly tested on surface streets as well as on highways. The performance results obtained from these road tests have been compared with those predicted based on the theoretical model and a strong correlation was found. Other energy conversion schemes may be used to convert existing ICE based transportation systems to battery based transportation systems that will meet zero emission standards.
Energy-Efficient Design for Florida Educational Facilities.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Florida Solar Energy Center, Cape Canaveral.
This manual provides a detailed simulation analysis of a variety of energy conservation measures (ECMs) with the intent of giving educational facility design teams in Florida a basis for decision making. The manual's three sections cover energy efficiency design considerations that appear throughout the following design processes: schematic…
Design Process of an Area-Efficient Photobioreactor
Janssen, Marcel; Tramper, Johannes; Wijffels, René H.
This article describes the design process of the Green Solar Collector (GSC), an area-efficient photobioreactor for the outdoor cultivation of microalgae. The overall goal has been to design a system in which all incident sunlight on the area covered by the reactor is delivered to the algae at such intensities that the light energy can be efficiently used for biomass formation. A statement of goals is formulated and constraints are specified to which the GSC needs to comply. Specifications are generated for a prototype which form and function achieve the stated goals and satisfy the specified constraints. This results in a design in which sunlight is captured into vertical plastic light guides. Sunlight reflects internally in the guide and eventually scatters out of the light guide into flat-panel photobioreactor compartments. Sunlight is focused on top of the light guides by dual-axis positioning of linear Fresnel lenses. The shape and material of the light guide is such that light is maintained in the guides when surrounded by air. The bottom part of a light guide is sandblasted to obtain a more uniform distribution of light inside the bioreactor compartment and is triangular shaped to ensure the efflux of all light out of the guide. Dimensions of the guide are such that light enters the flat-panel photobioreactor compartment at intensities that can be efficiently used by the biomass present. The integration of light capturing, transportation, distribution and usage is such that high biomass productivities per area can be achieved. PMID:18266033
Design process of an area-efficient photobioreactor.
Zijffers, Jan-Willem F; Janssen, Marcel; Tramper, Johannes; Wijffels, René H
This article describes the design process of the Green Solar Collector (GSC), an area-efficient photobioreactor for the outdoor cultivation of microalgae. The overall goal has been to design a system in which all incident sunlight on the area covered by the reactor is delivered to the algae at such intensities that the light energy can be efficiently used for biomass formation. A statement of goals is formulated and constraints are specified to which the GSC needs to comply. Specifications are generated for a prototype which form and function achieve the stated goals and satisfy the specified constraints. This results in a design in which sunlight is captured into vertical plastic light guides. Sunlight reflects internally in the guide and eventually scatters out of the light guide into flat-panel photobioreactor compartments. Sunlight is focused on top of the light guides by dual-axis positioning of linear Fresnel lenses. The shape and material of the light guide is such that light is maintained in the guides when surrounded by air. The bottom part of a light guide is sandblasted to obtain a more uniform distribution of light inside the bioreactor compartment and is triangular shaped to ensure the efflux of all light out of the guide. Dimensions of the guide are such that light enters the flat-panel photobioreactor compartment at intensities that can be efficiently used by the biomass present. The integration of light capturing, transportation, distribution and usage is such that high biomass productivities per area can be achieved. PMID:18266033
Novel Nanophosphors for High Efficiency Fluorescent Lamps
Alok M. Srivastava
This is the Yearly Report of the Novel Nanophosphors for High Efficiency Fluorescent Lamps, Department of Energy (DOE). The overall goal of this three-year program is to develop novel hybrid phosphors by coating commercially available lamp phosphors with highly stable wide band-gap nanocrystalline phosphors (NCP). The novel hybrid phosphors will increase the efficiency of the fluorescent lamps by up to 32%, enabling total energy savings of 0.26 quads, the reduction in the U.S. energy bill by $6.5 billion and the reduction of the annual carbon emission by 4.1 billion kilogram. The prime technical approach is the development of NCP quantum-splitting phosphor (QSP) and ultra-violet emitting phosphors with quantum efficiencies exceeding that of the conventional phosphors at 185 nm. Our chief achievement, during the current contract period, pertains to the successful synthesis and characterization of coated phosphors. We demonstrated several synthesis techniques for the coating of micron sized commercial phosphors with quantum-splitting and UV emitting nanophosphors. We have also continued our fundamental investigations into the physical processes that determine the quantum efficiency of the nanophosphors and this has further helped codify a set of rules for the host lattice that support efficient quantum splitting and UV emission at room temperature. In this report we summarize the technical work completed under the Program, summarize our findings about the performance limits of the various technologies we investigated, and outline promising paths for future work.
An Efficient Inverse Aerodynamic Design Method For Subsonic Flows
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Milholen, William E., II
Computational Fluid Dynamics based design methods are maturing to the point that they are beginning to be used in the aircraft design process. Many design methods however have demonstrated deficiencies in the leading edge region of airfoil sections. The objective of the present research is to develop an efficient inverse design method which is valid in the leading edge region. The new design method is a streamline curvature method, and a new technique is presented for modeling the variation of the streamline curvature normal to the surface. The new design method allows the surface coordinates to move normal to the surface, and has been incorporated into the Constrained Direct Iterative Surface Curvature (CDISC) design method. The accuracy and efficiency of the design method is demonstrated using both two-dimensional and three-dimensional design cases.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Highly Efficient Nondoped Green Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Combination of High Photoluminescence and High Exciton Utilization.
Wang, Chu; Li, Xianglong; Pan, Yuyu; Zhang, Shitong; Yao, Liang; Bai, Qing; Li, Weijun; Lu, Ping; Yang, Bing; Su, Shijian; Ma, Yuguang
Photoluminescence (PL) efficiency and exciton utilization efficiency are two key parameters to harvest high-efficiency electroluminescence (EL) in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). But it is not easy to simultaneously combine these two characteristics (high PL efficiency and high exciton utilization) into a fluorescent material. In this work, an efficient combination was achieved through two concepts of hybridized local and charge-transfer (CT) state (HLCT) and "hot exciton", in which the former is responsible for high PL efficiency while the latter contributes to high exciton utilization. On the basis of a tiny chemical modification in TPA-BZP, a green-light donor-acceptor molecule, we designed and synthesized CzP-BZP with this efficeient combination of high PL efficiency of η(PL) = 75% in the solid state and maximal exciton utilization efficiency up to 48% (especially, the internal quantum efficiency of η(IQE) = 35% substantially exceed 25% of spin statistics limit) in OLED. The nondoped OLED of CzP-BZP exhibited an excellent performance: a green emission with a CIE coordinate of (0.34, 0.60), a maximum current efficiency of 23.99 cd A(-1), and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE, η(EQE)) of 6.95%. This combined HLCT state and "hot exciton" strategy should be a practical way to design next-generation, low-cost, high-efficiency fluorescent OLED materials. PMID:26785427
Ultra-Compact High-Efficiency Luminaire for General Illumination
Lowes, Ted
Cree has developed a new ultra-compact light emitting diode (LED) luminaire capable of providing high efficacy with excellent color quality that can lead to significant energy savings in today's commercial and retail applications. This success was based on an integrated development effort tailoring the LED component characteristics, optics, thermal management and driver design for the small footprint to achieve an overall system efficiency of 70%. A new LED component was designed to provide high brightness and efficacy in a form factor that allowed for a small directional beam with a luminaire housing design able to dissipate the heat effectively using a small physical envelope. A very compact, 90% efficient driver was developed to meet the system performance while not taking away any thermal mass from the heat sink. A 91% efficient secondary optics was designed to maximize efficiency while providing a smooth beam. The reliability of the new LED component was robust under accelerated testing conditions. Luminaires were assembled integrating the novel LED component, secondary optics, heat sink and driver technology to demonstrate the system improvement. Cree has successfully completed this project by developing an ultra-compact LED luminaire that provided 380 lumens at a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 2822 K and color rendering index (CRI) of 94 with an efficacy of 94 lumens per watt (LPW) when operating at 4 W input power (steady state) with an overall system efficiency of 81%. At a higher input power of 9 Watts, the lamp provided 658 lumens at 71 LPW.
Efficient circuit triggers high-current, high-voltage pulses
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Green, E. D.
Modified circuit uses diodes to effectively disconnect the charging resistors from the circuit during the discharge cycle. Result is an efficient parallel charging, high voltage pulse modulator with low voltage rating of components.
High efficiency compound semiconductor concentrator photovoltaics
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Borden, P.; Gregory, P.; Saxena, R.; Owen, R.; Moore, O.
Special emphasis was given to the high yield pilot production of packaged AlGaAs/GaAs concentrator solar cells, using organometallic VPE for materials growth, the demonstration of a concentrator module using 12 of these cells which achieved 16.4 percent conversion efficiency at 50 C coolant inlet temperature, and the demonstration of a spectral splitting converter module that achieved in excess of 20 percent efficiency. This converter employed ten silicon and ten AlGaAs cells with a dichroic filter functioning as the beam splitter. A monolithic array of AlGaAs/GaAs solar cells is described.
High efficiency pump for space helium transfer
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hasenbein, Robert; Izenson, Michael G.; Swift, Walter L.; Sixsmith, Herbert
A centrifugal pump was developed for the efficient and reliable transfer of liquid helium in space. The pump can be used to refill cryostats on orbiting satellites which use liquid helium for refrigeration at extremely low temperatures. The pump meets the head and flow requirements of on-orbit helium transfer: a flow rate of 800 L/hr at a head of 128 J/kg. The overall pump efficiency at the design point is 0.45. The design head and flow requirements are met with zero net positive suction head, which is the condition in an orbiting helium supply Dewar. The mass transfer efficiency calculated for a space transfer operation is 0.99. Steel ball bearings are used with gas fiber-reinforced teflon retainers to provide solid lubrication. These bearings have demonstrated the longest life in liquid helium endurance tests under simulated pumping conditions. Technology developed in the project also has application for liquid helium circulation in terrestrial facilities and for transfer of cryogenic rocket propellants in space.
High-Temperature High-Efficiency Solar Thermoelectric Generators
Baranowski, LL; Warren, EL; Toberer, ES
Inspired by recent high-efficiency thermoelectric modules, we consider thermoelectrics for terrestrial applications in concentrated solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs). The STEG is modeled as two subsystems: a TEG, and a solar absorber that efficiently captures the concentrated sunlight and limits radiative losses from the system. The TEG subsystem is modeled using thermoelectric compatibility theory; this model does not constrain the material properties to be constant with temperature. Considering a three-stage TEG based on current record modules, this model suggests that 18% efficiency could be experimentally expected with a temperature gradient of 1000A degrees C to 100A degrees C. Achieving 15% overall STEG efficiency thus requires an absorber efficiency above 85%, and we consider two methods to achieve this: solar-selective absorbers and thermally insulating cavities. When the TEG and absorber subsystem models are combined, we expect that the STEG modeled here could achieve 15% efficiency with optical concentration between 250 and 300 suns.
Efficient accelerator afterburner design based on plasma wakefield acceleration
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huang, Chengkun; Blumenfeld, I.; Clayton, C. E.; Decker, F.-J.; Hogan, M. J.; Iverson, R.; Joshi, C.; Katsouleas, T.; Kirby, N.; Lu, W.; Marsh, K. A.; Mori, W. B.; Muggli, P.; Siemann, R.; Walz, D.; Ischebeck, R.; Tzoufras, M.
Recent plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) experiment using short (˜100fs), high peak current (>10KA) electron beam as wakefield driver has demonstrated sustained acceleration gradient of ˜50GeV/m over 85 cm. The rapid progress of PWFA experiments has attracted interests regarding the possibility of making an ``afterburner'' for a linear collider. In the ``afterburner'' concept, electron acceleration is achieved by placing a trailing electron beam into the wakefield (either by beam splitting or external injection) to extract energy deposited in the plasma wave wake. Several important aspects of the ``afterburner'' design in the blow-out regime, such as wakefield generation, efficient beam loading and hosing instability have been investigated theoretically. These relevant physics will have great impact on the beam quality of a possible ``afterburner'' design. A multi-stage ``afterburner'' design with 25GeV energy gain in each stage is explored numerically with a 3D quasi-static code QuickPIC. Parameters are suggested for a 0.5 TeV PWFA afterburner with this design and simulation result will be presented.
Overview of SERI's high efficiency solar cell research
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Benner, J. P.; Cole, L. A.; Leboeuf, C. M.
The bulk of the research efforts supported by the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) High Efficiency Concepts area has been directed towards establishing the feasibility of achieving very high efficiencies, 30% for concentrator and more than 20% for thin film flat plate, in solar cell designs which could possibly be produced competitively. The research has accomplished a great deal during the past two years. Even though the desired performance levels have not yet been demonstrated, based on the recent progress, a greater portion of the terrestrial photovoltaics community believes that these efficiencies are attainable. The program will now allocate a larger portion of resources to low cost, large area deposition technology. The program is currently shifting greater emphasis on to the study of crystal growth in order to provide the understanding and tools needed to design a large area process.
Highly efficient blue electroluminescence based on thermally activated delayed fluorescence.
Hirata, Shuzo; Sakai, Yumi; Masui, Kensuke; Tanaka, Hiroyuki; Lee, Sae Youn; Nomura, Hiroko; Nakamura, Nozomi; Yasumatsu, Mao; Nakanotani, Hajime; Zhang, Qisheng; Shizu, Katsuyuki; Miyazaki, Hiroshi; Adachi, Chihaya
Organic compounds that exhibit highly efficient, stable blue emission are required to realize inexpensive organic light-emitting diodes for future displays and lighting applications. Here, we define the design rules for increasing the electroluminescence efficiency of blue-emitting organic molecules that exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence. We show that a large delocalization of the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital in these charge-transfer compounds enhances the rate of radiative decay considerably by inducing a large oscillator strength even when there is a small overlap between the two wavefunctions. A compound based on our design principles exhibited a high rate of fluorescence decay and efficient up-conversion of triplet excitons into singlet excited states, leading to both photoluminescence and internal electroluminescence quantum yields of nearly 100%. PMID:25485987
Highly efficient blue electroluminescence based on thermally activated delayed fluorescence
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hirata, Shuzo; Sakai, Yumi; Masui, Kensuke; Tanaka, Hiroyuki; Lee, Sae Youn; Nomura, Hiroko; Nakamura, Nozomi; Yasumatsu, Mao; Nakanotani, Hajime; Zhang, Qisheng; Shizu, Katsuyuki; Miyazaki, Hiroshi; Adachi, Chihaya
Organic compounds that exhibit highly efficient, stable blue emission are required to realize inexpensive organic light-emitting diodes for future displays and lighting applications. Here, we define the design rules for increasing the electroluminescence efficiency of blue-emitting organic molecules that exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence. We show that a large delocalization of the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital in these charge-transfer compounds enhances the rate of radiative decay considerably by inducing a large oscillator strength even when there is a small overlap between the two wavefunctions. A compound based on our design principles exhibited a high rate of fluorescence decay and efficient up-conversion of triplet excitons into singlet excited states, leading to both photoluminescence and internal electroluminescence quantum yields of nearly 100%.
High-efficiency silicon concentrator cell commercialization
Sinton, R.A.; Swanson, R.M.
This report summarizes the first phase of a forty-one month program to develop a commercial, high-efficiency concentrator solar cell and facility for manufacturing it. The period covered is November 1, 1990 to December 31, 1991. This is a joint program between the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Sandia National Laboratories. (This report is also published by EPRI as EPRI report number TR-102035.) During the first year of the program, SunPower accomplished the following major objectives: (1) a new solar cell fabrication facility, which is called the Cell Pilot Line (CPL), (2) a baseline concentrator cell process has been developed, and (3) a cell testing facility has been completed. Initial cell efficiencies are about 23% for the baseline process. The long-range goal is to improve this efficiency to 27%.
High efficiency electrotransformation of Lactobacillus casei.
Welker, Dennis L; Hughes, Joanne E; Steele, James L; Broadbent, Jeff R
We investigated whether protocols allowing high efficiency electrotransformation of other lactic acid bacteria were applicable to five strains of Lactobacillus casei (12A, 32G, A2-362, ATCC 334 and BL23). Addition of 1% glycine or 0.9 M NaCl during cell growth, limitation of the growth of the cell cultures to OD600 0.6-0.8, pre-electroporation treatment of cells with water or with a lithium acetate (100 mM)/dithiothreitol (10 mM) solution and optimization of electroporation conditions all improved transformation efficiencies. However, the five strains varied in their responses to these treatments. Transformation efficiencies of 10(6) colony forming units μg(-1) pTRKH2 DNA and higher were obtained with three strains which is sufficient for construction of chromosomal gene knock-outs and gene replacements. PMID:25670703
On the design, analysis, and implementation of efficient parallel algorithms
Sohn, S.M.
There is considerable interest in developing algorithms for a variety of parallel computer architectures. This is not a trivial problem, although for certain models great progress has been made. Recently, general-purpose parallel machines have become available commercially. These machines possess widely varying interconnection topologies and data/instruction access schemes. It is important, therefore, to develop methodologies and design paradigms for not only synthesizing parallel algorithms from initial problem specifications, but also for mapping algorithms between different architectures. This work has considered both of these problems. A systolic array consists of a large collection of simple processors that are interconnected in a uniform pattern. The author has studied in detain the problem of mapping systolic algorithms onto more general-purpose parallel architectures such as the hypercube. The hypercube architecture is notable due to its symmetry and high connectivity, characteristics which are conducive to the efficient embedding of parallel algorithms. Although the parallel-to-parallel mapping techniques have yielded efficient target algorithms, it is not surprising that an algorithm designed directly for a particular parallel model would achieve superior performance. In this context, the author has developed hypercube algorithms for some important problems in speech and signal processing, text processing, language processing and artificial intelligence. These algorithms were implemented on a 64-node NCUBE/7 hypercube machine in order to evaluate their performance.
Design and implementation of novel optical subsystems for enhancing spectral efficiency, security, and performance of high-speed WDM and OCDMA links
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ebrahimi, Paniz
To increase the capacity of optical links, higher bit rates, longer transmission links, narrow channel spacings and lower noise are desirable. The following projects each study a different issue to maximize throughput. All order PMD emulator to be able to test systems and PMD compensators . Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) is one of the critical hurdles in achieving higher bit rate optical transmission. PMD is caused by an optical fiber's randomly varying birefringence and is a statistical phenomena. Since high PMD fibers already installed are not readily available and even if they were, the changes in the fiber are too slow, realistic all order emulators are needed to test the systems and PMD compensators. We investigated both experimentally and theoretically a technique to realistically emulate PMD. It is shown that: (a) the DGD of this emulator is Maxwellian-distributed over an ensemble of fiber realizations at any fixed optical frequency, and (b) the frequency autocorrelation function of the PMD emulator resembles that of a real fiber when averaged over an ensemble of fiber realizations. Effects of PMD on the signal gain in distributed Raman amplified links. We show that polarization dependent gain (PDG) in Raman fiber amplifiers is a statistical parameter that depends on the PMD of the fiber. The PDG distribution is characterized by simulation and verified by experiment. Stimulated Brillouin Scattering and Rayleigh scattering effects in bi-directional and narrow channel spaced Raman amplified links. We characterize the degradations due to SBS and Rayleigh backscattering in a 10Gb/s DWDM bidirectional transmission link using distributed Raman amplification for channel spacings smaller than 25GHz for different cases of signal input power and amplifier gain. We show that there is an optimum range of gain-input power combinations, governed by the SBS threshold, that permit bidirectional transmission at 12.5GHz spacing with less than 2dB power penalty. A 10-mus
Development of high-efficiency solar cells on silicon web
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Meier, D. L.; Greggi, J.; Okeeffe, T. W.; Rai-Choudhury, P.
Work was performed to improve web base material with a goal of obtaining solar cell efficiencies in excess of 18% (AM1). Efforts in this program are directed toward identifying carrier loss mechanisms in web silicon, eliminating or reducing these mechanisms, designing a high efficiency cell structure with the aid of numerical models, and fabricating high efficiency web solar cells. Fabrication techniques must preserve or enhance carrier lifetime in the bulk of the cell and minimize recombination of carriers at the external surfaces. Three completed cells were viewed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to investigate further the relation between structural defects and electrical performance of web cells. Consistent with past TEM examinations, the cell with the highest efficiency (15.0%) had no dislocations but did have 11 twin planes.
Fast Reactor Subassembly Design Modifications for Increasing Electricity Generation Efficiency
R. Wigeland; K. Hamman
Suggested for Track 7: Advances in Reactor Core Design and In-Core Management _____________________________________________________________________________________ Fast Reactor Subassembly Design Modifications for Increasing Electricity Generation Efficiency R. Wigeland and K. Hamman Idaho National Laboratory Given the ability of fast reactors to effectively transmute the transuranic elements as are present in spent nuclear fuel, fast reactors are being considered as one element of future nuclear power systems to enable continued use and growth of nuclear power by limiting high-level waste generation. However, a key issue for fast reactors is higher electricity cost relative to other forms of nuclear energy generation. The economics of the fast reactor are affected by the amount of electric power that can be produced from a reactor, i.e., the thermal efficiency for electricity generation. The present study is examining the potential for fast reactor subassembly design changes to improve the thermal efficiency by increasing the average coolant outlet temperature without increasing peak temperatures within the subassembly, i.e., to make better use of current technology. Sodium-cooled fast reactors operate at temperatures far below the coolant boiling point, so that the maximum coolant outlet temperature is limited by the acceptable peak temperatures for the reactor fuel and cladding. Fast reactor fuel subassemblies have historically been constructed using a large number of small diameter fuel pins contained within a tube of hexagonal cross-section, or hexcan. Due to this design, there is a larger coolant flow area next to the hexcan wall as compared to flow area in the interior of the subassembly. This results in a higher flow rate near the hexcan wall, overcooling the fuel pins next to the wall, and a non-uniform coolant temperature distribution. It has been recognized for many years that this difference in sodium coolant temperature was detrimental to achieving
Creation of High Efficient Firefly Luciferase
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nakatsu, Toru
Firefly emits visible yellow-green light. The bioluminescence reaction is carried out by the enzyme luciferase. The bioluminescence of luciferase is widely used as an excellent tool for monitoring gene expression, the measurement of the amount of ATP and in vivo imaging. Recently a study of the cancer metastasis is carried out by in vivo luminescence imaging system, because luminescence imaging is less toxic and more useful for long-term assay than fluorescence imaging by GFP. However the luminescence is much dimmer than fluorescence. Then bioluminescence imaging in living organisms demands the high efficient luciferase which emits near infrared lights or enhances the emission intensity. Here I introduce an idea for creating the high efficient luciferase based on the crystal structure.
Phenomena and Performance of High-Efficiency Split Spectrum Photovoltaics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Downs, Chandler
High-efficiency photovoltaics are one of the most promising technologies for supplying sustainable energy in the near future. These technologies allow for high energy conversion efficiencies and long system lifetimes, which is becoming an increasingly profitable power generation option. One high-efficiency photovoltaic technology gaining increasing attention recent years is that of split-spectrum photovoltaics. This technology divides the incident solar spectrum on the basis of wavelength, directing each portion of the spectrum to a different cell where the light can be utilized most efficiently. In this dissertation, a number of aspects of high-efficiency photovoltaics, most notably split-spectrum photovoltaics, are examined. First, the ideal bandgap placements of the subcells of a split-spectrum photovoltaic system are calculated, specifically determined with an eye towards practical fabrication of the cells. Two viable designs are determined which improve theoretical absolute conversion efficiency by 4-5%. Next, those systems are simulated using the TCAD Sentaurus software package to project conversion efficiencies and determine additional device specifications (doping levels, layer thicknesses, etc.). These cells show comparable conversion efficiencies to high performing, full-spectrum multijunction photovoltaics in fabrication today. In the last section, a theoretical examination of semiconductor performance under high optical concentration is performed, including the prediction and characterization of various phenomena in those devices. This work aims to improve the understanding of the performance of high concentration photovoltaics, most notably split-spectrum photovoltaics. This understanding will aid in the advancement of this technology as a widespread, sustainable energy source for use worldwide, reducing greenhouse emissions and providing cheap, clean energy.
High energy efficient solid state laser sources
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Byer, Robert L.
Diode-laser-pumped solid-state laser oscillators and nonlinear processes were investigated. A new generation on nonplanar oscillator was fabricated, and it is anticipated that passive linewidths will be pushed to the kilohertz regime. A number of diode-pumped laser transitions were demonstrated in the rod configuration. Second-harmonic conversion efficiencies as high as 15% are routinely obtained in a servo-locked external resonant doubling crystal at 15 mW cw input power levels at 1064 nm.
Highly efficient spin filtering of ballistic electrons
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Steinmuller, S. J.; Trypiniotis, T.; Cho, W. S.; Hirohata, A.; Lew, W. S.; Vaz, C. A.; Bland, J. A.
Spin dependent electron transport in hybrid Au/Co/Cu/NiFe/n-GaAs spin valve Schottky barrier structures was investigated using photoexcitation at various wavelengths. For excitation with the photon energy well above the Schottky barrier height we found a ˜2400% increase in helicity dependent photocurrent on switching the spin valve from parallel to antiparallel alignment. Our observations provide clear evidence for highly efficient spin filtering of spin polarized ballistic electrons.
High Efficiency Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kochergin, Vladimir (Inventor)
Growth of thermoelectric materials in the form of quantum well super-lattices on three-dimensionally structured substrates provide the means to achieve high conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric module combined with inexpensiveness of fabrication and compatibility with large scale production. Thermoelectric devices utilizing thermoelectric materials in the form of quantum well semiconductor super-lattices grown on three-dimensionally structured substrates provide improved thermoelectric characteristics that can be used for power generation, cooling and other applications..
Efficient High-Pressure State Equations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Harstad, Kenneth G.; Miller, Richard S.; Bellan, Josette
A method is presented for a relatively accurate, noniterative, computationally efficient calculation of high-pressure fluid-mixture equations of state, especially targeted to gas turbines and rocket engines. Pressures above I bar and temperatures above 100 K are addressed The method is based on curve fitting an effective reference state relative to departure functions formed using the Peng-Robinson cubic state equation Fit parameters for H2, O2, N2, propane, methane, n-heptane, and methanol are given.
Tools for efficient design of multicomponent separation processes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huff, Joshua Lee
formulation and the relative effect of capital and operating cost is weighed for an example feed. Previous methods based on Underwood's equations have no accounting for the temperature at which utilities are required. To account for this, a thermodynamic efficiency function is developed which allows the complete search space to be ranklisted in order of the exergy loss occurring within the configuration. Examining these results shows that this objective function favors configurations which move their reboiler and condenser duties to milder temperature exchangers. A graphical interface is presented which allows interpretation of any of the above results in a quick and intuitive fashion, complete with system flow and composition data and the ability to filter the complete search space based on numerical and structural criteria. This provides a unique way to compare and contrast configurations as well as allowing considerations like column retrofit and maximum controllability to be considered. Using all five of these screening techniques, the traditional intuition-based methods of separations process design can be augmented with analytical and algorithmic tools which enable selection of a process design with low cost and high efficiency.
Highly efficient fully transparent inverted OLEDs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meyer, J.; Winkler, T.; Hamwi, S.; Schmale, S.; Kröger, M.; Görrn, P.; Johannes, H.-H.; Riedl, T.; Lang, E.; Becker, D.; Dobbertin, T.; Kowalsky, W.
One of the unique selling propositions of OLEDs is their potential to realize highly transparent devices over the visible spectrum. This is because organic semiconductors provide a large Stokes-Shift and low intrinsic absorption losses. Hence, new areas of applications for displays and ambient lighting become accessible, for instance, the integration of OLEDs into the windshield or the ceiling of automobiles. The main challenge in the realization of fully transparent devices is the deposition of the top electrode. ITO is commonly used as transparent bottom anode in a conventional OLED. To obtain uniform light emission over the entire viewing angle and a low series resistance, a TCO such as ITO is desirable as top contact as well. However, sputter deposition of ITO on top of organic layers causes damage induced by high energetic particles and UV radiation. We have found an efficient process to protect the organic layers against the ITO rf magnetron deposition process of ITO for an inverted OLED (IOLED). The inverted structure allows the integration of OLEDs in more powerful n-channel transistors used in active matrix backplanes. Employing the green electrophosphorescent material Ir(ppy) 3 lead to IOLED with a current efficiency of 50 cd/A and power efficiency of 24 lm/W at 100 cd/m2. The average transmittance exceeds 80 % in the visible region. The on-set voltage for light emission is lower than 3 V. In addition, by vertical stacking we achieved a very high current efficiency of more than 70 cd/A for transparent IOLED.
Efficient experimental design for uncertainty reduction in gene regulatory networks
Background An accurate understanding of interactions among genes plays a major role in developing therapeutic intervention methods. Gene regulatory networks often contain a significant amount of uncertainty. The process of prioritizing biological experiments to reduce the uncertainty of gene regulatory networks is called experimental design. Under such a strategy, the experiments with high priority are suggested to be conducted first. Results The authors have already proposed an optimal experimental design method based upon the objective for modeling gene regulatory networks, such as deriving therapeutic interventions. The experimental design method utilizes the concept of mean objective cost of uncertainty (MOCU). MOCU quantifies the expected increase of cost resulting from uncertainty. The optimal experiment to be conducted first is the one which leads to the minimum expected remaining MOCU subsequent to the experiment. In the process, one must find the optimal intervention for every gene regulatory network compatible with the prior knowledge, which can be prohibitively expensive when the size of the network is large. In this paper, we propose a computationally efficient experimental design method. This method incorporates a network reduction scheme by introducing a novel cost function that takes into account the disruption in the ranking of potential experiments. We then estimate the approximate expected remaining MOCU at a lower computational cost using the reduced networks. Conclusions Simulation results based on synthetic and real gene regulatory networks show that the proposed approximate method has close performance to that of the optimal method but at lower computational cost. The proposed approximate method also outperforms the random selection policy significantly. A MATLAB software implementing the proposed experimental design method is available at http://gsp.tamu.edu/Publications/supplementary/roozbeh15a/. PMID:26423515
A Perspective on the Future of High Efficiency Engines
Wagner, Robert M; Curran, Scott; Green Jr, Johney Boyd
New fuel economy standards and emissions regulations are accelerating the development of new engine technologies, sensors, and on-board computing. These developments will enable unprecedented engine control, which will in turn enable real-world implementations of low temperature combustion, high-speed controls, and other high efficiency engine technologies. With this expanded flexibility in engine design and control, the challenge will now be the exponential increase in the design and calibration space and the need for the development of new simulations, optimization methods, and self-learning control methodologies. This manuscript provides historical and future perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of this unparalleled technology growth on the next generation of high efficiency engines.
High Efficiency Colloidal Quantum Dot Phosphors
Kahen, Keith
The project showed that non-Cd containing, InP-based nanocrystals (semiconductor materials with dimensions of ~6 nm) have high potential for enabling next-generation, nanocrystal-based, on chip phosphors for solid state lighting. Typical nanocrystals fall short of the requirements for on chip phosphors due to their loss of quantum efficiency under the operating conditions of LEDs, such as, high temperature (up to 150 °C) and high optical flux (up to 200 W/cm2). The InP-based nanocrystals invented during this project maintain high quantum efficiency (>80%) in polymer-based films under these operating conditions for emission wavelengths ranging from ~530 to 620 nm. These nanocrystals also show other desirable attributes, such as, lack of blinking (a common problem with nanocrystals which limits their performance) and no increase in the emission spectral width from room to 150 °C (emitters with narrower spectral widths enable higher efficiency LEDs). Prior to these nanocrystals, no nanocrystal system (regardless of nanocrystal type) showed this collection of properties; in fact, other nanocrystal systems are typically limited to showing only one desirable trait (such as high temperature stability) but being deficient in other properties (such as high flux stability). The project showed that one can reproducibly obtain these properties by generating a novel compositional structure inside of the nanomaterials; in addition, the project formulated an initial theoretical framework linking the compositional structure to the list of high performance optical properties. Over the course of the project, the synthetic methodology for producing the novel composition was evolved to enable the synthesis of these nanomaterials at a cost approximately equal to that required for forming typical conventional nanocrystals. Given the above results, the last major remaining step prior to scale up of the nanomaterials is to limit the oxidation of these materials during the tens of
Ultra high temperature particle bed reactor design
Lazareth, O.; Ludewig, H.; Perkins, K.; Powell, J.
This study is a computer analysis of a conceptual nuclear reactor. The purpose of this work is to design a direct nuclear propulsion engine which could be used for a mission to Mars. The main features of this reactor design are high values for I{sub sp} and, secondly, very efficient cooling. This particle bed reactor consists of 37 cylindrical fuel elements embedded in a cylinder of beryllium which acts as a moderator and reflector. The fuel consists of a packed bed of spherical fissionable fuel particles. Gaseous H{sub 2} passes over the fuel bed, removes the heat and is exhausted out of the rocket. The design was found to be neutronically critical and to have tolerable heating rates. Therefore, this Particle Bed Reactor Design is suitable as a propulsion unit for this mission.
High purity efficient first Stokes Raman laser
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liu, Xiaomeng; Liu, Qinyong; Li, Daijun; Du, Keming
The subject of the solid-state Raman frequency conversion to the yellow frequency spectra has been an active topic since the mid 1990's, because of its application in bio-medical and astronomy fields. However, the yellow laser performance is often limited because of the cascade conversion to second or higher Stokes. This cascade conversion not only limits the conversion efficiency and the output power of the first Stokes, but also degrades the pulse and the beam profile of the first Stokes. We present a type of polarization coupled Raman resonator, in which the higher order ( the second Stokes and higher ) laser output can be dramatically suppressed. Our Raman resonator is pumped by a Q-switched and frequency doubled slab laser, and we can get an almost pure (P559/(P559 +P532)>99%) 559 nm yellow light output with an efficiency over 39% from 532 nm to 559 nm. The resonator includes a high reflection rear mirror, a KGW crystal, a polarization coupled input/output element, and a high reflection output coupler of 559 nm (R559 nm = 0.6). Furthermore, we have proposed an improvement of this polarization coupled Raman resonator. The theoretical calculations of the temporal and spatial dependent Raman conversion equations show that the conversion efficiency of the first order Stokes is greatly enhanced with an additionalλ/2 waveplate for 589 nm and the BBO crystal.
Baranec, Christoph; Riddle, Reed; Tendulkar, Shriharsh; Hogstrom, Kristina; Bui, Khanh; Dekany, Richard; Kulkarni, Shrinivas; Law, Nicholas M.; Ramaprakash, A. N.; Burse, Mahesh; Chordia, Pravin; Das, Hillol; Punnadi, Sujit
As new large-scale astronomical surveys greatly increase the number of objects targeted and discoveries made, the requirement for efficient follow-up observations is crucial. Adaptive optics imaging, which compensates for the image-blurring effects of Earth's turbulent atmosphere, is essential for these surveys, but the scarcity, complexity and high demand of current systems limit their availability for following up large numbers of targets. To address this need, we have engineered and implemented Robo-AO, a fully autonomous laser adaptive optics and imaging system that routinely images over 200 objects per night with an acuity 10 times sharper at visible wavelengths than typically possible from the ground. By greatly improving the angular resolution, sensitivity, and efficiency of 1-3 m class telescopes, we have eliminated a major obstacle in the follow-up of the discoveries from current and future large astronomical surveys.
Highly efficient Raman distributed feedback fibre lasers.
Shi, Jindan; Alam, Shaif-ul; Ibsen, Morten
We demonstrate highly efficient Raman distributed feedback (DFB) fibre lasers for the first time with up to 1.6 W of continuous wave (CW) output power. The DFB Bragg gratings are written directly into two types of commercially available passive germano-silica fibres. Two lasers of 30 cm length are pumped with up to 15 W of CW power at 1068 nm. The threshold power is ~2 W for a Raman-DFB (R-DFB) laser written in standard low-NA fibre, and only ~1 W for a laser written in a high-NA fibre, both of which oscillate in a narrow linewidth of <0.01 nm at ~1117 nm and ~1109 nm, respectively. The slope efficiencies are ~74% and ~93% with respect to absorbed pump power in the low-NA fibre and high-NA fibre respectively. Such high conversion efficiency suggests that very little energy is lost in the form of heat through inefficient energy transfer. Our results are supported by numerical simulations, and furthermore open up for the possibility of having narrow linewidth all-fibre laser sources in wavelength bands not traditionally covered by rare-earth doped silica fibres. Simulations also imply that this technology has the potential to produce even shorter R-DFB laser devices at the centimetre-level and with mW-level thresholds, if Bragg gratings formed in fibre materials with higher intrinsic Raman gain coefficient than silica are used. These materials include for example tellurite or chalcogenide glasses. Using glasses like these would also open up the possibility of having narrow linewidth fibre sources with DFB laser oscillating much further into the IR than what currently is possible with rare-earth doped silica glasses. PMID:22418313
Computational Nano-materials Design of Self-Organized Cd(Te,S) and Cd(Te,Se)Type II Nanowire (Konbu-Phase) by Spinodal Nano-Decomposition for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Solar-Cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Katayama-Yoshida, Hiroshi; Oshitani, Masamune; Sato, Kazunori
Based on multi-scale simulations combined ab initio electronic structure calculation (KKR-CPA) and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) of the two-dimensional layer-by-layer crystal growth, we have designed the self-organized quasi-one-dimensional nano-structures (Konbu-Phase) fabricated by two-dimensional spinodal nano-decomposition for high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells (PVSCs) in Cd(Te1-xSx), and Cd(Te1-xSex). The Konbu-Phase enhances the nano-scale electron-hole separation in PVSCs due to their Type II band alignment. The Konbu-Phase also increases the efficiency of PVSCs by multi-exciton formation using the inverse Auger effect in the self-organized quasi-one-dimensional nanostructures. We also discuss how to fabricate Konbu-Phase starting from the uniform nano-particles made by the photo-chemical reactions. Reference: M. Oshitani, K. Sato, H. Katayama-Yoshida, Applied Physics Express 4 (2011) 022302.
High Efficiency Solar Power via Separated Photo and Voltaic Pathways
Michael J. Naughton
This project demonstrates a novel nanostructured solar cell architecture capable of achieving high efficiency levels that is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture. The high efficiency will be achieved by the novel structure that separates the path of the photons from the path of the generated charge carriers. In this way, the photon path can be long for maximum light absorption, while the path for carriers can be short for maximum electronic energy harvesting. The combination of maximum light absorption coupled with maximum carrier harvesting is the basis for the expected high efficiency. The project will develop high efficiency solar cell prototypes utilizing this unique nanostructured architecture. The project addresses the fundamental limitation inherent in all current solar cell designs, and which opens a pathway to development for high efficiency solar cells at low cost. Realizing this goal will result in a levelized cost of electricity in the range of 10¢/kWh, which would achieve the long-sought goal of making photovoltaic electricity cost competitive with fossil-fuel generated electricity without any governmental subsidies. This breakthrough would spur the already rapid growth in the photovoltaic industry to an explosive pace, with significant, widespread benefit to the national economy and the nation's energy security. The initial target of the program is to develop single-junction solar cells using ultrathin amorphous silicon with the performance approaching that of single crystal silicon cells.
Design efficiency evaluation for transonic airfoil optimization - A case for Navier-Stokes design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hager, J. O.; Eyi, S.; Lee, K. D.
A constrained-optimization design method which improves the aerodynamic performance of transonic airfoils is evaluated from a design-quality and design-efficiency viewpoint. Design efficiency is a measure of the performance improvement and the design time (CPU time). Total-airfoil design and upper-surface design are performed using the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations with several grids, and are evaluated using the Navier-Stokes equations to determine the anticipated physical design response. Even though the cost of the Euler design is lower than Navier-Stokes design, the Navier-Stokes evaluation indicates that the Euler design does not necessarily improve the aerodynamic performance. Therefore, the design optimization should be based on an accurate flow simulation to achieve an actual performance improvement, and the design time is a secondary concern.
Wind tunnel performance of four energy efficient propellers designed for Mach 0.8 cruise. [Lewis 8x6 foot wind tunnel studies for noise reduction in high speed turboprop aircraft
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Jeracki, R. J.; Mikkelson, D. C.; Blaha, B. J.
Several advanced aerodynamic and acoustic concepts were investigated in recent wind tunnel tests performed in the NASA-Lewis Research Center 8x6 foot wind tunnel. These concepts included aerodynamically integrated propeller/nacelles, area-ruling, blade sweep, reduced blade thickness, and power (disk) loadings several times higher than conventional designs. Four eight-bladed propeller models were tested to determine aerodynamic performance. Relative noise measurements were made on three of the models at cruise conditions. Three of the models were designed with swept blades and one with straight blades. At the design Mach number of 0.8, power coefficient of 1.7, and advance ratio of 3.06, the straight bladed model had the lowest net efficiency of 75.8 percent. Increasing the sweep to 30 deg improved the performance to near 77 percent. Installation of an area-ruled spinner on a 30 deg sweep model further improved the efficiency to about 78 percent. The model with the highest blade sweep (45 deg) and an area-ruled spinner had the highest net efficiency of 78.7 percent, and at lower power loadings the efficiency exceeded 80 percent. At lower Mach numbers the 30 deg swept model had the highest efficiency. Values near 81 percent were obtained for the design loading at speeds to Mach 0.7. Relative noise measurements indicated that the acoustically designed 45 deg sweep model reduced the near field cruise noise by between 5 and 6 dB.
Wavelength Scaling of High Harmonic Generation Efficiency
Shiner, A. D.; Trallero-Herrero, C.; Kajumba, N.; Corkum, P. B.; Villeneuve, D. M.; Bandulet, H.-C.; Comtois, D.; Legare, F.; Giguere, M.; Kieffer, J-C.
Using longer wavelength laser drivers for high harmonic generation is desirable because the highest extreme ultraviolet frequency scales as the square of the wavelength. Recent numerical studies predict that high harmonic efficiency falls dramatically with increasing wavelength, with a very unfavorable lambda{sup -(5-6)} scaling. We performed an experimental study of the high harmonic yield over a wavelength range of 800-1850 nm. A thin gas jet was employed to minimize phase matching effects, and the laser intensity and focal spot size were kept constant as the wavelength was changed. Ion yield was simultaneously measured so that the total number of emitting atoms was known. We found that the scaling at constant laser intensity is lambda{sup -6.3+}-{sup 1.1} in Xe and lambda{sup -6.5+}-{sup 1.1} in Kr over the wavelength range of 800-1850 nm, somewhat worse than the theoretical predictions.
High-speed, efficient metal - semiconductor - metal photodetectors
Collin, St; Pardo, F; Bardou, N; Pelouard, J.-L.; Averin, S V
Design principles and the fabrication technique of highly efficient, high-speed photodetectors based on MSM nanostructures are developed. To efficiently confine light in the region of the strong field as well as to decrease light losses due to reflection from the diode contacts, use is made of a nanoscale interdigital diffraction grating and a multilayer Bragg grating. Measurements of the reflection coefficients and the quantum efficiency for a multilayer structure are in good agreement with theoretical estimates. A record-high quantum efficiency (QE = 46 %) is obtained for high speed MSM photodetectors. The detector has a high spectral selectivity ({Delta}{lambda}{sub 1/2} = 17 nm) at a wavelength of 800 nm. Taking into account the diode capacitance and the drift time of photogenerated carriers, the performance of the detectors under study is {approx} 500 GHz. The low level of the dark current density in the structures under study (j={sup 1} pA {mu}m{sup -2}) makes it possible to realise on their basis highly sensitive, high-speed selective detectors of optical radiation.
Compact and highly efficient laser pump cavity
Chang, Jim J.; Bass, Isaac L.; Zapata, Luis E.
A new, compact, side-pumped laser pump cavity design which uses non-conventional optics for injection of laser-diode light into a laser pump chamber includes a plurality of elongated light concentration channels. In one embodiment, the light concentration channels are compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) which have very small exit apertures so that light will not escape from the pumping chamber and will be multiply reflected through the laser rod. This new design effectively traps the pump radiation inside the pump chamber that encloses the laser rod. It enables more uniform laser pumping and highly effective recycle of pump radiation, leading to significantly improved laser performance. This new design also effectively widens the acceptable radiation wavelength of the diodes, resulting in a more reliable laser performance with lower cost.
Advanced Klystrons for High Efficiency Accelerator Systems - Final Report
Read, Michael; Ives, Robert Lawrence
This program explored tailoring of RF pulses used to drive accelerator cavities. Simulations indicated that properly shaping the pulse risetime to match accelerator cavity characteristics reduced reflected power and increased total efficiency. Tailoring the pulse requires a high power, gridded, klystron to shape the risetime while also controlling the beam current. The Phase I program generated a preliminary design of a gridded electron gun for a klystron producing 5-10 MW of RF power. This required design of a segmented cathode using Controlled Porosity Reservoir cathodes to limit power deposition on the grid. The program was successful in computationally designing a gun producing a high quality electron beam with grid control. Additional analysis of pulse tailoring indicated that technique would only be useful for cavity drive pulses that were less than approximately 2-3 times the risetime. Otherwise, the efficiency gained during the risetime of the pulse became insignificant when considering the efficiency over the entire pulse. Consequently, it was determined that a Phase II program would not provide sufficient return to justify the cost. Never the less, other applications for a high power gridded gun are currently being pursued. This klystron, for example, would facilitate development inverse Comptom x-ray sources by providing a high repetition rate (10 -100 kHz) RF source.
High Quantum Efficiency OLED Lighting Systems
Shiang, Joseph
The overall goal of the program was to apply improvements in light outcoupling technology to a practical large area plastic luminaire, and thus enable the product vision of an extremely thin form factor high efficiency large area light source. The target substrate was plastic and the baseline device was operating at 35 LPW at the start of the program. The target LPW of the program was a >2x improvement in the LPW efficacy and the overall amount of light to be delivered was relatively high 900 lumens. Despite the extremely difficult challenges associated with scaling up a wet solution process on plastic substrates, the program was able to make substantial progress. A small molecule wet solution process was successfully implemented on plastic substrates with almost no loss in efficiency in transitioning from the laboratory scale glass to large area plastic substrates. By transitioning to a small molecule based process, the LPW entitlement increased from 35 LPW to 60 LPW. A further 10% improvement in outcoupling efficiency was demonstrated via the use of a highly reflecting cathode, which reduced absorptive loss in the OLED device. The calculated potential improvement in some cases is even larger, ~30%, and thus there is considerable room for optimism in improving the net light coupling efficacy, provided absorptive loss mechanisms are eliminated. Further improvements are possible if scattering schemes such as the silver nanowire based hard coat structure are fully developed. The wet coating processes were successfully scaled to large area plastic substrate and resulted in the construction of a 900 lumens luminaire device.
Multi-bandgap high efficiency converter (RAINBOW)
Lewis, C.R.; Phillips, W.M.; Shields, V.B.; Stella, P.M.; Bekey, I.
Many proposals have been made to increase solar array efficiency by using two or more cells with appropriately spaced bandgaps to span a greater portion of the incident spectrum. One such technique is to split the solar spectrum and focus each portion on a different cell bandgap. Each bandgap is selected to best match the input spectral portion and thus obtain maximum efficiency. This paper reports on the reexamination of the spectrally split, individually matched cell approach using modern-day optics and lightweight structures. The RAINBOW multi-bandgap system represents a unique combination of solar cells, concentrators and beam splitters. The use of separate cells offers the widest possible scope of material choices. Many different component combinations are possible. The relatively low temperature operation, due to reduced thermal input per cell, adds to the performance increase. Finally, RAINBOW is a flexible system which can readily expand as new high efficiency components are developed. Based to a large extent on data for real cells and optical components, RAINBOW is expected to convert over 40% of incident solar energy to electricity at the system level. This conclusion is based on preliminary analyses of cell and optics performances.
High efficiency quadruple junction solar cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bestam, R.; Aissat, A.; Vilcot, J. P.
This work focuses on the modeling and optimization of a structure based on InGaP/InGaAs/InGaAsN/Ge for photovoltaic. In this study we took into consideration the concentration effect of alloys x (In) and y (N) on the strain, the bandgap, the absorption and structure efficiency. It has been shown that the concentration of indium varies the strain and the bandgap. These two parameters change considerably the yield. Also it optimized the effect of alloys on the total absorption of the structure. For a concentration of indium x = 0.40 and y = 0.03 we had a absorption coefficient which is equal to 2 × 106 cm-1. We have found 50% efficiency for the multi-junction structure based on In0.55Ga0.45P/In0.40Ga0.60As/In0.30Ga0.70As0.97N0.03/Ge. To achieve a reliable high efficiency multi-junction structure, we just need to optimize the concentrations of different alloys.
Bandgap Engineering in High-Efficiency Multijunction Concentrator Cells
King, R. R.; Sherif, R. A.; Kinsey, G. S.; Kurtz, S.; Fetzer, C. M.; Edmondson, K. M.; Law, D. C.; Cotal, H. L.; Krut, D. D.; Ermer, J. H.; Karam, N. H.
This paper discusses semiconductor device research paths under investigation with the aim of reaching the milestone efficiency of 40%. A cost analysis shows that achieving very high cell efficiencies is crucial for the realization of cost-effective photovoltaics, because of the strongly leveraging effect of efficiency on module packaging and balance-of systems costs. Lattice-matched (LM) GaInP/ GaInAs/ Ge 3-junction cells have achieved the highest independently confirmed efficiency at 175 suns, 25?C, of 37.3% under the standard AM1.5D, low-AOD terrestrial spectrum. Lattice-mismatched, or metamorphic (MM), materials offer still higher potential efficiencies, if the crystal quality can be maintained. Theoretical efficiencies well over 50% are possible for a MM GaInP/ 1.17-eV GaInAs/ Ge 3-junction cell limited by radiative recombination at 500 suns. The bandgap - open circuit voltage offset, (Eg/q) - Voc, is used as a valuable theoretical and experimental tool to characterize multijunction cells with subcell bandgaps ranging from 0.7 to 2.1 eV. Experimental results are presented for prototype 6-junction cells employing an active {approx}1.1-eV dilute nitride GaInNAs subcell, with active-area efficiency greater than 23% and over 5.3 V open-circuit voltage under the 1-sun AM0 space spectrum. Such cell designs have theoretical efficiencies under the terrestrial spectrum at 500 suns concentration exceeding 55% efficiency, even for lattice-matched designs.
High efficiency fuel cell/advanced turbine power cycles
Morehead, H.
An outline of the Westinghouse high-efficiency fuel cell/advanced turbine power cycle is presented. The following topics are discussed: The Westinghouse SOFC pilot manufacturing facility, cell scale-up plan, pressure effects on SOFC power and efficiency, sureCell versus conventional gas turbine plants, sureCell product line for distributed power applications, 20 MW pressurized-SOFC/gas turbine power plant, 10 MW SOFC/CT power plant, sureCell plant concept design requirements, and Westinghouse SOFC market entry.
High-efficiency, 200 watt, 12-gigahertz traveling wave tube
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kosmahl, H. G.; Mcnary, B. D.; Sauseng, O.
Design and performance of a highly efficient experimental 200-watt traveling wave tube for space communications are described. The tube uses a coupled cavity slow wave structure with periodic permanent magnet focusing. A two-step velocity taper is incorporated in the slow wave structure for velocity resynchronization with the modulated beam. The spent beam is reconditioned in a refocusing section before it is collected in a novel multistage depressed collector. The collector is radiation cooled and heat insulated from the tube body. At saturation the tube provides peak output power of 240 watts with a 35-db gain and an overall maximum efficiency of 56 percent.
Highly efficient reflective Dammann grating with a triangular structure.
Wang, Jin; Zhou, Changhe; Ma, Jianyong; Zong, Yonghong; Jia, Wei
A highly efficient reflective Dammann grating with a triangular structure operating at 1064 nm wavelength under normal incidence for TE polarization is designed and fabricated. Rigorous coupled wave analysis and particle swarm optimization algorithms are adopted to design and analyze the properties. The triangular reflective grating could cancel the 0th order, and the mechanism is clarified by the simplified modal method. The gratings are fabricated by direct laser writing lithography. The diffraction efficiency of fabricated grating is more than 86% at 1064 nm wavelength (97.6% in theory). This reflective grating should be a useful optical element in the field of high-power lasers as well as other reflective applications. PMID:27409211
Fusion blanket for high-efficiency power cycles
Usher, J.L.; Powell, J.R.; Fillo, J.A.; Horn, F.L.; Lazareth, O.W.; Taussig, R.
The efficiencies of blankets for fusion reactors are usually in the range of 30 to 40%, limited by the operating temperature (500/sup 0/C) of conventional structural materials such as stainless steels. In this project two-zone blankets are proposed; these blankets consist of a low-temperature shell surrounding a high-temperature interior zone. A survey of nucleonics and thermal hydraulic parameters has led to a reference blanket design consisting of a water-cooled stainless steel shell around a BeO, ZrO/sub 2/ interior (cooled by Ar) utilizing Li/sub 2/O for tritium breeding. In this design, approx. 60% of the fusion energy is deposited in the high-temperature interior. The maximum Ar temperature is 2230/sup 0/C leading to an overall efficiency estimate of 55 to 60% for this reference case.
Enabling High Efficiency Nanoplasmonics with Novel Nanoantenna Architectures.
Cohen, Moshik; Shavit, Reuven; Zalevsky, Zeev
Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are propagating excitations that arise from coupling of light with collective electron oscillations. Characterized by high field intensity and nanometric dimensions, SPPs fashion rapid expansion of interest from fundamental and applicative perspectives. However, high metallic losses at optical frequencies still make nanoplasmonics impractical when high absolute efficiency is paramount, with major challenge is efficient plasmon generation in deep nanoscale. Here we introduce the Plantenna, the first reported nanodevice with the potential of addressing these limitations utilizing novel plasmonic architecture. The Plantenna has simple 2D structure, ultracompact dimensions and is fabricated on Silicon chip for future CMOS integration. We design the Plantenna to feed channel (20 nm × 20 nm) nanoplasmonic waveguides, achieving 52% coupling efficiency with Plantenna dimensions of λ(3)/17,000. We theoretically and experimentally show that the Plantenna enormously outperforms dipole couplers, achieving 28 dB higher efficiency with broad polarization diversity and huge local field enhancement. Our findings confirm the Plantenna as enabling device for high efficiency plasmonic technologies such as quantum nanoplasmonics, molecular strong coupling and plasmon nanolasers. PMID:26620270
Enabling High Efficiency Nanoplasmonics with Novel Nanoantenna Architectures
Cohen, Moshik; Shavit, Reuven; Zalevsky, Zeev
Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are propagating excitations that arise from coupling of light with collective electron oscillations. Characterized by high field intensity and nanometric dimensions, SPPs fashion rapid expansion of interest from fundamental and applicative perspectives. However, high metallic losses at optical frequencies still make nanoplasmonics impractical when high absolute efficiency is paramount, with major challenge is efficient plasmon generation in deep nanoscale. Here we introduce the Plantenna, the first reported nanodevice with the potential of addressing these limitations utilizing novel plasmonic architecture. The Plantenna has simple 2D structure, ultracompact dimensions and is fabricated on Silicon chip for future CMOS integration. We design the Plantenna to feed channel (20 nm × 20 nm) nanoplasmonic waveguides, achieving 52% coupling efficiency with Plantenna dimensions of λ3/17,000. We theoretically and experimentally show that the Plantenna enormously outperforms dipole couplers, achieving 28 dB higher efficiency with broad polarization diversity and huge local field enhancement. Our findings confirm the Plantenna as enabling device for high efficiency plasmonic technologies such as quantum nanoplasmonics, molecular strong coupling and plasmon nanolasers. PMID:26620270
Highly efficient electron vortex beams generated by nanofabricated phase holograms
Grillo, Vincenzo; Mafakheri, Erfan; Frabboni, Stefano
We propose an improved type of holographic-plate suitable for the shaping of electron beams. The plate is fabricated by a focused ion beam on a silicon nitride membrane and introduces a controllable phase shift to the electron wavefunction. We adopted the optimal blazed-profile design for the phase hologram, which results in the generation of highly efficient (25%) electron vortex beams. This approach paves the route towards applications in nano-scale imaging and materials science.
High Efficiency Thermoelectric Radioisotope Power Systems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
El-Genk, Mohamed; Saber, Hamed; Caillat, Thierry
The work performed and whose results presented in this report is a joint effort between the University of New Mexico s Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies (ISNPS) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology. In addition to the development, design, and fabrication of skutterudites and skutterudites-based segmented unicouples this effort included conducting performance tests of these unicouples for hundreds of hours to verify theoretical predictions of the conversion efficiency. The performance predictions of these unicouples are obtained using 1-D and 3-D models developed for that purpose and for estimating the actual performance and side heat losses in the tests conducted at ISNPS. In addition to the performance tests, the development of the 1-D and 3-D models and the development of Advanced Radioisotope Power systems for Beginning-Of-Life (BOM) power of 108 We are carried out at ISNPS. The materials synthesis and fabrication of the unicouples are carried out at JPL. The research conducted at ISNPS is documented in chapters 2-5 and that conducted at JP, in documented in chapter 5. An important consideration in the design and optimization of segmented thermoelectric unicouples (STUs) is determining the relative lengths, cross-section areas, and the interfacial temperatures of the segments of the different materials in the n- and p-legs. These variables are determined using a genetic algorithm (GA) in conjunction with one-dimensional analytical model of STUs that is developed in chapter 2. Results indicated that when optimized for maximum conversion efficiency, the interfacial temperatures between various segments in a STU are close to those at the intersections of the Figure-Of-Merit (FOM), ZT, curves of the thermoelectric materials of the adjacent segments. When optimizing the STUs for maximum electrical power density, however, the interfacial temperatures are different from those at the intersections of the ZT curves, but
Vacuum MOCVD fabrication of high efficience cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Partain, L. D.; Fraas, L. M.; Mcleod, P. S.; Cape, J. A.
Vacuum metal-organic-chemical-vapor-deposition (MOCVD) is a new fabrication process with improved safety and easier scalability due to its metal rather than glass construction and its uniform multiport gas injection system. It uses source materials more efficiently than other methods because the vacuum molecular flow conditions allow the high sticking coefficient reactants to reach the substrates as undeflected molecular beams and the hot chamber walls cause the low sticking coefficient reactants to bounce off the walls and interact with the substrates many times. This high source utilization reduces the materials costs power device and substantially decreases the amounts of toxic materials that must be handled as process effluents. The molecular beams allow precise growth control. With improved source purifications, vacuum MOCVD has provided p GaAs layers with 10-micron minority carrier diffusion lengths and GaAs and GaAsSb solar cells with 20% AMO efficiencies at 59X and 99X sunlight concentration ratios. Mechanical stacking has been identified as the quickest, most direct and logical path to stacked multiple-junction solar cells that perform better than the best single-junction devices. The mechanical stack is configured for immediate use in solar arrays and allows interconnections that improve the system end-of-life performance in space.
Emcore High Efficiency Space Solar Cell Technology: 30% And Beyond
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sharps, P. R.; Aiken, D.; Boca, A.; Buitrago, O.; Cho, B.; Chummney, D.; Cornfield, A.; Garnica, R.; Guzie, B.; Haney, D.; Lin, Y.; Newman, F.; Patel, P.; Stan, M.; Steinfeld, J.; Spann, J.; Torino, C.; Varghese, T.
We present data on the Emcore 29.5% class ZTJ cell that has been qualified to the AIAA S-111 cell standard, and is now in high volume production for a number of flights. We present a summary of the results from the cell qualification tests, focussing on the testing methodology as well as the results for the combined effects test. In addition, the ZTJ cell has been qualified to the AIAA S-112 SCA (CIC) integration standard, and a summary of these results will be presented as well. The 30% efficiency level for space applications is considered limiting for the lattice matched GaInP2/InGaAs/Ge triple junction device. In the past decade the efficiency of the GaInP2/GaAs based cell has increased from 23% to nearly 30%, and surpassing this value requires novel device designs. While multi- junction cells have been receiving considerable attention for terrestrial applications because of their ability to achieve high efficiencies, there are additional requirements for performance and survival in the space environment. In typical operation in space the degradation caused by particle radiation as well as weight requirements place constraints on what cell architectures can be utilized. We present data for an inverted metamorphic multi-junction (IMM) approach that has demonstrated a clear path to higher efficiencies as well as a very high specific power. The IMM approach also opens opportunities for novel cell packaging and array designs.
Toward a second generation fuel efficient supersonic cruise aircraft structural design for efficiency
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hoy, J. R.
The unique challenge of this concept to the structural designer is discussed. The potential of the application of advanced structural design concepts and new titanium fabrication processes is emphasized. Highlighted are the results of a detailed structural analysis, including weight and flutter, showing successful use of the ATLAS structural design and analysis system. It is concluded that blending of the structure may not have an adverse impact on structural efficiency, weight, and manufacturing complexity.
Krus, H.; Prieur, J.M. )
Shell U.K. E and P (Shell Expro), operator in the U.K. North Sea on behalf of Shell and Esso, plans to drill 20 high-pressure oil and gas wells during the next 2 years. This paper reports that the well design is based on new standards developed after the U.K. Dept. of Energy restriction on high-pressure drilling in the autumn of 1988. Studies were carried out to optimize casing design and drilling performance on these wells. Several casing schemes, including a slim-hole option, were analyzed. The material specifications for casing and drillpipe were reviewed to ensure that they met the loads imposed during drilling, well- control, and well-testing operations. The requirement for sour-service material was weighted against possible H{sub 2}S adsorption by the mud film. As a result, a new drillstring and two high-pressure casing schemes have been specified. The high-pressure casing scheme used depends on the maximum expected surface pressure.
4-GHz high-efficiency broadband FET power amplifiers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chou, S.; Chang, C.
The development and performance of a 4-GHz high-efficiency broadband FET power amplifier module for use in communications satellite transponders is discussed. The design, which is based on the parameters of a commercially available 7.2-mm multicell FET device, was optimized by the use of a CAD program, with broader bandwidth achieved by the addition of two open stubs to the input matching circuit. Six single-ended amplifier modules have been fabricated, tuned and tested, two being high-gain, 17.5% bandwidth designs and four being lower-gain, 25% bandwidth designs. The higher-gain modules, with a 0.5-dB bandwidth of 700 MHz (3.6 to 4.3 GHz) show a 6-dB gain and 3.23-W output power at the maximum efficiency of 48.6%, while broadband modules (0.5-dB bandwidth 900 MHz) deliver 5-W RF power at the maximum efficiency of 36%. The high-performance amplifiers may thus be used in satellite solid-state power amplifiers as replacements for traveling wave tubes.
Efficiency and Loading Evaluation of High Efficiency Mist Eliminators (HEME) - 12003
Giffin, Paxton K.; Parsons, Michael S.; Waggoner, Charles A.
High efficiency mist eliminators (HEME) are filters primarily used to remove moisture and/or liquid aerosols from an air stream. HEME elements are designed to reduce aerosol and particulate load on primary High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters and to have a liquid particle removal efficiency of approximately 99.5% for aerosols down to sub-micron size particulates. The investigation presented here evaluates the loading capacity of the element in the absence of a water spray cleaning system. The theory is that without the cleaning system, the HEME element will suffer rapid buildup of solid aerosols, greatly reducing the particle loading capacity. Evaluation consists of challenging the element with a waste surrogate dry aerosol and di-octyl phthalate (DOP) at varying intervals of differential pressure to examine the filtering efficiency of three different element designs at three different media velocities. Also, the elements are challenged with a liquid waste surrogate using Laskin nozzles and large dispersion nozzles. These tests allow the loading capacity of the unit to be determined and the effectiveness of washing down the interior of the elements to be evaluated. (authors)
A high-efficiency focusing Cherenkov radiation detector
Lewis, K.; Moran, M.J.; Hall, J. ); Graser, M. )
A new design uses advanced technology to produce an efficient, high-bandwidth Cherenkov detector for relativistic charged particles. The detector consists of a diamond-lathe machined ultraviolet-grade Lucite radiator, a parabolic focusing mirror, and a photodiode with an S-20 cathode. This article discusses some details of the detector design and describes preliminary measurements of its response characteristics. The data show the detector to have an overall gain of {approx}76 signal electrons per incident electron and a photodiode-limited response time of {approx}450 ps.
Modelling and design of high performance indium phosphide solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rhoads, Sandra L.; Barnett, Allen M.
A first principles pn junction device model has predicted new designs for high voltage, high efficiency InP solar cells. Measured InP material properties were applied and device parameters (thicknesses and doping) were adjusted to obtain optimal performance designs. Results indicate that p/n InP designs will provide higher voltages and higher energy conversion efficiencies than n/p structures. Improvements to n/p structures for increased efficiency are predicted. These new designs exploit the high absorption capabilities, relatively long diffusion lengths, and modest surface recombination velocities characteristic of InP. Predictions of performance indicate achievable open-circuit voltage values as high as 943 mV for InP and a practical maximum AM0 efficiency of 22.5 percent at 1 sun and 27 C. The details of the model, the optimal InP structure and the effect of individual parameter variations on device performance are presented.
Novel Nanophosphors for High Efficiency Fluorescent Lamps
Alok Srivatava
This is the Final Report of the Novel Nanophosphors for High Efficiency Fluorescent Lamps, Department of Energy (DOE). The overall goal of this three-year program is to develop novel hybrid phosphors by coating commercially available lamp phosphors with highly stable wide band-gap nanocrystalline phosphors (NCP). The prime technical approach is the development of NCP quantum-splitting phosphor (QSP) and ultra-violet (UV) emitting phosphors with quantum efficiencies exceeding that of the conventional phosphors at 185 nm. The novel hybrid phosphors will increase the efficiency of the fluorescent lamps by up to 32%, enabling total energy savings of 0.26 quads, the reduction in the U.S. energy bill by $6.5 billion and the reduction of the annual carbon emission by 4.1 billion kilogram. Our work started by investigating through modeling calculations the requirement for the particle size of the NCP. Our work to develop suitable nanocrystalline phosphors started with the known oxide quantum splitting and UV emitting phosphors. We demonstrated several synthesis techniques for the production of high quality nanocrystalline materials that crystallizes in the desired phase and with the desired particle size. In collaboration with our subcontractor we demonstrated the feasibility for the manufacture of NC phosphors. We also demonstrated novel techniques of coating the NCP on the surface of micron sized phosphors. Our chief achievement pertains to the successful testing of the coated hybrid phosphor systems in linear fluorescent lamps. In linear fluorescent lamp tests, we have demonstrated up to 7% increase in the efficacy of hybrid phosphors over the conventional (uncoated) phosphors. We have also demonstrated the improvement in the lumen maintenance of the coated phosphors. A hybrid phosphor system based on the commercial red emitting phosphor, Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}:Eu{sup 3+} did not show the anticipated improvement in lamp efficacy. We explored the reasons for this observation
Efficient Compression of High Resolution Climate Data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yin, J.; Schuchardt, K. L.
resolution climate data can be massive. Those data can consume a huge amount of disk space for storage, incur significant overhead for outputting data during simulation, introduce high latency for visualization and analysis, and may even make interactive visualization and analysis impossible given the limit of the data that a conventional cluster can handle. These problems can be alleviated by with effective and efficient data compression techniques. Even though HDF5 format supports compression, previous work has mainly focused on employ traditional general purpose compression schemes such as dictionary coder and block sorting based compression scheme. Those compression schemes mainly focus on encoding repeated byte sequences efficiently and are not well suitable for compressing climate data consist mainly of distinguished float point numbers. We plan to select and customize our compression schemes according to the characteristics of high-resolution climate data. One observation on high resolution climate data is that as the resolution become higher, values of various climate variables such as temperature and pressure, become closer in nearby cells. This provides excellent opportunities for predication-based compression schemes. We have performed a preliminary estimation of compression ratios of a very simple minded predication-based compression ratio in which we compute the difference between current float point number with previous float point number and then encoding the exponent and significance part of the float point number with entropy-based compression scheme. Our results show that we can achieve higher compression ratios between 2 and 3 in lossless compression, which is significantly higher than traditional compression algorithms. We have also developed lossy compression with our techniques. We can achive orders of magnitude data reduction while ensure error bounds. Moreover, our compression scheme is much more efficient and introduces much less overhead
High-Efficiency Harmonically Terminated Diode and Transistor Rectifiers
Roberg, M; Reveyrand, T; Ramos, I; Falkenstein, EA; Popovic, Z
This paper presents a theoretical analysis of harmonically terminated high-efficiency power rectifiers and experimental validation on a class-C single Schottky-diode rectifier and a class-F-1 GaN transistor rectifier. The theory is based on a Fourier analysis of current and voltage waveforms, which arise across the rectifying element when different harmonic terminations are presented at its terminals. An analogy to harmonically terminated power amplifier (PA) theory is discussed. From the analysis, one can obtain an optimal value for the dc load given the RF circuit design. An upper limit on rectifier efficiency is derived for each case as a function of the device on-resistance. Measured results from fundamental frequency source-pull measurement of a Schottky diode rectifier with short-circuit terminations at the second and third harmonics are presented. A maximal device rectification efficiency of 72.8% at 2.45 GHz matches the theoretical prediction. A 2.14-GHz GaN HEMT rectifier is designed based on a class-F-1 PA. The gate of the transistor is terminated in an optimal impedance for self-synchronous rectification. Measurements of conversion efficiency and output dc voltage for varying gate RF impedance, dc load, and gate bias are shown with varying input RF power at the drain. The rectifier demonstrates an efficiency of 85% for a 10-W input RF power at the transistor drain with a dc voltage of 30 V across a 98-Omega resistor.
High efficiency radioisotope thermophotovoltaic prototype generator
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Avery, James E.; Samaras, John E.; Fraas, Lewis M.; Ewell, Richard
250 Watts of heat input, we expect this prototype to produce over 300 Watts of electrical energy output for a system energy conversion efficiency of over 12%. This low risk, near term design provides advances relative to present radioisotope thermophotovoltaic generators and has the additional advantage of allowing component and system development and testing to begin immediately. Improved cells and filters can easily be incorporated in this baseline system if they should become available in the future.
High efficiency radioisotope thermophotovoltaic prototype generator
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Avery, James E.; Samaras, John E.; Fraas, Lewis M.; Ewell, Richard
250 Watts of heat input, we expect this prototype to produce over 300 Watts of electrical energy output for a system energy conversion efficiency of over 12%. This low risk, near term design provides advances relative to present radioisotope thermophotovoltaic generators and has the additional advantage of allowing component and system development and testing to begin immediately. Improved cells and filters can easily be incorporated in this baseline system if they should become available in the future.
High efficiency recombineering in lactic acid bacteria
van Pijkeren, Jan-Peter; Britton, Robert A.
The ability to efficiently generate targeted point mutations in the chromosome without the need for antibiotics, or other means of selection, is a powerful strategy for genome engineering. Although oligonucleotide-mediated recombineering (ssDNA recombineering) has been utilized in Escherichia coli for over a decade, the successful adaptation of ssDNA recombineering to Gram-positive bacteria has not been reported. Here we describe the development and application of ssDNA recombineering in lactic acid bacteria. Mutations were incorporated in the chromosome of Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactococcus lactis without selection at frequencies ranging between 0.4% and 19%. Whole genome sequence analysis showed that ssDNA recombineering is specific and not hypermutagenic. To highlight the utility of ssDNA recombineering we reduced the intrinsic vancomymycin resistance of L. reuteri >100-fold. By creating a single amino acid change in the d-Ala-d-Ala ligase enzyme we reduced the minimum inhibitory concentration for vancomycin from >256 to 1.5 µg/ml, well below the clinically relevant minimum inhibitory concentration. Recombineering thus allows high efficiency mutagenesis in lactobacilli and lactococci, and may be used to further enhance beneficial properties and safety of strains used in medicine and industry. We expect that this work will serve as a blueprint for the adaptation of ssDNA recombineering to other Gram-positive bacteria. PMID:22328729
Efficient Logistic Regression Designs Under an Imperfect Population Identifier
Albert, Paul S.; Liu, Aiyi; Nansel, Tonja
Summary Motivated by actual study designs, this article considers efficient logistic regression designs where the population is identified with a binary test that is subject to diagnostic error. We consider the case where the imperfect test is obtained on all participants, while the gold standard test is measured on a small chosen subsample. Under maximum-likelihood estimation, we evaluate the optimal design in terms of sample selection as well as verification. We show that there may be substantial efficiency gains by choosing a small percentage of individuals who test negative on the imperfect test for inclusion in the sample (e.g., verifying 90% test-positive cases). We also show that a two-stage design may be a good practical alternative to a fixed design in some situations. Under optimal and nearly optimal designs, we compare maximum-likelihood and semi-parametric efficient estimators under correct and misspecified models with simulations. The methodology is illustrated with an analysis from a diabetes behavioral intervention trial. PMID:24261471
Wide-Band, High-Quantum-Efficiency Photodetector
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Jackson, Deborah; Wilson, Daniel; Stern, Jeffrey
A design has been proposed for a photodetector that would exhibit a high quantum efficiency (as much as 90 percent) over a wide wavelength band, which would typically be centered at a wavelength of 1.55 m. This and similar photodetectors would afford a capability for detecting single photons - a capability that is needed for research in quantum optics as well as for the practical development of secure optical communication systems for distribution of quantum cryptographic keys. The proposed photodetector would be of the hot-electron, phonon-cooled, thin-film superconductor type. The superconducting film in this device would be a meandering strip of niobium nitride. In the proposed photodetector, the quantum efficiency would be increased through incorporation of optiA design has been proposed for a photodetector that would exhibit a high quantum efficiency (as much as 90 percent) over a wide wavelength band, which would typically be centered at a wavelength of 1.55 m. This and similar photodetectors would afford a capability for detecting single photons - a capability that is needed for research in quantum optics as well as for the practical development of secure optical communication systems for distribution of quantum cryptographic keys. The proposed photodetector would be of the hot-electron, phonon-cooled, thin-film superconductor type. The superconducting film in this device would be a meandering strip of niobium nitride. In the proposed photodetector, the quantum efficiency would be increased through incorporation of opti-
High efficiency Brayton cycles using LNG
Morrow, Charles W.
A modified, closed-loop Brayton cycle power conversion system that uses liquefied natural gas as the cold heat sink media. When combined with a helium gas cooled nuclear reactor, achievable efficiency can approach 68 76% (as compared to 35% for conventional steam cycle power cooled by air or water). A superheater heat exchanger can be used to exchange heat from a side-stream of hot helium gas split-off from the primary helium coolant loop to post-heat vaporized natural gas exiting from low and high-pressure coolers. The superheater raises the exit temperature of the natural gas to close to room temperature, which makes the gas more attractive to sell on the open market. An additional benefit is significantly reduced costs of a LNG revaporization plant, since the nuclear reactor provides the heat for vaporization instead of burning a portion of the LNG to provide the heat.
High efficiency UHF oscillator for portable battery-powered applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wessendorf, K. O.
There is a growing demand for high-frequency circuit designs which are capable of being used in portable battery-powered applications. This type of environment typically requires circuits designed for small size and minimum dc current draw. A transponder design at Sandia National Laboratories required a 430 MHz oscillator (crystal controlled) which could run off a 3 V lithium battery and have an output power of approximately 0 dbm and draw the least possible dc current (less than 4 mA was desired). Physically the oscillator height has to be less than 0.1 sq in. and occupy less than 1 sq in. surface area. Another requirement, for the first engineering prototype, was that the oscillator be made out of inexpensive, standard parts. The design was integrated onto a circuit board with the associated transponder circuitry. This paper describes a technique to make a high-efficiency 430 MHz oscillator which demonstrates efficiencies in the 10 to 12 percent range for an output of approximately 0 dbm. Data will show the frequency spectrum of the oscillator waveform and the performance of the oscillator over temperature and power supply voltage. To meet the requirements and make the design as simple as possible a 107.5 MHz (R(sub m) less than 70 ohms) Statek AT-Strip resonator was chosen. This resonator was chosen because of its small size, surface mountability, and good electrical performance. This resonator was used at series resonance in an oscillator multiplier circuit which would provide a (4X) multiplication in an efficient manner. The oscillator (first stage) is a Butler Oscillator-Multiplier (2X) which is direct coupled to a buffer transistor (second stage) and harmonic generating (2X) transistor which share bias current. The final design delivers 1 dbm at 3 V with 3.33 mA current draw. All harmonics and subharmonics are greater than 20 db down from the desired frequency.
A theoretical study on tuning the electronic structures and photophysical properties of newly designed platinum(II) complexes by adding substituents on functionalized ligands as highly efficient OLED emitters.
Zhang, Luqiong; Tian, Li; Li, Ming; He, Rongxing; Shen, Wei
By imitating FIrpic, seven new platinum(II) complexes with pic (pic = picolinate) ligand have been designed to be guest materials by means of adding different substituents to functionalized ligands (ppy and fpy, ppy = phenylpyridyl-N,C and fpy = 2-(9',9'-diethyl-9H-fluorenyl)pyridyl-N,C). In order to reveal their molecular structures, photophysical properties and structure-property relationships with typical host materials, an in-depth theoretical investigation was performed via quantum chemical calculations. The electronic structures and photophysical properties of these complexes were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) using the B3LYP functional with LANL2DZ and 6-31G* basis sets. It turns out that electronic structures and photophysical properties can be tuned by substituent modifications on functionalized ligands. This work highlights that the match between guest materials and host materials in typical OLED structures can be weighed by the energy levels of the HOMO and LUMO and the adiabatic triplet energy of each complex. Also, a combined analysis of electronic structures, host-guest match, reorganization energies (λ) and triplet exciton generation fraction (χ(T)) is helpful in exploring triplet emitters with high phosphorescence efficiency in OLEDs, which is an interesting and creative aspect of this work. Thereinto, λ reveals the capability of carrier transport and the balance between holes and electrons, whilst structural parameters and d-orbital splittings show that those complexes that have strong electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups are nonemissive. Consequently, complexes 3-7 can be better triplet emitters than FIrpic. Moreover, the emission colors could be predicted by the 0-0 transition energy (E(0-0)) instead of the triplet vertical transition energy (E(vert)). Accordingly, complexes 3, 4 and 6 would be efficient phosphorescent materials with different predicted
High power, high efficiency diode pumped Raman fiber laser
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Glick, Yaakov; Fromzel, Viktor; Zhang, Jun; Dahan, Asaf; Ter-Gabrielyan, Nikolay; Pattnaik, Radha K.; Dubinskii, Mark
We demonstrate a high power high efficiency Raman fiber laser pumped directly by a laser diode module at 976 nm. 80 Watts of CW power were obtained at a wavelength of 1020 nm with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 53%. When working quasi-CW, at a duty cycle of 30%, 85 W of peak power was produced with an efficiency of 60%. A commercial graded-index (GRIN) core fiber acts as the Raman fiber in a power oscillator configuration, which includes spectral selection to prevent generation of the 2nd Stokes. In addition, significant brightness enhancement of the pump beam is attained due to the Raman gain distribution profile in the GRIN fiber. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power Raman fiber laser directly pumped by laser diodes, which also exhibits a record efficiency for such a laser. In addition, it is the highest power Raman fiber laser (regardless of pumping source) demonstrated based on a GRIN fiber.
A High-Efficiency Superhydrophobic Plasma Separator
Liu, Changchun; Liao, Shih-Chuan; Song, Jinzhao; Mauk, Michael G.; Li, Xuanwen; Wu, Gaoxiang; Ge, Dengteng; Greenberg, Robert M.; Yang, Shu; Bau, Haim H.
To meet stringent limit-of-detection specifications for low abundance target molecules, a relatively large volume of plasma is needed for many blood-based clinical diagnostics. Conventional centrifugation methods for plasma separation are not suitable for on-site testing or bedside diagnostics. Here, we report a simple, yet high-efficiency, clamshell-style, superhydrophobic plasma separator that is capable of separating a relatively large volume of plasma from several hundred microliters of whole blood (finger-prick blood volume). The plasma separator consists of a superhydrophobic top cover with a separation membrane and a superhydrophobic bottom substrate. Unlike previously reported membrane-based plasma separators, the separation membrane in our device is positioned at the top of the sandwiched whole blood film to increase the membrane separation capacity and plasma yield. In addition, the device's superhydrophobic characteristics (i) facilitates the formation of well-defined, contracted, thin blood film with a high contact angle; (ii) minimizes biomolecular adhesion to surfaces; (iii) increases blood clotting time; and (iv) reduces blood cell hemolysis. The device demonstrated a "blood in-plasma out" capability, consistently extracting 65±21.5 μL of plasma from 200 μL of whole blood in less than 10 min without electrical power. The device was used to separate plasma from Schistosoma mansoni genomic DNA-spiked whole blood with a recovery efficiency of > 84.5 ± 25.8 %. The S. mansoni genomic DNA in the separated plasma was successfully tested on our custom-made microfluidic chip by using loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method. PMID:26732765
A high-efficiency superhydrophobic plasma separator.
Liu, Changchun; Liao, Shih-Chuan; Song, Jinzhao; Mauk, Michael G; Li, Xuanwen; Wu, Gaoxiang; Ge, Dengteng; Greenberg, Robert M; Yang, Shu; Bau, Haim H
To meet stringent limit-of-detection specifications for low abundance target molecules, a relatively large volume of plasma is needed for many blood-based clinical diagnostics. Conventional centrifugation methods for plasma separation are not suitable for on-site testing or bedside diagnostics. Here, we report a simple, yet high-efficiency, clamshell-style, superhydrophobic plasma separator that is capable of separating a relatively large volume of plasma from several hundred microliters of whole blood (finger-prick blood volume). The plasma separator consists of a superhydrophobic top cover with a separation membrane and a superhydrophobic bottom substrate. Unlike previously reported membrane-based plasma separators, the separation membrane in our device is positioned at the top of the sandwiched whole blood film to increase the membrane separation capacity and plasma yield. In addition, the device's superhydrophobic characteristics (i) facilitates the formation of well-defined, contracted, thin blood film with a high contact angle; (ii) minimizes biomolecular adhesion to surfaces; (iii) increases blood clotting time; and (iv) reduces blood cell hemolysis. The device demonstrated a "blood in-plasma out" capability, consistently extracting 65 ± 21.5 μL of plasma from 200 μL of whole blood in less than 10 min without electrical power. The device was used to separate plasma from Schistosoma mansoni genomic DNA-spiked whole blood with a recovery efficiency of >84.5 ± 25.8%. The S. mansoni genomic DNA in the separated plasma was successfully tested on our custom-made microfluidic chip by using loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method. PMID:26732765
High Efficiency Adsorption Chillers: High Efficiency Adsorption Cooling Using Metal Organic Heat Carriers
BEETIT Project: PNNL is incorporating significant improvements in materials that adsorb liquids or gases to design more efficient adsorption chillers. An adsorption chiller is a type of air conditioner that is powered by heat, solar or waste heat, or combustion of natural gas. Unlike typical chillers, this type has few moving parts and uses almost no electricity to operate. PNNL is designing adsorbent materials at the molecular level with at least 3 times higher refrigerant capacity and up to 20 times faster kinetics than adsorbents used in current chillers. By using the new adsorbent, PNNL is able to create a chiller that is significantly smaller, has twice the energy efficiency, and lower costs for materials and assembly time compared to conventional adsorption chillers.
Best Practices Guide for Energy-Efficient Data Center Design
O. VanGeet: NREL
This guide provides an overview of best practices for energy-efficient data center design which spans the categories of Information Technology (IT) systems and their environmental conditions, data center air management, cooling and electrical systems, on-site generation, and heat recovery.
Energy Efficient Engine core design and performance report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stearns, E. Marshall
The Energy Efficient Engine (E3) is a NASA program to develop fuel saving technology for future large transport aircraft engines. Testing of the General Electric E3 core showed that the core component performance and core system performance necessary to meet the program goals can be achieved. The E3 core design and test results are described.
Highly efficient PWM synchronous buck converter with optimized LDMOS
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Roy, Swarnil; Mukherjee, Sagar; Sarkar, Chandan Kumar
In this work, a design of high efficiency synchronous buck converter with an optimized LDMOS is presented which works in VHF frequency domain. The circuit performance of the buck converter is then analyzed and optimized to increase the efficiency and to reduce the power losses without modifying the circuit. The analysis and optimization is performed by varying the different device parameters like drift region doping concentration (DDrift) and drift region length (LDrift) along with the circuit level parameters like the dead time and the switching frequency. The effect of the parameters is found to reduce the power losses of the circuit. The circuit with optimized parameters yields 80% efficiency at 100 MHz switching frequency.
High Efficiency InP Solar Cells Through Nanostructuring
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Goldman, Daniel; Murray, Joseph; Munday, Jeremy
We describe high efficiency InP solar cells which utilize a periodic array of optically designed TiO2 nanocylinders. Optical and electronic simulations were performed to determine the spectrally resolved reflectivity and I-V characteristics of potential devices under AM1.5G illumination. The reflectivity of InP solar cells with these nanocylinders is found to have an average value of 2% over the visible and near-IR spectral range, which outperforms traditional antireflection coatings. Coupling between Mie scattering resonances and thin film interference effects is found to accurately describe the optical enhancement provided by the nanocylinders. These nanostructured solar cells have power conversion efficiencies greater than 23%, which is comparable to the highest quoted efficiencies for InP solar cells.
High efficiency rare-earth emitter for thermophotovoltaic applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sakr, E. S.; Zhou, Z.; Bermel, P.
In this work, we propose a rare-earth-based ceramic thermal emitter design that can boost thermophotovoltaic (TPV) efficiencies significantly without cold-side filters at a temperature of 1573 K (1300 °C). The proposed emitter enhances a naturally occurring rare earth transition using quality-factor matching, with a quarter-wave stack as a highly reflective back mirror, while suppressing parasitic losses via exponential chirping of a multilayer reflector transmitting only at short wavelengths. This allows the emissivity to approach the blackbody limit for wavelengths overlapping with the absorption peak of the rare-earth material, while effectively reducing the losses associated with undesirable long-wavelength emission. We obtain TPV efficiencies of 34% using this layered design, which only requires modest index contrast, making it particularly amenable to fabrication via a wide variety of techniques, including sputtering, spin-coating, and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.
High efficiency rare-earth emitter for thermophotovoltaic applications
Sakr, E. S.; Zhou, Z.; Bermel, P.
In this work, we propose a rare-earth-based ceramic thermal emitter design that can boost thermophotovoltaic (TPV) efficiencies significantly without cold-side filters at a temperature of 1573 K (1300 °C). The proposed emitter enhances a naturally occurring rare earth transition using quality-factor matching, with a quarter-wave stack as a highly reflective back mirror, while suppressing parasitic losses via exponential chirping of a multilayer reflector transmitting only at short wavelengths. This allows the emissivity to approach the blackbody limit for wavelengths overlapping with the absorption peak of the rare-earth material, while effectively reducing the losses associated with undesirable long-wavelength emission. We obtain TPV efficiencies of 34% using this layered design, which only requires modest index contrast, making it particularly amenable to fabrication via a wide variety of techniques, including sputtering, spin-coating, and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.
High-efficiency side diode pumped breech mount laser ignition
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hardy, Christopher R.; Guo, Baoping; Myers, Michael J.; Myers, John D.
Breech Mounted Lasers (BMLs) have been successfully used to demonstrate laser ignition of howitzer propellant charges including bag, stick, and the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS). BMLs have been integrated and tested on many artillery systems, including the US Army's M109A6 Paladin, M198, M777 Light Weight, Crusader, and Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C). Until now, these lasers have been relatively large and inefficient systems based on a flashlamp pumped Nd:YAG laser design. Modern vehicle platforms will require smaller, more efficient lasers that can operate under increased shock and vibration loads. Kigre's new DPSS (Diode Pumped Solid State) lasers appear to meet these requirements. In this work we provide an evaluation of HESP (High Efficiency Side Pumped) DPSS laser design and performance with regard to its application as a practical artillery laser ignition system.
Fuel Cell/Turbine Ultra High Efficiency Power System
Hossein, Ghezel-Ayagh
FuelCell Energy, INC. (FCE) is currently involved in the design of ultra high efficiency power plants under a cooperative agreement (DE-FC26-00NT40) managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) as part of the DOE's Vision 21 program. Under this project, FCE is developing a fuel cell/turbine hybrid system that integrates the atmospheric pressure Direct FuelCell{reg_sign} (DFC{reg_sign}) with an unfired Brayton cycle utilizing indirect heat recovery from the power plant. Features of the DFC/T{trademark} system include: high efficiency, minimal emissions, simplicity in design, direct reforming internal to the fuel cell, no pressurization of the fuel cell, independent operating pressure of the fuel cell and turbine, and potential cost competitiveness with existing combined cycle power plants at much smaller sizes. Objectives of the Vision 21 Program include developing power plants that will generate electricity with net efficiencies approaching 75 percent (with natural gas), while producing sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions of less than 0.01 lb/million BTU. These goals are significant improvements over conventional power plants, which are 35-60 percent efficient and produce emissions of 0.07 to 0.3 lb/million BTU of sulfur and nitrogen oxides. The nitrogen oxide and sulfur emissions from the DFC/T system are anticipated to be better than the Vision 21 goals due to the non-combustion features of the DFC/T power plant. The expected high efficiency of the DFC/T will also result in a 40-50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional power plants. To date, the R&D efforts have resulted in significant progress including proof-of-concept tests of a sub-scale power plant built around a state-of-the-art DFC stack integrated with a modified Capstone Model 330 Microturbine. The objectives of this effort are to investigate the integration aspects of the fuel cell and turbine and to obtain design information and operational data that will
High efficiency, high pulse energy fiber laser system
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bowers, Mark S.; Henrie, Jason; Garske, Megan; Templeman, Dan; Afzal, Robert
We report a master-oscillator/power-amplifier laser system featuring a polarizing and coilable 40-micron-core Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber as the final-stage amplifier. The laser source generates 3.4 ns pulses at a repetition rate 19 kHz, with maximum pulse energy 1.2 mJ, maximum average power 22.8 W, near diffraction-limited (M2 < 1.1) beam quality, and 20% electrical to optical efficiency in a compact package. This pulsed-fiber laser flight system provides high pulse energy, average power, peak power, diffraction limited beam quality, and high efficiency all in a thermally and mechanically stable compact package.
Vacuum testing of high efficiency AMTEC cells
Schuller, M.; Phillips, P.H.; Reiners, E.; Merrill, J.; Crowley, C.; Izenson, M.
The Phillips Laboratory Power and Thermal Management Division (PL/VTP), in cooperation with JPL, AMPS, Creare, and ORION, is performing vacuum testing of high performance Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Conversion (AMTEC) cells, including the Micro-Machined Evaporator (MME) and PL-9A cells. The MME cell was designed to test an improved evaporator, which should allow long term operation at evaporator temperatures as high as 1,100 K. The PL-9A cell was designed and built by AMPS under contract to ORION to test an improved heat shield assembly. The testing at Phillips Lab is done in a vacuum test stand which simulates the environment of an AMTEC cell operating as part of a spacecraft power system. The test configuration consists of the MME cell (later replaced by by the PL-9A cell) in the center of an array of six other AMTEC cells. The seven cells are encased in multifoil insulation. Testing shows that there is little difference between cell current/voltage performance when measured in vacuum tests compared to guard heater tests. The author are also examining the differences between fast I-V curve sweeps, recorded manually, with the cell operating at constant heat input, over a period of five minutes or less, and equilibrium I-V curve sweeps, in which the cell reaches thermal equilibrium at each data point.
Energy efficient engine: Preliminary design and integration studies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Johnston, R. P.; Hirschkron, R.; Koch, C. C.; Neitzel, R. E.; Vinson, P. W.
Parametric design and mission evaluations of advanced turbofan configurations were conducted for future transport aircraft application. Economics, environmental suitability and fuel efficiency were investigated and compared with goals set by NASA. Of the candidate engines which included mixed- and separate-flow, direct-drive and geared configurations, an advanced mixed-flow direct-drive configuration was selected for further design and evaluation. All goals were judged to have been met except the acoustic goal. Also conducted was a performance risk analysis and a preliminary aerodynamic design of the 10 stage 23:1 pressure ratio compressor used in the study engines.
Efficiency of nonstandard and high contact ratio involute spur gears
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Anderson, N. E.; Loewenthal, S. H.
A power loss prediction was extended to include involute spur gears of nonstandard proportions. The method is used to analyze the effects of modified addendum, tooth thickness, and gear center distance in addition to the parameters previously considered which included gear diameter, pitch, pressure angle, face width, oil viscosity, speed, and torque. Particular emphasis was placed on high contact ratio gearing (contact ratios greater than two). Despite their higher sliding velocities, high contact ratio gears are designed to levels of efficiency comparable to those of conventional gears while retaining their advantages through proper selection of gear geometry.
Efficiency of nonstandard and high contact ratio involute spur gears
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Anderson, N. E.; Loewenthal, S. H.
A power loss prediction was extended to include involute spur gears of nonstandard proportions. The method is used to analyze the effects of modified addendum, tooth thickness, and gear center distance in addition to the parameters previously considered which included gear diameter, pitch, pressure angle, face width, oil viscosity, speed, and torque. Particular emphasis was placed on high contact ratio gearing (contact ratios greater than two). Despite their higher sliding velocities, high contact ratio gears are designed to levels of efficiency comparable to those of conventional gears while retaining their advantages through proper selection of gear geometry.
Highly efficient simultaneous ultrasonic assisted adsorption of brilliant green and eosin B onto ZnS nanoparticles loaded activated carbon: Artificial neural network modeling and central composite design optimization
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jamshidi, M.; Ghaedi, M.; Dashtian, K.; Ghaedi, A. M.; Hajati, S.; Goudarzi, A.; Alipanahpour, E.
In this work, central composite design (CCD) combined with response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability function approach (DFA) gives useful information about operational condition and also to obtain useful information about interaction and main effect of variables concerned to simultaneous ultrasound-assisted removal of brilliant green (BG) and eosin B (EB) by zinc sulfide nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon (ZnS-NPs-AC). Spectra overlap between BG and EB dyes was extensively reduced and/or omitted by derivative spectrophotometric method, while multi-layer artificial neural network (ML-ANN) model learned with Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm was used for building up a predictive model and prediction of the BG and EB removal. The ANN efficiently was able to forecast the simultaneous BG and EB removal that was confirmed by reasonable numerical value i.e. MSE of 0.0021 and R2 of 0.9589 and MSE of 0.0022 and R2 of 0.9455 for testing data set, respectively. The results reveal acceptable agreement among experimental data and ANN predicted results. Langmuir as the best model for fitting experimental data relevant to BG and EB removal indicates high, economic and profitable adsorption capacity (258.7 and 222.2 mg g- 1) that supports and confirms its applicability for wastewater treatment.
Highly efficient simultaneous ultrasonic-assisted adsorption of Pb(II), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Cu (II) ions from aqueous solutions by graphene oxide modified with 2,2'-dipyridylamine: Central composite design optimization.
Zare-Dorabei, Rouholah; Ferdowsi, Somayeh Moazen; Barzin, Ahmad; Tadjarodi, Azadeh
In present work, a graphene oxide chemically modified with 2,2'-dipyridylamine (GO-DPA), was synthesized by simple, fast and low-cost process for the simultaneous adsorption of four toxic heavy metals, Pb(II), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II), from aqueous solutions. The synthesized adsorbent was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM and AFM measurements. The effects of variables such as pH solution, initial ion concentrations, adsorbent dosage and sonicating time were investigated on adsorption efficiency by rotatable central composite design. The optimum conditions, specified as 8mg of adsorbent, 20mgL(-1) of each ion at pH 5 and short time of 4min led to the achievement of a high adsorption capacities. Ultrasonic power had important role in shortening the adsorption time of ions by enhancing the dispersion of adsorbent in solution. The adsorption kinetic studies and equilibrium isotherms for evaluating the mechanism of adsorption process showed a good fit to the pseudo-second order and Langmuir model, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacities (Qm) of this adsorbent were 369.749, 257.201, 180.893 and 358.824mgg(-1) for lead, cadmium, nickel and copper ions, respectively. The removal performance of adsorbent on the real wastewater samples also showed the feasibility of adsorbent for applying in industrial purposes. PMID:27150770
White LED with High Package Extraction Efficiency
Yi Zheng; Matthew Stough
The goal of this project is to develop a high efficiency phosphor converting (white) Light Emitting Diode (pcLED) 1-Watt package through an increase in package extraction efficiency. A transparent/translucent monolithic phosphor is proposed to replace the powdered phosphor to reduce the scattering caused by phosphor particles. Additionally, a multi-layer thin film selectively reflecting filter is proposed between blue LED die and phosphor layer to recover inward yellow emission. At the end of the project we expect to recycle approximately 50% of the unrecovered backward light in current package construction, and develop a pcLED device with 80 lm/W{sub e} using our technology improvements and commercially available chip/package source. The success of the project will benefit luminous efficacy of white LEDs by increasing package extraction efficiency. In most phosphor-converting white LEDs, the white color is obtained by combining a blue LED die (or chip) with a powdered phosphor layer. The phosphor partially absorbs the blue light from the LED die and converts it into a broad green-yellow emission. The mixture of the transmitted blue light and green-yellow light emerging gives white light. There are two major drawbacks for current pcLEDs in terms of package extraction efficiency. The first is light scattering caused by phosphor particles. When the blue photons from the chip strike the phosphor particles, some blue light will be scattered by phosphor particles. Converted yellow emission photons are also scattered. A portion of scattered light is in the backward direction toward the die. The amount of this backward light varies and depends in part on the particle size of phosphors. The other drawback is that yellow emission from phosphor powders is isotropic. Although some backward light can be recovered by the reflector in current LED packages, there is still a portion of backward light that will be absorbed inside the package and further converted to heat. Heat
Tailored Materials for High Efficiency CIDI Engines
Grant, G.J.; Jana, S.
The overall goal of the project, Tailored Materials for High Efficiency Compression Ignition Direct Injection (CIDI) Engines, is to enable the implementation of new combustion strategies, such as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), that have the potential to significantly increase the energy efficiency of current diesel engines and decrease fuel consumption and environmental emissions. These strategies, however, are increasing the demands on conventional engine materials, either from increases in peak cylinder pressure (PCP) or from increases in the temperature of operation. The specific objective of this project is to investigate the application of a new material processing technology, friction stir processing (FSP), to improve the thermal and mechanical properties of engine components. The concept is to modify the surfaces of conventional, low-cost engine materials. The project focused primarily on FSP in aluminum materials that are compositional analogs to the typical piston and head alloys seen in small- to mid-sized CIDI engines. Investigations have been primarily of two types over the duration of this project: (1) FSP of a cast hypoeutectic Al-Si-Mg (A356/357) alloy with no introduction of any new components, and (2) FSP of Al-Cu-Ni alloys (Alloy 339) by physically stirring-in various quantities of carbon nanotubes/nanofibers or carbon fibers. Experimental work to date on aluminum systems has shown significant increases in fatigue lifetime and stress-level performance in aluminum-silicon alloys using friction processing alone, but work to demonstrate the addition of carbon nanotubes and fibers into aluminum substrates has shown mixed results due primarily to the difficulty in achieving porosity-free, homogeneous distributions of the particulate. A limited effort to understand the effects of FSP on steel materials was also undertaken during the course of this project. Processed regions were created in high-strength, low-alloyed steels up to 0.5 in
High Efficiency Diffusion Molecular Retention Tumor Targeting
Guo, Yanyan; Yuan, Hushan; Cho, Hoonsung; Kuruppu, Darshini; Jokivarsi, Kimmo; Agarwal, Aayush; Shah, Khalid; Josephson, Lee
Here we introduce diffusion molecular retention (DMR) tumor targeting, a technique that employs PEG-fluorochrome shielded probes that, after a peritumoral (PT) injection, undergo slow vascular uptake and extensive interstitial diffusion, with tumor retention only through integrin molecular recognition. To demonstrate DMR, RGD (integrin binding) and RAD (control) probes were synthesized bearing DOTA (for 111 In3+), a NIR fluorochrome, and 5 kDa PEG that endows probes with a protein-like volume of 25 kDa and decreases non-specific interactions. With a GFP-BT-20 breast carcinoma model, tumor targeting by the DMR or IV methods was assessed by surface fluorescence, biodistribution of [111In] RGD and [111In] RAD probes, and whole animal SPECT. After a PT injection, both probes rapidly diffused through the normal and tumor interstitium, with retention of the RGD probe due to integrin interactions. With PT injection and the [111In] RGD probe, SPECT indicated a highly tumor specific uptake at 24 h post injection, with 352%ID/g tumor obtained by DMR (vs 4.14%ID/g by IV). The high efficiency molecular targeting of DMR employed low probe doses (e.g. 25 ng as RGD peptide), which minimizes toxicity risks and facilitates clinical translation. DMR applications include the delivery of fluorochromes for intraoperative tumor margin delineation, the delivery of radioisotopes (e.g. toxic, short range alpha emitters) for radiotherapy, or the delivery of photosensitizers to tumors accessible to light. PMID:23505478
Lightweight High Efficiency Electric Motors for Space Applications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Robertson, Glen A.; Tyler, Tony R.; Piper, P. J.
Lightweight high efficiency electric motors are needed across a wide range of space applications from - thrust vector actuator control for launch and flight applications to - general vehicle, base camp habitat and experiment control for various mechanisms to - robotics for various stationary and mobile space exploration missions. QM Power?s Parallel Path Magnetic Technology Motors have slowly proven themselves to be a leading motor technology in this area; winning a NASA Phase II for "Lightweight High Efficiency Electric Motors and Actuators for Low Temperature Mobility and Robotics Applications" a US Army Phase II SBIR for "Improved Robot Actuator Motors for Medical Applications", an NSF Phase II SBIR for "Novel Low-Cost Electric Motors for Variable Speed Applications" and a DOE SBIR Phase I for "High Efficiency Commercial Refrigeration Motors" Parallel Path Magnetic Technology obtains the benefits of using permanent magnets while minimizing the historical trade-offs/limitations found in conventional permanent magnet designs. The resulting devices are smaller, lower weight, lower cost and have higher efficiency than competitive permanent magnet and non-permanent magnet designs. QM Power?s motors have been extensively tested and successfully validated by multiple commercial and aerospace customers and partners as Boeing Research and Technology. Prototypes have been made between 0.1 and 10 HP. They are also in the process of scaling motors to over 100kW with their development partners. In this paper, Parallel Path Magnetic Technology Motors will be discussed; specifically addressing their higher efficiency, higher power density, lighter weight, smaller physical size, higher low end torque, wider power zone, cooler temperatures, and greater reliability with lower cost and significant environment benefit for the same peak output power compared to typically motors. A further discussion on the inherent redundancy of these motors for space applications will be provided.
Criteria for calculating the efficiency of HEPA filters during and after design basis accidents
Bergman, W.; First, M.W.; Anderson, W.L.; Gilbert, H.; Jacox, J.W.
We have reviewed the literature on the performance of high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters under normal and abnormal conditions to establish criteria for calculating the efficiency of HEPA filters in a DOE nonreactor nuclear facility during and after a Design Basis Accident (DBA). The literature review included the performance of new filters and parameters that may cause deterioration in the filter performance such as filter age, radiation, corrosive chemicals, seismic and rough handling, high temperature, moisture, particle clogging, high air flow and pressure pulses. The deterioration of the filter efficiency depends on the exposure parameters; in severe exposure conditions the filter will be structurally damaged and have a residual efficiency of 0%. Despite the many studies on HEPA filter performance under adverse conditions, there are large gaps and limitations in the data that introduce significant error in the estimates of HEPA filter efficiencies under DBA conditions. Because of this limitation, conservative values of filter efficiency were chosen when there was insufficient data.
A New High Efficiency Segmented Thermoelectric Unicouple
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Caillat, T.; Fleurial, J.-P.; Snyder, G. J.; Zoltan, A.; Zoltan, D.; Borshchevsky, A.
To achieve high thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency, it is desirable to operate thermoelectric generator devices over large temperature gradients and also to maximize the thermoelectric performance of the materials used to build the devices. However, no single thermoelectric material is suitable for use over a very wide range of temperatures (approx. 300 - 1000 K). It is therefore necessary to use different materials in each temperature range where they possess optimum performance. This can be achieved in two ways: 1) multistage thermoelectric generators where each stage operates over a fixed temperature difference and is electrically insulated but thermally in contact with the other stages and 2) segmented generators where the p- and n-legs are formed of different segments joined in series. The concept of integrating new thermoelectric materials developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) into a segmented thermoelectric generator has been presented in detail in earlier publications . This new generator is expected to operate over a 300-973 K temperature difference and will use novel segmented legs based on a combination of state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials and novel p-type Zn4Sb3, p-type CeFe4Sb12-based alloys and n-type CoSb3-based alloys. An increase in the conversion efficiency of about 60% is expected compared to conventional Bi2Te3- and PbTe-based generators. We present in this paper the latest experimental results from the bonding studies between the different segments of the p-legs, n-legs, and p-leg to n-leg interconnect. Evaluation of the bond quality was done by measuring the contact resistance across the joints as well as by detailed microstructure investigations to reveal any potential interdiffusion. Among the materials investigated as inter-layers between the different segments of the legs, Pd-Ag joining alloys have been found to provide mechanically stable and low electrical resistance bonds.
Highly Efficient Amplifier for Ka-Band Communications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
An amplifier developed under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract will have applications for both satellite and terrestrial communications. This power amplifier uses an innovative series bias arrangement of active devices to achieve over 40-percent efficiency at Ka-band frequencies with an output power of 0.66 W. The amplifier is fabricated on a 2.0- by 3.8-square millimeter chip through the use of Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology, and it uses state-of-the-art, Pseudomorphic High-Electron-Mobility Transistor (PHEMT) devices. Although the performance of the MMIC chip depends on these high-performance devices, the real innovations here are a unique series bias scheme, which results in a high-voltage chip supply, and careful design of the on-chip planar output stage combiner. This design concept has ramifications beyond the chip itself because it opens up the possibility of operation directly from a satellite power bus (usually 28 V) without a dc-dc converter. This will dramatically increase the overall system efficiency. Conventional microwave power amplifier designs utilize many devices all connected in parallel from the bias supply. This results in a low-bias voltage, typically 5 V, and a high bias current. With this configuration, substantial I(sup 2) R losses (current squared times resistance) may arise in the system bias-distribution network. By placing the devices in a series bias configuration, the total current is reduced, leading to reduced distribution losses. Careful design of the on-chip planar output stage power combiner is also important in minimizing losses. Using these concepts, a two-stage amplifier was designed for operation at 33 GHz and fabricated in a standard MMIC foundry process with 0.20-m PHEMT devices. Using a 20-V bias supply, the amplifier achieved efficiencies of over 40 percent with an output power of 0.66 W and a 16-dB gain over a 2-GHz bandwidth centered at 33 GHz. With a 28-V bias, a power
Magnetic Refrigeration Technology for High Efficiency Air Conditioning
Boeder, A; Zimm, C
Magnetic refrigeration was investigated as an efficient, environmentally friendly, flexible alternative to conventional residential vapor compression central air conditioning systems. Finite element analysis (FEA) models of advanced geometry active magnetic regenerator (AMR) beds were developed to minimize bed size and thus magnet mass by optimizing geometry for fluid flow and heat transfer and other losses. Conventional and magnetocaloric material (MCM) regenerator fabrication and assembly techniques were developed and advanced geometry passive regenerators were built and tested. A subscale engineering prototype (SEP) magnetic air conditioner was designed, constructed and tested. A model of the AMR cycle, combined with knowledge from passive regenerator experiments and FEA results, was used to design the regenerator beds. A 1.5 Tesla permanent magnet assembly was designed using FEA and the bed structure and plenum design was extensively optimized using FEA. The SEP is a flexible magnetic refrigeration platform, with individually instrumented beds and high flow rate and high frequency capability, although the current advanced regenerator geometry beds do not meet performance expectations, probably due to manufacturing and assembly tolerances. A model of the AMR cycle was used to optimize the design of a 3 ton capacity magnetic air conditioner, and the system design was iterated to minimize external parasitic losses such as heat exchanger pressure drop and fan power. The manufacturing cost for the entire air conditioning system was estimated, and while the estimated SEER efficiency is high, the magnetic air conditioning system is not cost competitive as currently configured. The 3 ton study results indicate that there are other applications where magnetic refrigeration is anticipated to have cost advantages over conventional systems, especially applications where magnetic refrigeration, through the use of its aqueous heat transfer fluid, could eliminate intermediate
High Efficiency Microwave Power Amplifier: From the Lab to Industry
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sims, William Herbert, III; Bell, Joseph L. (Technical Monitor)
Since the beginnings of space travel, various microwave power amplifier designs have been employed. These included Class-A, -B, and -C bias arrangements. However, shared limitation of these topologies is the inherent high total consumption of input power associated with the generation of radio frequency (RF)/microwave power. The power amplifier has always been the largest drain for the limited available power on the spacecraft. Typically, the conversion efficiency of a microwave power amplifier is 10 to 20%. For a typical microwave power amplifier of 20 watts, input DC power of at least 100 watts is required. Such a large demand for input power suggests that a better method of RF/microwave power generation is required. The price paid for using a linear amplifier where high linearity is unnecessary includes higher initial and operating costs, lower DC-to-RF conversion efficiency, high power consumption, higher power dissipation and the accompanying need for higher capacity heat removal means, and an amplifier that is more prone to parasitic oscillation. The first use of a higher efficiency mode of power generation was described by Baxandall in 1959. This higher efficiency mode, Class-D, is achieved through distinct switching techniques to reduce the power losses associated with switching, conduction, and gate drive losses of a given transistor.
High Efficiency LED Lamp for Solid-State Lighting
James Ibbetson
This report contains a summary of technical achievements during a three-year project to demonstrate high efficiency, solid-state lamps based on gallium nitride/silicon carbide light-emitting diodes. Novel chip designs and fabrication processes are described for a new type of nitride light-emitting diode with the potential for very high efficiency. This work resulted in the demonstration of blue light-emitting diodes in the one watt class that achieved up to 495 mW of light output at 350 mA drive current, corresponding to quantum and wall plug efficiencies of 51% and 45%, respectively. When combined with a phosphor in Cree's 7090 XLamp package, these advanced blue-emitting devices resulted in white light-emitting diodes whose efficacy exceeded 85 lumens per watt. In addition, up to 1040 lumens at greater than 85 lumens per watt was achieved by combining multiple devices to make a compact white lamp module with high optical efficiency.
High Integrity Can Design Interfaces
Shaber, E.L.
The National Spent Nuclear Fuel Program is chartered with facilitating the disposition of DOE-owned spent nuclear fuel to allow disposal at a geologic repository. This is done through coordination with the repository program and by assisting DOE Site owners of SNF with needed information, standardized requirements, packaging approaches, etc. The High Integrity Can (HIC) will be manufactured to provide a substitute or barrier enhancement for normal fuel geometry and cladding. The can would be nested inside the DOE standardized canister which is designed to interface with the repository waste package. The HIC approach may provide the following benefits over typical canning approaches for DOE SNF. (a) It allows ready calculation and management of criticality issues for miscellaneous. (b) It segments and further isolates damaged or otherwise problem materials from normal SNF in the repository package. (c) It provides a very long term corrosion barrier. (d) It provides an extra internal pressure barrier for particulates, gaseous fission products, hydrogen, and water vapor. (e) It delays any potential release of fission products to the repository environment. (f) It maintains an additional level of fuel geometry control during design basis accidents, rock-fall, and seismic events. (g) When seal welded, it could provide the additional containment required for shipments involving plutonium content in excess of 20 Ci. (10 CFR 71.63.b) if integrated with an appropriate cask design. Long term corrosion protection is central to the HIC concept. The material selected for the HIC (Hastelloy C-22) has undergone extensive testing for repository service. The most severe theoretical interactions between iron, repository water containing chlorides and other repository construction materials have been tested. These expected chemical species have not been shown capable of corroding the selected HIC material. Therefore, the HIC should provide a significant barrier to DOE SNF dispersal
High-Efficiency Solar Cell Concepts: Physics, Materials, and Devices
Mascarenhas, A.; Francoeur, S.; Seong, M. J.; Fluegel, B.; Zhang, Y.; Wanlass, M. W.
Over the past three decades, significant progress has been made in the area of high-efficiency multijunction solar cells, with the effort primarily directed at current-matched solar cells in tandem. The key materials issues here have been obtaining semiconductors with the required bandgaps for sequential absorption of light in the solar spectrum and that are lattice matched to readily available substrates. The GaInP/GaAs/Ge cell is a striking example of success achieved in this area. Recently, several new approaches for high-efficiency solar cell design have emerged, that involve novel methods for tailoring alloy bandgaps, as well as alternate technologies for hetero-epitaxy of III-V's on Si. The advantages and difficulties expected to be encountered with each approach will be discussed, addressing both the materials issues and device physics whilst contrasting them with other fourth-generation solar cell concepts.
Highly Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells with Tunable Structural Color
The performance of perovskite solar cells has been progressing over the past few years and efficiency is likely to continue to increase. However, a negative aspect for the integration of perovskite solar cells in the built environment is that the color gamut available in these materials is very limited and does not cover the green-to-blue region of the visible spectrum, which has been a big selling point for organic photovoltaics. Here, we integrate a porous photonic crystal (PC) scaffold within the photoactive layer of an opaque perovskite solar cell following a bottom-up approach employing inexpensive and scalable liquid processing techniques. The photovoltaic devices presented herein show high efficiency with tunable color across the visible spectrum. This now imbues the perovskite solar cells with highly desirable properties for cladding in the built environment and encourages design of sustainable colorful buildings and iridescent electric vehicles as future power generation sources. PMID:25650872
Development of high-efficiency solar cells on silicon web
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Meier, D. L.; Greggi, J.; Rai-Choudhury, P.
Work is reported aimed at identifying and reducing sources of carrier recombination both in the starting web silicon material and in the processed cells. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy measurements of several web cells were made and analyzed. The effect of the heavily twinned region on cell efficiency was modeled, and the modeling results compared to measured values for processed cells. The effects of low energy, high dose hydrogen ion implantation on cell efficiency and diffusion length were examined. Cells were fabricated from web silicon known to have a high diffusion length, with a new double layer antireflection coating being applied to these cells. A new contact system, to be used with oxide passivated cells and which greatly reduces the area of contact between metal and silicon, was designed. The application of DLTS measurements to beveled samples was further investigated.
Highly efficient perovskite solar cells with tunable structural color.
Zhang, Wei; Anaya, Miguel; Lozano, Gabriel; Calvo, Mauricio E; Johnston, Michael B; Míguez, Hernán; Snaith, Henry J
The performance of perovskite solar cells has been progressing over the past few years and efficiency is likely to continue to increase. However, a negative aspect for the integration of perovskite solar cells in the built environment is that the color gamut available in these materials is very limited and does not cover the green-to-blue region of the visible spectrum, which has been a big selling point for organic photovoltaics. Here, we integrate a porous photonic crystal (PC) scaffold within the photoactive layer of an opaque perovskite solar cell following a bottom-up approach employing inexpensive and scalable liquid processing techniques. The photovoltaic devices presented herein show high efficiency with tunable color across the visible spectrum. This now imbues the perovskite solar cells with highly desirable properties for cladding in the built environment and encourages design of sustainable colorful buildings and iridescent electric vehicles as future power generation sources. PMID:25650872
High-efficiency GaAs concentrator space cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Werthen, J. G.; Virshup, G. F.; Macmillan, H. F.; Ford, C. W.; Hamaker, H. C.
High efficiency Al sub x Ga sub 1-x As/GaAs heteroface solar concentrator cells have been developed for space applications. The cells, which were grown using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), have been fabricated in both the p-n and n-p configurations. Magnesium and zinc are used as the p-type dopants, and Se is used as the n-type dopant. The space cells, which are designed for use in a Cassegrainian concentrator operating at 100 suns, AMO, have a circular illuminated area 4 mm in diameter on a 5 mm by 5 mm cell. These cells have exhibited flash-tested efficiencies as high as 23.6 percent at 28 C and 21.6 percent at 80 C.
Energy Efficient Engine combustor test hardware detailed design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Burrus, D. L.; Chahrour, C. A.; Foltz, H. L.; Sabla, P. E.; Seto, S. P.; Taylor, J. R.
The Energy Efficient Engine (E3) Combustor Development effort was conducted as part of the overall NASA/GE E3 Program. This effort included the selection of an advanced double-annular combustion system design. The primary intent was to evolve a design which meets the stringent emissions and life goals of the E3 as well as all of the usual performance requirements of combustion systems for modern turbofan engines. Numerous detailed design studies were conducted to define the features of the combustion system design. Development test hardware was fabricated, and an extensive testing effort was undertaken to evaluate the combustion system subcomponents in order to verify and refine the design. Technology derived from this development effort will be incorporated into the engine combustion system hardware design. This advanced engine combustion system will then be evaluated in component testing to verify the design intent. What is evolving from this development effort is an advanced combustion system capable of satisfying all of the combustion system design objectives and requirements of the E3. Fuel nozzle, diffuser, starting, and emissions design studies are discussed.
High efficiency, multiterawatt x-ray free electron lasers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Emma, C.; Fang, K.; Wu, J.; Pellegrini, C.
In this paper we present undulator magnet tapering methods for obtaining high efficiency and multiterawatt peak powers in x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs), a key requirement for enabling 3D atomic resolution single molecule imaging and nonlinear x-ray science. The peak power and efficiency of tapered XFELs is sensitive to time dependent effects, like synchrotron sideband growth. To analyze this dependence in detail we perform a comparative numerical optimization for the undulator magnetic field tapering profile including and intentionally disabling these effects. We show that the solution for the magnetic field taper profile obtained from time independent optimization does not yield the highest extraction efficiency when time dependent effects are included. Our comparative optimization is performed for a novel undulator designed specifically to obtain TW power x-ray pulses in the shortest distance: superconducting, helical, with short period and built-in strong focusing. This design reduces the length of the breaks between modules, decreasing diffraction effects, and allows using a stronger transverse electron focusing. Both effects reduce the gain length and the overall undulator length. We determine that after a fully time dependent optimization of a 100 m long Linac coherent light source-like XFEL we can obtain a maximum efficiency of 7%, corresponding to 3.7 TW peak radiation power. Possible methods to suppress the synchrotron sidebands, and further enhance the FEL peak power, up to about 6 TW by increasing the seed power and reducing the electron beam energy spread, are also discussed.
High Efficiency CVD Graphene-lead (Pb) Cooper Pair Splitter.
Borzenets, I V; Shimazaki, Y; Jones, G F; Craciun, M F; Russo, S; Yamamoto, M; Tarucha, S
Generation and manipulation of quantum entangled electrons is an important concept in quantum mechanics, and necessary for advances in quantum information processing; but not yet established in solid state systems. A promising device is a superconductor-two quantum dots Cooper pair splitter. Early nanowire based devices, while efficient, are limited in scalability and further electron manipulation. We demonstrate an optimized, high efficiency, CVD grown graphene-based Cooper pair splitter. Our device is designed to induce superconductivity in graphene via the proximity effect, resulting in both a large superconducting gap Δ = 0.5 meV, and coherence length ξ = 200 nm. The flat nature of the device lowers parasitic capacitance, increasing charging energy EC. Our design also eases geometric restrictions and minimizes output channel separation. As a result we measure a visibility of up to 86% and a splitting efficiency of up to 62%. This will pave the way towards near unity efficiencies, long distance splitting, and post-splitting electron manipulation. PMID:26971450
High Efficiency CVD Graphene-lead (Pb) Cooper Pair Splitter
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Borzenets, I. V.; Shimazaki, Y.; Jones, G. F.; Craciun, M. F.; Russo, S.; Yamamoto, M.; Tarucha, S.
Generation and manipulation of quantum entangled electrons is an important concept in quantum mechanics, and necessary for advances in quantum information processing; but not yet established in solid state systems. A promising device is a superconductor-two quantum dots Cooper pair splitter. Early nanowire based devices, while efficient, are limited in scalability and further electron manipulation. We demonstrate an optimized, high efficiency, CVD grown graphene-based Cooper pair splitter. Our device is designed to induce superconductivity in graphene via the proximity effect, resulting in both a large superconducting gap Δ = 0.5 meV, and coherence length ξ = 200 nm. The flat nature of the device lowers parasitic capacitance, increasing charging energy EC. Our design also eases geometric restrictions and minimizes output channel separation. As a result we measure a visibility of up to 86% and a splitting efficiency of up to 62%. This will pave the way towards near unity efficiencies, long distance splitting, and post-splitting electron manipulation.
High Efficiency CVD Graphene-lead (Pb) Cooper Pair Splitter
Borzenets, I. V.; Shimazaki, Y.; Jones, G. F.; Craciun, M. F.; Russo, S.; Yamamoto, M.; Tarucha, S.
Generation and manipulation of quantum entangled electrons is an important concept in quantum mechanics, and necessary for advances in quantum information processing; but not yet established in solid state systems. A promising device is a superconductor-two quantum dots Cooper pair splitter. Early nanowire based devices, while efficient, are limited in scalability and further electron manipulation. We demonstrate an optimized, high efficiency, CVD grown graphene-based Cooper pair splitter. Our device is designed to induce superconductivity in graphene via the proximity effect, resulting in both a large superconducting gap Δ = 0.5 meV, and coherence length ξ = 200 nm. The flat nature of the device lowers parasitic capacitance, increasing charging energy EC. Our design also eases geometric restrictions and minimizes output channel separation. As a result we measure a visibility of up to 86% and a splitting efficiency of up to 62%. This will pave the way towards near unity efficiencies, long distance splitting, and post-splitting electron manipulation. PMID:26971450
A High Efficiency PSOFC/ATS-Gas Turbine Power System
W.L. Lundberg; G.A. Israelson; M.D. Moeckel; S.E. Veyo; R.A. Holmes; P.R. Zafred; J.E. King; R.E. Kothmann
A study is described in which the conceptual design of a hybrid power system integrating a pressurized Siemens Westinghouse solid oxide fuel cell generator and the Mercury{trademark} 50 gas turbine was developed. The Mercury{trademark} 50 was designed by Solar Turbines as part of the US. Department of Energy Advanced Turbine Systems program. The focus of the study was to develop the hybrid power system concept that principally would exhibit an attractively-low cost of electricity (COE). The inherently-high efficiency of the hybrid cycle contributes directly to achieving this objective, and by employing the efficient, power-intensive Mercury{trademark} 50, with its relatively-low installed cost, the higher-cost SOFC generator can be optimally sized such that the minimum-COE objective is achieved. The system cycle is described, major system components are specified, the system installed cost and COE are estimated, and the physical arrangement of the major system components is discussed. Estimates of system power output, efficiency, and emissions at the system design point are also presented. In addition, two bottoming cycle options are described, and estimates of their effects on overall-system performance, cost, and COE are provided.
Development of high-efficiency Stirling cryocoolers for high temperature superconducting motors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nakano, K.; Yumoto, K.; Hiratsuka, Y.
For wide spread high-temperature superconductor (HTS) devices, a cryocooler having COP of >0.1, with a compact size, light weight, high efficiency and high reliability is required. For practical use of superconductive devices, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (SHI) developed a high-efficiency Stirling type pulse tube cryocooler (STPC). The STPC had high reliability and low vibration. However, its efficiency was not enough to meet the demands of an HTS motor. To further improve the efficiency, we reconsidered the expander of cryocooler and developed a Stirling cryocooler (STC). Two prototype units of a compact, high-efficiency split Stirling cryocooler were designed, built and tested. With the second prototype unit, a cooling capacity of 151 W at 70 K and a minimum temperature of 33 K have been achieved with a compressor input power of 2.15 kW. Accordingly, COP of about 0.07 has been achieved. The detailed design of the prototype units and the experimental results will be reported in this paper.
Metal-free triplet phosphors with high emission efficiency and high tunability.
Koch, Michael; Perumal, Karthikeyan; Blacque, Olivier; Garg, Jai Anand; Saiganesh, Ramanathan; Kabilan, Senthamaraikannan; Balasubramanian, Kallupattu Kuppusamy; Venkatesan, Koushik
Design of highly efficient phosphorescent emitters based on metal- and heavy atom-free boron compounds has been demonstrated by taking advantage of the singlet fission process. The combination of a suitable molecular scaffold and appropriate electronic nature of the substituents has been utilized to tailor the phosphorescence emission properties in solution, neat solid, and in doped PMMA thin films. PMID:24820331
Counterfactual quantum key distribution with high efficiency
Sun Ying; Wen Qiaoyan
In a counterfactual quantum key distribution scheme, a secret key can be generated merely by transmitting the split vacuum pulses of single particles. We improve the efficiency of the first quantum key distribution scheme based on the counterfactual phenomenon. This scheme not only achieves the same security level as the original one but also has higher efficiency. We also analyze how to achieve the optimal efficiency under various conditions.
High temperature storage loop : final design report.
Gill, David Dennis; Kolb, William J.
A three year plan for thermal energy storage (TES) research was created at Sandia National Laboratories in the spring of 2012. This plan included a strategic goal of providing test capability for Sandia and for the nation in which to evaluate high temperature storage (>650%C2%B0C) technology. The plan was to scope, design, and build a flow loop that would be compatible with a multitude of high temperature heat transfer/storage fluids. The High Temperature Storage Loop (HTSL) would be reconfigurable so that it was useful for not only storage testing, but also for high temperature receiver testing and high efficiency power cycle testing as well. In that way, HTSL was part of a much larger strategy for Sandia to provide a research and testing platform that would be integral for the evaluation of individual technologies funded under the SunShot program. DOE's SunShot program seeks to reduce the price of solar technologies to 6/kWhr to be cost competitive with carbon-based fuels. The HTSL project sought to provide evaluation capability for these SunShot supported technologies. This report includes the scoping, design, and budgetary costing aspects of this effort
Comparison of measured efficiencies of nine turbine designs with efficiencies predicted by two empirical methods
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
English, Robert E; Cavicchi, Richard H
Empirical methods of Ainley and Kochendorfer and Nettles were used to predict performances of nine turbine designs. Measured and predicted performances were compared. Appropriate values of blade-loss parameter were determined for the method of Kochendorfer and Nettles. The measured design-point efficiencies were lower than predicted by as much as 0.09 (Ainley and 0.07 (Kochendorfer and Nettles). For the method of Kochendorfer and Nettles, appropriate values of blade-loss parameter ranged from 0.63 to 0.87 and the off-design performance was accurately predicted.
Highly Efficient Contactless Electrical Energy Transmission System
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ayano, Hideki; Nagase, Hiroshi; Inaba, Hiromi
This paper proposes a new concept for a contactless electrical energy transmission system for an elevator and an automated guided vehicle. The system has rechargeable batteries on the car and electrical energy is supplied at a specific place. When electric power is supplied to the car, it runs automatically and approaches the battery charger. Therefore, a comparatively large gap is needed between the primary transformer at the battery charger and the secondary transformer on the car in order to prevent damage which would be caused by a collision. In this case, a drop of the transformer coupling rate due to the large gap must be prevented. In conventional contactless electrical energy transmission technology, since electric power is received by a pick-up coil from a power line, a large-sized transformer is required. And when the distance over which the car runs is long, the copper loss of the line also increases. The developed system adopts a high frequency inverter using a soft switching method to miniaturize the transformer. The system has a coupling rate of 0.88 for a transformer gap length of 10mm and can operate at 91% efficiency.
Multi-petascale highly efficient parallel supercomputer
Asaad, Sameh; Bellofatto, Ralph E.; Blocksome, Michael A.; Blumrich, Matthias A.; Boyle, Peter; Brunheroto, Jose R.; Chen, Dong; Cher, Chen -Yong; Chiu, George L.; Christ, Norman; Coteus, Paul W.; Davis, Kristan D.; Dozsa, Gabor J.; Eichenberger, Alexandre E.; Eisley, Noel A.; Ellavsky, Matthew R.; Evans, Kahn C.; Fleischer, Bruce M.; Fox, Thomas W.; Gara, Alan; Giampapa, Mark E.; Gooding, Thomas M.; Gschwind, Michael K.; Gunnels, John A.; Hall, Shawn A.; Haring, Rudolf A.; Heidelberger, Philip; Inglett, Todd A.; Knudson, Brant L.; Kopcsay, Gerard V.; Kumar, Sameer; Mamidala, Amith R.; Marcella, James A.; Megerian, Mark G.; Miller, Douglas R.; Miller, Samuel J.; Muff, Adam J.; Mundy, Michael B.; O'Brien, John K.; O'Brien, Kathryn M.; Ohmacht, Martin; Parker, Jeffrey J.; Poole, Ruth J.; Ratterman, Joseph D.; Salapura, Valentina; Satterfield, David L.; Senger, Robert M.; Smith, Brian; Steinmacher-Burow, Burkhard; Stockdell, William M.; Stunkel, Craig B.; Sugavanam, Krishnan; Sugawara, Yutaka; Takken, Todd E.; Trager, Barry M.; Van Oosten, James L.; Wait, Charles D.; Walkup, Robert E.; Watson, Alfred T.; Wisniewski, Robert W.; Wu, Peng
A Multi-Petascale Highly Efficient Parallel Supercomputer of 100 petaOPS-scale computing, at decreased cost, power and footprint, and that allows for a maximum packaging density of processing nodes from an interconnect point of view. The Supercomputer exploits technological advances in VLSI that enables a computing model where many processors can be integrated into a single Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Each ASIC computing node comprises a system-on-chip ASIC utilizing four or more processors integrated into one die, with each having full access to all system resources and enabling adaptive partitioning of the processors to functions such as compute or messaging I/O on an application by application basis, and preferably, enable adaptive partitioning of functions in accordance with various algorithmic phases within an application, or if I/O or other processors are underutilized, then can participate in computation or communication nodes are interconnected by a five dimensional torus network with DMA that optimally maximize the throughput of packet communications between nodes and minimize latency.
High efficiency, radiation-hard solar cells
Ager III, J.W.; Walukiewicz, W.
The direct gap of the In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}N alloy system extends continuously from InN (0.7 eV, in the near IR) to GaN (3.4 eV, in the mid-ultraviolet). This opens the intriguing possibility of using this single ternary alloy system in single or multi-junction (MJ) solar cells of the type used for space-based surveillance satellites. To evaluate the suitability of In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}N as a material for space applications, high quality thin films were grown with molecular beam epitaxy and extensive damage testing with electron, proton, and alpha particle radiation was performed. Using the room temperature photoluminescence intensity as a indirect measure of minority carrier lifetime, it is shown that In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}N retains its optoelectronic properties at radiation damage doses at least 2 orders of magnitude higher than the damage thresholds of the materials (GaAs and GaInP) currently used in high efficiency MJ cells. This indicates that the In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}N is well-suited for the future development of ultra radiation-hard optoelectronics. Critical issues affecting development of solar cells using this material system were addressed. The presence of an electron-rich surface layer in InN and In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}N (0 < x < 0.63) was investigated; it was shown that this is a less significant effect at large x. Evidence of p-type activity below the surface in Mg-doped InN was obtained; this is a significant step toward achieving photovoltaic action and, ultimately, a solar cell using this material.
Benefit from modular design of high-pressure pumps
Mueller, H.D.; Hohenstein, D. )
This article examines advances in pump design that produce a more economical pump that is also efficient and reliable. The topics of the article include design developments, double-casing design, modular design, machined diffuser channels for system-specific characteristic curves, hydraulic balancing, adaptation of the casing center line to the rotor deflection line, and selection of appropriate materials for high corrosion or abrasion areas.
Assessment of efficient sampling designs for urban stormwater monitoring.
Leecaster, Molly K; Schiff, Kenneth; Tiefenthaler, Liesl L
Monitoring programs for urban runoff have not been assessed for effectiveness or efficiency in estimating mass emissions. In order to determine appropriate designs for stormwater, total suspended solids (TSS) and flow information from the Santa Ana River was collected nearly every 15 min for every storm of the 1998 water year. All samples were used to calculate the "true load" and then three within-storm sampling designs (flow-interval, time-interval, and simple random) and five among-storm sampling designs (stratified by size, stratified by season, simple random, simple random of medium and large storms, and the first m storms of the season) were simulated. Using these designs, we evaluated three estimators for storm mass emissions (mean, volume-weighted, and ratio) and three estimators for annual mass emissions (median, ratio, and regular). Designs and estimators were evaluated with respect to accuracy and precision. The optimal strategy was used to determine the appropriate number of storms to sample annually based upon confidence interval width for estimates of annual mass emissions and concentration. The amount of detectable trend in mass emissions and concentration was determined for sample sizes 3 and 7. Single storms were most efficiently characterized (small bias and standard error) by taking 12 samples following a flow-interval schedule and using a volume-weighted estimator of mass emissions. The ratio estimator, when coupled with the simple random sample of medium and large storms within a season, most accurately estimated concentration and mass emissions; and had low bias over all of the designs. Sampling seven storms is the most efficient method for attaining small confidence interval width for annual concentration. Sampling three storms per year allows a 20% trend to be detected in mass emissions or concentration over five years. These results are decreased by 10% by sampling seven storms per year. PMID:11996344
Design of energy efficient building with radiant slab cooling
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tian, Zhen
Air-conditioning comprises a substantial fraction of commercial building energy use because of compressor-driven refrigeration and fan-driven air circulation. Core regions of large buildings require year-round cooling due to heat gains from people, lights and equipment. Negative environmental impacts include CO2 emissions from electric generation and leakage of ozone-depleting refrigerants. Some argue that radiant cooling simultaneously improves building efficiency and occupant thermal comfort, and that current thermal comfort models fail to reflect occupant experience with radiant thermal control systems. There is little field evidence to test these claims. The University of Calgary's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Building, is a pioneering radiant slab cooling installation in North America. Thermal comfort and energy performance were evaluated. Measurements included: (1) heating and cooling energy use, (2) electrical energy use for lighting and equipment, and (3) indoor temperatures. Accuracy of a whole building energy simulation model was evaluated with these data. Simulation was then used to compare the radiant slab design with a conventional (variable air volume) system. The radiant system energy performance was found to be poorer mainly due to: (1) simultaneous cooling by the slab and heating by other systems, (2) omission of low-exergy (e.g., groundwater) cooling possible with the high cooling water temperatures possible with radiant slabs and (3) excessive solar gain and conductive heat loss due to the wall and fenestration design. Occupant thermal comfort was evaluated through questionnaires and concurrent measurement of workstation comfort parameters. Analysis of 116 sets of data from 82 occupants showed that occupant assessment was consistent with estimates based on current thermal comfort models. The main thermal comfort improvements were reductions in (1) local discomfort from draft and (2) vertical air temperature stratification. The
High-efficiency nanostructured window GaAs solar cells.
Liang, Dong; Kang, Yangsen; Huo, Yijie; Chen, Yusi; Cui, Yi; Harris, James S
Nanostructures have been widely used in solar cells due to their extraordinary optical properties. In most nanostructured cells, high short circuit current has been obtained due to enhanced light absorption. However, most of them suffer from lowered open circuit voltage and fill factor. One of the main challenges is formation of good junction and electrical contact. In particular, nanostructures in GaAs only have shown unsatisfactory performances (below 5% in energy conversion efficiency) which cannot match their ideal material properties and the record photovoltaic performances in industry. Here we demonstrate a completely new design for nanostructured solar cells that combines nanostructured window layer, metal mesa bar contact with small area, high quality planar junction. In this way, we not only keep the advanced optical properties of nanostructures such as broadband and wide angle antireflection, but also minimize its negative impact on electrical properties. High light absorption, efficient carrier collection, leakage elimination, and good lateral conductance can be simultaneously obtained. A nanostructured window cell using GaAs junction and AlGaAs nanocone window demonstrates 17% energy conversion efficiency and 0.982 V high open circuit voltage. PMID:24021024
High-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells: Status and perspectives
De Wolf, S.; Geissbuehler, J.; Loper, P.; Martin de Nicholas, S.; Seif, J.; Tomasi, A.; Ballif, C.
Silicon heterojunction technology (HJT) uses silicon thin-film deposition techniques to fabricate photovoltaic devices from mono-crystalline silicon wafers (c-Si). This enables energy-conversion efficiencies above 21 %, also at industrial-production level. In this presentation we review the present status of this technology and point out recent trends. We first discuss how the properties of thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films can be exploited to fabricate passivating contacts, which is the key to high- efficiency HJT solar cells. Such contacts enable very high operating voltages, approaching the theoretical limits, and yield small temperature coefficients. With this approach, an increasing number of groups are reporting devices with conversion efficiencies well over 20 % on both-sides contacted n-type cells, Panasonic leading the field with 24.7 %. Exciting results have also been obtained on p-type wafers. Despite these high voltages, important efficiency gains can still be made in fill factor and optical design. This requires improved understanding of carrier transport across device interfaces and reduced parasitic absorption in HJT solar cells. For the latter, several strategies can be followed: Short-wavelength losses can be reduced by replacing the front a-Si:H films with wider-bandgap window layers, such as silicon alloys or even metal oxides. Long- wavelength losses are mitigated by introducing new high-mobility TCO's such as hydrogenated indium oxide, and also by designing new rear reflectors. Optical shadow losses caused by the front metallization grid are significantly reduced by replacing printed silver electrodes with fine-line plated copper contacts, leading also to possible cost advantages. The ultimate approach to minimize optical losses is the implementation of back-contacted architectures, which are completely devoid of grid shadow losses and parasitic absorption in the front layers can be minimized irrespective of electrical
High-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells: Status and perspectives
De Wolf, S.
Silicon heterojunction technology (HJT) uses silicon thin-film deposition techniques to fabricate photovoltaic devices from mono-crystalline silicon wafers (c-Si). This enables energy-conversion efficiencies above 21 %, also at industrial-production level. In this presentation we review the present status of this technology and point out recent trends. We first discuss how the properties of thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films can be exploited to fabricate passivating contacts, which is the key to high- efficiency HJT solar cells. Such contacts enable very high operating voltages, approaching the theoretical limits, and yield small temperature coefficients. With this approach, an increasing number of groups are reporting devices with conversion efficiencies well over 20 % on n-type wafers, Panasonic leading the field with 24.7 %. Exciting results have also been obtained on p-type wafers. Despite these high voltages, important efficiency gains can still be made in fill factor and optical design. This requires improved understanding of carrier transport across device interfaces and reduced parasitic absorption in HJT solar cells. For the latter, several strategies can be followed: Short- wavelength losses can be reduced by replacing the front a-Si:H films with wider-bandgap window layers, such as silicon alloys or even metal oxides. Long-wavelength losses are mitigated by introducing new high-mobility TCO's such as hydrogenated indium oxide, and also by designing new rear reflectors. Optical shadow losses caused by the front metalisation grid are significantly reduced by replacing printed silver electrodes with fine-line plated copper contacts, leading also to possible cost advantages. The ultimate approach to minimize optical losses is the implementation of back-contacted architectures, which are completely devoid of grid shadow losses and parasitic absorption in the front layers can be minimized irrespective of electrical transport requirements. The
Energy efficient engine ICLS Nacelle detail design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Eskridge, R. R.; Kuchar, A. P.; Stotler, C. L.
The results of the detail design of the Nacelle for the General Electric Energy Efficient Engine (E3) Integrated Core Low Spool (ICLS) test vehicles are presented. A slave nacelle is designed for the ICLS test. Cost and reliability are the important factors considered. The slave nacelle simulates the internal flow lines of the actual Flight Propulsion System (FPS) but has no external fairing. The aerodynamic differences between the ICLS and FPS nacelles are presented, followed by the structural description and analysis of the various nacelle components.
Aircraft energy efficiency laminar flow control wing design study
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bonner, T. F., Jr.; Pride, J. D., Jr.; Fernald, W. W.
An engineering design study was performed in which laminar flow control (LFC) was integrated into the wing of a commercial passenger transport aircraft. A baseline aircraft configuration was selected and the wing geometry was defined. The LFC system, with suction slots, ducting, and suction pumps was integrated with the wing structure. The use of standard aluminum technology and advanced superplastic formed diffusion bonded titanium technology was evaluated. The results of the design study show that the LFC system can be integrated with the wing structure to provide a structurally and aerodynamically efficient wing for a commercial transport aircraft.
Geddes, C.G.R.; Cormier-Michel, E.; Esarey, E.; Schroeder, C.B.; Leemans, W.P.; Bruhwiler, D.L.; Cowan, B.; Nieter, C.; Paul, K.; Cary, J.R.
Design of efficient, high gradient laser driven wakefield accelerator (LWFA) stages using explicit particle-incell simulations with physical parameters scaled by plasma density is presented. LWFAs produce few percent energy spread electron bunches at 0.1-1 GeV with high accelerating gradients. Design tools are now required to predict and improve performance and efficiency of future LWFA stages. Scaling physical parameters extends the reach of explicit simulations to address applications including 10 GeV stages and stages for radiation sources, and accurately resolves deep laser depletion to evaluate efficient stages.
Energy Efficient Engine: Flight propulsion system final design and analysis
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Davis, Donald Y.; Stearns, E. Marshall
The Energy Efficient Engine (E3) is a NASA program to create fuel saving technology for future transport engines. The Flight Propulsion System (FPS) is the engine designed to achieve E3 goals. Achieving these goals required aerodynamic, mechanical and system technologies advanced beyond that of current production engines. These technologies were successfully demonstrated in component rigs, a core engine and a turbofan ground test engine. The design and benefits of the FPS are presented. All goals for efficiency, environmental considerations, and economic payoff were met. The FPS has, at maximum cruise, 10.67 km (35,000 ft), M0.8, standard day, a 16.9 percent lower installed specific fuel consumption than a CF6-50C. It provides an 8.6 percent reduction in direct operating cost for a short haul domestic transport and a 16.2 percent reduction for an international long distance transport.
Simple design criteria and efficiency of hydrodynamic vortex separators.
Gronowska-Szneler, M A; Sawicki, J M
Vortex separators still draw attention from specialists investigating the process of removing particles suspended in liquids. The devices are locally applied for waste water treatment in different systems - from storm waste water sewerage to water circulation in fish ponds. However, the methods for separator design presented in the literature are questionable. The paper presents two simple and functional criteria that were employed to construct a laboratory test stand. The test results gave positive feedback on the efficiency of vortex separators. PMID:25098875
Highly efficient beamline and spectrometer for inelastic soft X-ray scattering at high resolution.
Lai, C H; Fung, H S; Wu, W B; Huang, H Y; Fu, H W; Lin, S W; Huang, S W; Chiu, C C; Wang, D J; Huang, L J; Tseng, T C; Chung, S C; Chen, C T; Huang, D J
The design, construction and commissioning of a beamline and spectrometer for inelastic soft X-ray scattering at high resolution in a highly efficient system are presented. Based on the energy-compensation principle of grating dispersion, the design of the monochromator-spectrometer system greatly enhances the efficiency of measurement of inelastic soft X-rays scattering. Comprising two bendable gratings, the set-up effectively diminishes the defocus and coma aberrations. At commissioning, this system showed results of spin-flip, d-d and charge-transfer excitations of NiO. These results are consistent with published results but exhibit improved spectral resolution and increased efficiency of measurement. The best energy resolution of the set-up in terms of full width at half-maximum is 108 meV at an incident photon energy tuned about the Ni L3-edge. PMID:24562553
Development and Characterization of High-Efficiency, High-Specific Impulse Xenon Hall Thrusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hofer, Richard R.; Jacobson, David (Technical Monitor)
This dissertation presents research aimed at extending the efficient operation of 1600 s specific impulse Hall thruster technology to the 2000 to 3000 s range. Motivated by previous industry efforts and mission studies, the aim of this research was to develop and characterize xenon Hall thrusters capable of both high-specific impulse and high-efficiency operation. During the development phase, the laboratory-model NASA 173M Hall thrusters were designed and their performance and plasma characteristics were evaluated. Experiments with the NASA-173M version 1 (v1) validated the plasma lens magnetic field design. Experiments with the NASA 173M version 2 (v2) showed there was a minimum current density and optimum magnetic field topography at which efficiency monotonically increased with voltage. Comparison of the thrusters showed that efficiency can be optimized for specific impulse by varying the plasma lens. During the characterization phase, additional plasma properties of the NASA 173Mv2 were measured and a performance model was derived. Results from the model and experimental data showed how efficient operation at high-specific impulse was enabled through regulation of the electron current with the magnetic field. The electron Hall parameter was approximately constant with voltage, which confirmed efficient operation can be realized only over a limited range of Hall parameters.
Design for energy efficiency: Energy efficient industrialized housing research program. Progress report
Kellett, R.; Berg, R.; Paz, A.; Brown, G.Z.
Since 1989, the U.S. Department of Energy has sponsored the Energy Efficient Industrialized Housing research program (EEIH) to improve the energy efficiency of industrialized housing. Two research centers share responsibility for this program: The Center for Housing Innovation at the University of Oregon and the Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida. Additional funding is provided through the participation of private industry, state governments and utilities. The program is guided by a steering committee comprised of industry and government representatives. This report summarizes Fiscal Year (FY) 1990 activities and progress, and proposed activities for FY 1991 in Task 2.1 Design for Energy Efficiency. This task establishes a vision of energy conservation opportunities in critical regions, market segments, climate zones and manufacturing strategies significant to industrialized housing in the 21st Century. In early FY 1990, four problem statements were developed to define future housing demand scenarios inclusive of issues of energy efficiency, housing design and manufacturing. Literature surveys were completed to assess seven areas of influence for industrialized housing and energy conservation in the future. Fifty-five future trends were identified in computing and design process; manufacturing process; construction materials, components and systems; energy and environment; demographic context; economic context; and planning policy and regulatory context.
A high-efficiency energy conversion system
Belcher, A.E.
A fundamentally new method for converting pressure into rotative motion is introduced. A historical background is given and an idealized non-turbine Brayton cycle engine and associated equations are described. Salient features are explained, together with suggested applications. Concerns over global warming, unacceptable levels of air pollution, and the need for more efficient utilization of nonrenewable energy resources, are issues which continue to plague us. The situation is further exacerbated by the possibility that underdeveloped countries, under pressure to expand their economies, might adopt power generating systems which could produce high levels of emissions. This scenario could easily develop if equipment, which once complied with stringent standards, failed to be adequately maintained through the absence of a reliable technical infrastructure. The Brayton cycle manometric engine has the potential for eliminating, or at least mitigating, many of the above issues. It is therefore of considerable importance to all populations, irrespective of demographic or economic considerations. This engine is inherently simple--the engine proper has only one moving part. It has no pistons, vanes, or other such conventional occlusive devices, yet it is a positive displacement machine. Sealing is achieved by what can best be described as a series of traveling U-tube manometers. Its construction does not require precision engineering nor the use of exotic materials, making it easy to maintain with the most rudimentary resources. Rotational velocity is low, and its normal life cycle is expected to extend to several decades. These advantages more than offset the machine`s large size. It is suited only to large and medium-scale stationary applications.
High efficiency silicon solar cell review
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Godlewski, M. P. (Editor)
An overview is presented of the current research and development efforts to improve the performance of the silicon solar cell. The 24 papers presented reviewed experimental and analytic modeling work which emphasizes the improvment of conversion efficiency and the reduction of manufacturing costs. A summary is given of the round-table discussion, in which the near- and far-term directions of future efficiency improvements were discussed.
High Efficient Cryocooler for Liquid Hydrogen System
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nakagome, H.
Conversion into Hydrogen Energy Society is advanced focusing on the application to a fuel cell electric vehicle. As volume and weight density of liquid hydrogen are large, it is the method which was most excellent as the storage method of hydrogen. However, in order to store liquid hydrogen stably over a long period of time, decreasing the loss of energy, development of an efficient small cryocooler becomes important. This paper reports the research about improvement in the refrigeration efficiency of a two-stage GM cryocooler. In order that the GM cryocooler may operate by the Simon expansion, it carries out asymptotic of the COP of the GM cryocooler to the Carnot COP as a compression ratio is lowered. When experimented based on this view, it was checked that refrigeration efficiency rises with reduction in a compression ratio. Furthermore, if the compression ratio is lowered, refrigeration efficiency will fall rapidly. The peak value of the refrigeration efficiency in 20K level attained 28%Carnot. It was verified by optimization of the compression ratio of the GM cryocooler that refrigeration efficiency can be improved significantly. Therefore, sharp reduction of the energy consumption of a liquid hydrogen system will be attained by applying the result of this research.
High efficiency neutron sensitive amorphous silicon pixel detectors
Mireshghi, A.; Cho, G.; Drewery, J.S.; Hong, W.S.; Jing, T.; Lee, H.; Kaplan, S.N.; Perez-Mendez, V.
A multi-layer a-Si:H based thermal neutron detector was designed, fabricated and simulated by Monte Carlo method. The detector consists of two PECVD deposited a-Si:H pin detectors interfaced with coated layers of Gd, as a thermal neutron converter. Simulation results indicate that a detector consisting of 2 Gd films with thicknesses of 2 and 4 {mu}m, sandwiched properly with two layers of sufficiently thick ({approximately}30{mu}m) amorphous silicon diodes, has the optimum parameters. The detectors have an intrinsic efficiency of about 42% at a threshold setting of 7000 electrons, with an expected average signal size of {approximately}12000 electrons which is well above the noise. This efficiency will be further increased to nearly 63%, if we use Gd with 50% enrichment in {sup 157}Gd. We can fabricate position sensitive detectors with spatial resolution of 300 {mu}m with gamma sensitivity of {approximately}1 {times} 10{sup {minus}5}. These detectors are highly radiation resistant and are good candidates for use in various application, where high efficiency, high resolution, gamma insensitive position sensitive neutron detectors are needed.
Telescoping Solar Array Concept for Achieving High Packaging Efficiency
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mikulas, Martin; Pappa, Richard; Warren, Jay; Rose, Geoff
Lightweight, high-efficiency solar arrays are required for future deep space missions using high-power Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP). Structural performance metrics for state-of-the art 30-50 kW flexible blanket arrays recently demonstrated in ground tests are approximately 40 kW/cu m packaging efficiency, 150 W/kg specific power, 0.1 Hz deployed stiffness, and 0.2 g deployed strength. Much larger arrays with up to a megawatt or more of power and improved packaging and specific power are of interest to mission planners for minimizing launch and life cycle costs of Mars exploration. A new concept referred to as the Compact Telescoping Array (CTA) with 60 kW/cu m packaging efficiency at 1 MW of power is described herein. Performance metrics as a function of array size and corresponding power level are derived analytically and validated by finite element analysis. Feasible CTA packaging and deployment approaches are also described. The CTA was developed, in part, to serve as a NASA reference solar array concept against which other proposed designs of 50-1000 kW arrays for future high-power SEP missions could be compared.
Primary optics for efficient high-brightness LED colour mixing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cvetkovic, A.; Mohedano, R.; Dross, O.; Hernandez, M.; Benítez, P.; Miñano, J. C.; Vilaplana, J.; Chaves, J.
In SSL general illumination, there is a clear trend to high flux packages with higher efficiency and higher CRI addressed with the use of multiple color chips and phosphors. However, such light sources require the optics provide color mixing, both in the near-field and far-field. This design problem is specially challenging for collimated luminaries, in which diffusers (which dramatically reduce the brightness) cannot be applied without enlarging the exit aperture too much. In this work we present first injection molded prototypes of a novel primary shell-shaped optics that have microlenses on both sides to provide Köhler integration. This shell is design so when it is placed on top of an inhomogeneous multichip Lambertian LED, creates a highly homogeneous virtual source (i.e, spatially and angularly mixed), also Lambertian, which is located in the same position with only small increment of the size (about 10-20%, so the average brightness is similar to the brightness of the source). This shell-mixer device is very versatile and permits now to use a lens or a reflector secondary optics to collimate the light as desired, without color separation effects. Experimental measurements have shown optical efficiency of the shell of 95%, and highly homogeneous angular intensity distribution of collimated beams, in good agreement with the ray-tracing simulations.
Surface passivation of high efficiency silicon solar cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aberle, A.; Warta, W.; Knobloch, J.; Voss, B.
Theoretically and experimentally determined design guides for significantly reducing recombination at the emitter and rear surfaces of full-area Al-BSF (back-surface region) and oxide-passivated bifacial cells are given. The impact of emitter thickness and surface dopant concentration on emitter saturation current and solar cell efficiency is outlined. A modified emitter structure (locally deep diffused below the metal contacts) is predicted to have superior performance. Measured Voc values reveal the potential of deep emitter cells to achieve efficiencies above 20 percent in spite of high metallization factors. Experimentally, a strong dependence of passivation quality on oxide thickness and base doping concentration is found. The BSF quality of a diffused aluminum layer decreases strongly with increasing drive-in time. For SiO2-passivated rear surfaces of bifacial cells, measurements of the dependence of the surface recombination velocity on the excess carrier concentration are presented.
Highly spectral efficient networks based on grouped optical path routing.
Terada, Yuki; Mori, Yojiro; Hasegawa, Hiroshi; Sato, Ken-Ichi
In order to mitigate the signal spectrum narrowing caused by optical filtering at nodes, an adequate guard band is needed between optical channels, which degrades the frequency utilization of optical fibers. In this study, we propose a grouped routing based network architecture that minimizes spectrum narrowing while greatly improving spectral efficiency. Coarse granular routing at GRE (grouped routing entity) level is employed at each ROADM node, but fine granular add/drop is adopted to retain high frequency utilization. Optical channels are packed densely in each GRE, and sufficient guard bands are inserted between GREs. As a result, signal spectrum narrowing is minimized and efficient spectrum utilization is achieved. Network design/control algorithms that support both static and dynamic traffic growth are developed. Extensive simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed architecture. To implement the scheme, current LCOS-based ROADMs are applied without any hardware changes; only the control schema are modified. PMID:27136815
Development of a high efficiency, automatic defrosting refrigerator-freezer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Topping, R. F.; Lee, W. D.
The development of an energy efficient refrigerator freezer prototype to accelerate the commercialization of residential, high efficiency refrigerator freezers is described. A computer model developed to simulate the cabinet and refrigeration unit performance was used to evaluate alternative designs and optimize the cabinet insulation as well as the refrigeration component integration. Placement of polyurethane foam insulation in the cabinet and thicker insulation in the doors were used to reduce the closed door heat load of the prototype. Modifications to the evaporator system provide automatic frost-free operation with a significantly reduced defrost energy requirement. Resulting higher moisture levels in the refrigerator compartment enhance fresh food storage. A dual control system, different from most models which use only one active control, provides precise temperature regulation in both the freezer and refrigerator compartments.
Toward high-energy-density, high-efficiency, and moderate-temperature chip-scale thermophotovoltaics
Chan, Walker R.; Bermel, Peter; Pilawa-Podgurski, Robert C. N.; Marton, Christopher H.; Jensen, Klavs F.; Senkevich, Jay J.; Joannopoulos, John D.; Soljačić, Marin; Celanovic, Ivan
The challenging problem of ultra-high-energy-density, high-efficiency, and small-scale portable power generation is addressed here using a distinctive thermophotovoltaic energy conversion mechanism and chip-based system design, which we name the microthermophotovoltaic (μTPV) generator. The approach is predicted to be capable of up to 32% efficient heat-to-electricity conversion within a millimeter-scale form factor. Although considerable technological barriers need to be overcome to reach full performance, we have performed a robust experimental demonstration that validates the theoretical framework and the key system components. Even with a much-simplified μTPV system design with theoretical efficiency prediction of 2.7%, we experimentally demonstrate 2.5% efficiency. The μTPV experimental system that was built and tested comprises a silicon propane microcombustor, an integrated high-temperature photonic crystal selective thermal emitter, four 0.55-eV GaInAsSb thermophotovoltaic diodes, and an ultra-high-efficiency maximum power-point tracking power electronics converter. The system was demonstrated to operate up to 800 °C (silicon microcombustor temperature) with an input thermal power of 13.7 W, generating 344 mW of electric power over a 1-cm2 area. PMID:23440220
Anirban Mukherjee; Kwang-Bok Yi; Elizabeth J. Podlaha; Douglas P. Harrison
Mixed metal oxides containing CeO{sub 2} and ZrO{sub 2} are being studied as high temperature desulfurization sorbents capable of achieving the DOE Vision 21 target of 1 ppmv of less H{sub 2}S. The research is justified by recent results in this laboratory that showed that reduced CeO{sub 2}, designated CeO{sub n} (1.5 < n < 2.0), is capable of achieving the 1 ppmv target in highly reducing gas atmospheres. The addition of ZrO{sub 2} has improved the performance of oxidation catalysts and three-way automotive catalysts containing CeO{sub 2}, and should have similar beneficial effects on CeO{sub 2} desulfurization sorbents. An electrochemical method for synthesizing CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} has been developed and the products have been characterized by XRD and TEM during year 01. Nanocrystalline particles having a diameter of about 5 nm and containing from approximately 10 mol% to 80 mol% ZrO{sub 2} have been prepared. XRD showed the product to be a solid solution at low ZrO{sub 2} contents with a separate ZrO{sub 2} phase emerging at higher ZrO{sub 2} levels. Phase separation did not occur when the solid solutions were heat treated at 700 C. A flow reactor system constructed of quartz and teflon has been constructed, and a gas chromatograph equipped with a pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD) suitable for measuring sub-ppmv levels of H{sub 2}S has been purchased with LSU matching funds. Preliminary desulfurization tests using commercial CeO{sub 2} and CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} in highly reducing gas compositions has confirmed that CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} is more effective than CeO{sub 2} in removing H{sub 2}S. At 700 C the product H{sub 2}S concentration using CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} sorbent was near the 0.1 ppmv PFPD detection limit during the prebreakthrough period.
High-end spectroscopic diffraction gratings: design and manufacturing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Glaser, Tilman
Diffraction gratings are key components for spectroscopic systems. For high-end applications, they have to meet advanced requirements as, e.g., maximum efficiency, lowest possible scattered light level, high numerical aperture, and minimal aberrations. Diffraction gratings are demanded to allow spectrometer designs with highest resolution, a maximal étendue, and minimal stray light, built within a minimal volume. This tutorial is intended to provide an overview of different high-end spectroscopic gratings, their theoretical design and manufacturing technologies.
Energy efficient engine: Fan test hardware detailed design report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sullivan, T. J.
A single stage fan and quarter stage booster were designed for the energy efficient engine. The fan has an inlet radius ratio of 0.342 and a specific flow rate of 208.9 Kg/S sq m (42.8 lbm/sec sq ft). The fan rotor has 32 medium aspect ratio (2.597) titanium blades with a partspan shroud at 55% blade height. The design corrected fan tip speed is 411.5 M/S (1350 ft/sec). The quarter stage island splits the total fan flow with approximately 22% of the flow being supercharged by the quarter stage rotor. The fan bypass ratio is 6.8. The core flow total pressure ratio is 1.67 and the fan bypass pressure ratio is 1.65. The design details of the fan and booster blading, and the fan frame and static structure for the fan configuration are presented.
Highly efficient fiber coupling of laser diode bars with > 50% electro-optical efficiency out of the fiber core
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fornahl, Udo; Revermann, Markus; Meinschien, Jens
Fiber-coupled diode lasers have become an established source for many industrial applications due to their high wall-plug efficiency, minimal maintenance and cost per watt. To decrease system size and cost for cooler and driver, high coupling efficiencies have become more and more important. Recent developments in broad area laser diode bars (BALB) and beam shaping systems with micro-optical components are leading to new highly efficient fiber coupling. We present newly developed high power diode laser modules which are performing at outstanding efficiencies with smallest package design. The combination of recently designed laser diode bars on passive heat sinks and optimized micro-optics results in laser modules with up to 60W out of a 200μm fiber with a 0.22 NA and > 50% electro-optical efficiency out of the fiber core, based on only one laser diode bar. The applications for such laser diode modules range from pumping of fiber lasers and amplifiers, over materials processing to medical applications. The presentation of the technology will show a path to scale high-brightness laser systems to higher power levels and efficiencies. The combination of different coupling techniques will allow laser modules with 100W out of 100μm fiber core up to 1.6kW out of 400μm fiber core with electro-optical efficiencies of > 45%.
Loss mechanisms in high-efficiency solar cells: Study of material properties and high-efficiency solar-cell performance on material composition: Project tasks
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sah, C. T.
Loss mechanisms in high-efficiency solar cells were discussed. Fundamental limitations and practical solutions were stressed. Present cell efficiency is limited by many recombination sites: emitter, base, contacts, and oxide/silicon interface. Use of polysilicon passivation was suggested. After reduction of these losses, a 25% efficient cell could be built. A floating emitter cell design was shown that had the potential of low recombination losses.
Funnel-shaped silicon nanowire for highly efficient light trapping.
Hussein, Mohamed; Hameed, Mohamed Farhat O; Areed, Nihal F F; Yahia, Ashraf; Obayya, S S A
In this Letter, funnel-shaped silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are newly introduced for highly efficient light trapping. The proposed designs of nanowires are inspired by the funnel shape, which enhances the light trapping with reduced reflections in the wavelength range from 300 to 1100 nm. Composed of both cylindrical and conical units, the funnel nanowires increase the number of leaky mode resonances, yielding an absorption enhancement relative to a uniform nanowire array. The optical properties of the suggested nanowires have been numerically investigated using the 3D finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and compared to cylindrical and conical counterparts. The structural geometrical parameters are studied to maximize the ultimate efficiency and hence the short-circuit current. Carefully engineered structure geometry is shown to yield improved light absorption useful for solar cell applications. The proposed funnel-shaped SiNWs offer an ultimate efficiency of 41.8%, with an enhancement of 54.8% relative to conventional cylindrical SiNWs. Additionally, short-circuit current of 34.2 mA/cm2 is achieved using the suggested design. PMID:26974103
Progress Toward Efficient Laminar Flow Analysis and Design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Campbell, Richard L.; Campbell, Matthew L.; Streit, Thomas
A multi-fidelity system of computer codes for the analysis and design of vehicles having extensive areas of laminar flow is under development at the NASA Langley Research Center. The overall approach consists of the loose coupling of a flow solver, a transition prediction method and a design module using shell scripts, along with interface modules to prepare the input for each method. This approach allows the user to select the flow solver and transition prediction module, as well as run mode for each code, based on the fidelity most compatible with the problem and available resources. The design module can be any method that designs to a specified target pressure distribution. In addition to the interface modules, two new components have been developed: 1) an efficient, empirical transition prediction module (MATTC) that provides n-factor growth distributions without requiring boundary layer information; and 2) an automated target pressure generation code (ATPG) that develops a target pressure distribution that meets a variety of flow and geometry constraints. The ATPG code also includes empirical estimates of several drag components to allow the optimization of the target pressure distribution. The current system has been developed for the design of subsonic and transonic airfoils and wings, but may be extendable to other speed ranges and components. Several analysis and design examples are included to demonstrate the current capabilities of the system.
a Study of High Efficiency Thin Thermophotovoltaic Solar Cells.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vera, Eduardo Sobrino
High conversion efficiency of solar energy into electrical energy is possible if the incident radiation is first absorbed by an intermediate absorber and then re-emitted onto a photovoltaic (PV) solar cell. This mode of operation is known as solar thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion. This thesis explores the limits on performance of TPV systems based on germanium in which the source temperature and the opto-electronic structure of the germanium PV cell are varied and optimized with respect to overall radiant energy conversion efficiency. The principal characteristic of the optimized high efficiency TPV germanium cells is that they are thin p-n junction solar cells which incorporate minority carrier mirrors (MCM) and optical mirrors (OM) at the front and back surfaces of the device examined. In this study, the role of MCM and OM is studied theoretically by solving the minority carrier diffusion equation in the n- and p-type quasineutral regions of the cell with the appropriate boundary conditions at the end of these regions and an appropriate minority carrier generation function. The high theoretical efficiency calculated for these thin structures derives from the simultaneous use of optical and electronic reflection. The calculations presented here determine the theoretical upper limit to TPV conversion efficiency and show the dependence of this limit on cell geometry, resistivity, surface recombination and input density. In addition, TPV systems based on more than one PV cell, each utilizing a different photovoltaically active semiconductor are also considered. A number of possible TPV systems are treated within this theoretical framework. When blackbody thermal radiation sources having temperatures in the range 1500-2000 C are considered, the upper limit efficiency is found to be about 22% for an optimum design germanium cell 90 microns thick and about 26% for a two-junction silicon-germanium tandem cell arrangement 50 and 90 microns thick, respectively
Parameter-tolerant design of high contrast gratings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chevallier, Christyves; Fressengeas, Nicolas; Jacquet, Joel; Almuneau, Guilhem; Laaroussi, Youness; Gauthier-Lafaye, Olivier; Cerutti, Laurent; Genty, Frédéric
This work is devoted to the design of high contrast grating mirrors taking into account the technological constraints and tolerance of fabrication. First, a global optimization algorithm has been combined to a numerical analysis of grating structures (RCWA) to automatically design HCG mirrors. Then, the tolerances of the grating dimensions have been precisely studied to develop a robust optimization algorithm with which high contrast gratings, exhibiting not only a high efficiency but also large tolerance values, could be designed. Finally, several structures integrating previously designed HCGs has been simulated to validate and illustrate the interest of such gratings.
G.H. Luttrell; R.Q. Honaker; R.C. Bratton; T.C. Westerfield; J.N. Kohmuench
Hydraulic separators are commonly used for particle size classification and gravity concentration of minerals and coal. Unfortunately, the efficiency of these processes can be quite low due to poor equipment design and variations in feed consistency. To help alleviate these problems, an industry-driven R&D program has been undertaken to develop a new generation of hydraulic separators that are more efficient and less costly to operate and maintain. These units, which are commercially called the CrossFlow separator and HydroFloat separator, have the potential to improve performance (separation efficiency and throughput) and reduce operating costs (power consumption, water and reagent usage). In Phase I of this project, laboratory and pilot-scale test units were evaluated at various industrial sites in both the coal and mineral industries. Based on promising results obtained from Phase I, full-scale prototypes were purchased and installed by a major U.S. phosphate producer and a large eastern U.S. coal company. The test data obtained from these sites demonstrate that significant performance improvements can be realized through the application of these high-efficiency separators.
In-Plant Testing of High-Efficiency Hydraulic Separators
G. H. Luttrell; R. Q. Honaker; R. C. Bratton; T. C. Westerfield; J. N. Kohmuench
Hydraulic separators are commonly used for particle size classification and gravity concentration of minerals and coal. Unfortunately, the efficiency of these processes can be quite low due to poor equipment design and variations in feed consistency. To help alleviate these problems, an industry-driven R&D program has been undertaken to develop a new generation of hydraulic separators that are more efficient and less costly to operate and maintain. These units, which are commercially called the CrossFlow separator and HydroFloat separator, have the potential to improve performance (separation efficiency and throughput) and reduce operating costs (power consumption, water and reagent usage). In Phase I of this project, laboratory and pilot-scale test units were evaluated at various industrial sites in both the coal and mineral industries. Based on promising results obtained from Phase I, full-scale prototypes were purchased and installed by a major U.S. phosphate producer and a large eastern U.S. coal company. The test data obtained from these sites demonstrate that significant performance improvements can be realized through the application of these high-efficiency separators.
Study of High-Efficiency Motors Using Soft Magnetic Cores
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tokoi, Hirooki; Kawamata, Shoichi; Enomoto, Yuji
We have been developed a small and highly efficient axial gap motor whose stator core is made of a soft magnetic core. First, the loss sensitivities to various motor design parameters were evaluated using magnetic field analysis. It was found that the pole number and core dimensions had low sensitivity (≤ 2.2dB) in terms of the total loss, which is the sum of the copper loss and the iron losses in the stator core and the rotor yoke respectively. From this, we concluded that to improve the motor efficiency, it is essential to reduce the iron loss in the rotor yoke and minimize other losses. With this in mind, a prototype axial gap motor is manufactured and tested. The motor has four poles and six slots. The motor is 123mm in diameter and the axial length is 47mm. The rotor has parallel magnetized magnets and a rotor yoke with magnetic steel sheets. The maximum measured motor efficiency is 93%. This value roughly agrees with the maximum calculated efficiency of 95%.
Recombination phenomena in high efficiency silicon solar cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sah, C. T.
The dominant recombination phenomena which limit the highest efficiency attainable in silicon solar cells under terrestrial sunlight are reviewed. The ultimate achievable efficiency is limited by the two intrinsic recombination mechanisms, the interband Auger recombination and interband Radiative recombination, both of which occur in the entire cell body but principally in the base layer. It is suggested that an optimum (26%) cell design is one with lowly doped 50 to 100 micron thick base, a perfect BSF, and zero extrinsic recombination such as the thermal mechanism at recombination centers the Shockley-Read-Hall process (SRH) in the bulk, on the surface and at the interfaces. The importance of recombination at the interfaces of a high-efficiency cell is demonstrated by the ohmic contact on the back surface whose interface recombination velocity is infinite. The importance of surface and interface recombination is demonstrated by representing the auger and radiative recombination losses by effective recombination velocities. It is demonstrated that the three highest efficiency cells may all be limited by the SRH recombination losses at recombination centers in the base layer.
High-efficiency copper ternary thin film solar cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kapur, V. K.; Basol, B. M.; Kullberg, R. C.
A project is described which developes a high efficiency thin film CuInSe2 solar cell using a low-cost process. The two-stage process involves depositing the metallic elements of Cu and In on a substrate in the form of stacked layers, and then selenizing this stacked metallic film in an atmosphere containing Se. Early research concentrated on the electrodeposition technique for depositing the Cu and In films on Mo-coated glass substrates. This resulted in small-area cells with around 10 percent efficiency, indicating that the technique could yield CuInSe2 films with good electrical and optical properties. The program then involved scaling up the electrodeposition/selenization technique; fixtures for large-area plating were designed and built, but poor adhesion of the CuInSe2 films to the Mo-coated substrates and the stoichiometric non-uniformities encountered in the large-area films hindered the efficiency of the devices. The latter part of the program explored a new approach to the two-stage process. An evaporation/selenization approach, where the elemental layers were evaporated onto the Mo-coated substrates for selenization. Solar cells were produced with efficiencies approaching 11 percent using E-beam evaporated/selenized CuInSe2 films.
Evaluation of Parameters for High Efficiency Transformation of Acinetobacter baumannii
Yildirim, Suleyman; Thompson, Mitchell G.; Jacobs, Anna C.; Zurawski, Daniel V.; Kirkup, Benjamin C.
Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging, nosocomial pathogen that is poorly characterized due to a paucity of genetic tools and methods. While whole genome sequence data from several epidemic and environmental strains have recently become available, the functional characterization of genes is significantly lagging. Efficient transformation is one of the first steps to develop molecular tools that can be used to address these shortcomings. Here we report parameters allowing high efficiency transformation of A. baumannii. Using a multi-factorial experimental design we found that growth phase, voltage, and resistance all significantly contribute to transformation efficiency. The highest efficiency (4.3 × 108 Transformants/μg DNA) was obtained at the stationary growth phase of the bacterium (OD 6.0) using 25 ng of plasmid DNA under 100 Ohms resistance and 1.7 kV/cm voltage. The optimized electroporation parameters reported here provide a useful tool for genetic manipulation of A. baumannii. PMID:26911658
Electro-Optical Design for Efficient Visual Communication
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Huck, Friedrich O.; Fales, Carl L.; Jobson, Daniel J.; Rahman, Zia-Ur
Visual communication, in the form of telephotography and television, for example, can be regarded as efficient only if the amount of information that it conveys about the scene to the observer approaches the maximum possible and the associated cost approaches the minimum possible. Elsewhere we have addressed the problem of assessing the end to end performance of visual communication systems in terms of their efficiency in this sense by integrating the critical limiting factors that constrain image gathering into classical communications theory. We use this approach to assess the electro-optical design of image gathering devices as a function of the f number and apodization of the objective lens and the aperture size and sampling geometry of the phot-detection mechanism. Results show that an image gathering device that is designed to optimize information capacity performs similarly to the human eye. For both, the performance approaches the maximum possible, in terms of the efficiency with which the acquired information can be transmitted as decorrelated data, and the fidelity, sharpness, and clearity with which fine detail can be restored.
Overall Traveling-Wave-Tube Efficiency Improved By Optimized Multistage Depressed Collector Design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Vaden, Karl R.
Depressed Collector Design The microwave traveling wave tube (TWT) is used widely for space communications and high-power airborne transmitting sources. One of the most important features in designing a TWT is overall efficiency. Yet, overall TWT efficiency is strongly dependent on the efficiency of the electron beam collector, particularly for high values of collector efficiency. For these reasons, the NASA Glenn Research Center developed an optimization algorithm based on simulated annealing to quickly design highly efficient multistage depressed collectors (MDC's). Simulated annealing is a strategy for solving highly nonlinear combinatorial optimization problems. Its major advantage over other methods is its ability to avoid becoming trapped in local minima. Simulated annealing is based on an analogy to statistical thermodynamics, specifically the physical process of annealing: heating a material to a temperature that permits many atomic rearrangements and then cooling it carefully and slowly, until it freezes into a strong, minimum-energy crystalline structure. This minimum energy crystal corresponds to the optimal solution of a mathematical optimization problem. The TWT used as a baseline for optimization was the 32-GHz, 10-W, helical TWT developed for the Cassini mission to Saturn. The method of collector analysis and design used was a 2-1/2-dimensional computational procedure that employs two types of codes, a large signal analysis code and an electron trajectory code. The large signal analysis code produces the spatial, energetic, and temporal distributions of the spent beam entering the MDC. An electron trajectory code uses the resultant data to perform the actual collector analysis. The MDC was optimized for maximum MDC efficiency and minimum final kinetic energy of all collected electrons (to reduce heat transfer). The preceding figure shows the geometric and electrical configuration of an optimized collector with an efficiency of 93.8 percent. The
Development and evaluation of a cleanable high efficiency steel filter
Bergman, W.; Larsen, G.; Weber, F.; Wilson, P.; Lopez, R.; Valha, G.; Conner, J.; Garr, J.; Williams, K.; Biermann, A.; Wilson, K.; Moore, P.; Gellner, C.; Rapchun, D. ); Simon, K.; Turley, J.; Frye, L.; Monroe, D. )
We have developed a high efficiency steel filter that can be cleaned in-situ by reverse air pulses. The filter consists of 64 pleated cylindrical filter elements packaged into a 6l0 [times] 6l0 [times] 292 mm aluminum frame and has 13.5 m[sup 2] of filter area. The filter media consists of a sintered steel fiber mat using 2 [mu]m diameter fibers. We conducted an optimization study for filter efficiency and pressure drop to determine the filter design parameters of pleat width, pleat depth, outside diameter of the cylinder, and the total number of cylinders. Several prototype cylinders were then built and evaluated in terms of filter cleaning by reverse air pulses. The results of these studies were used to build the high efficiency steel filter. We evaluated the prototype filter for efficiency and cleanability. The DOP filter certification test showed the filter has a passing efficiency of 99.99% but a failing pressure drop of 0.80 kPa at 1,700 m[sup 3]/hr. Since we were not able to achieve a pressure drop less than 0.25 kPa, the steel filter does not meet all the criteria for a HEPA filter. Filter loading and cleaning tests using AC Fine dust showed the filter could be repeatedly cleaned by reverse air pulses. The next phase of the prototype evaluation consisted of installing the unit and support housing in the exhaust duct work of a uranium grit blaster for a field evaluation at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, TN. The grit blaster is used to clean the surface of uranium parts and generates a cloud of UO[sub 2] aerosols. We used a 1,700 m[sup 3]/hr slip stream from the 10,200 m[sup 3]/hr exhaust system.
Development and evaluation of a cleanable high efficiency steel filter
Bergman, W.; Larsen, G.; Weber, F.; Wilson, P.; Lopez, R.; Valha, G.; Conner, J.; Garr, J.; Williams, K.; Biermann, A.; Wilson, K.; Moore, P.; Gellner, C.; Rapchun, D.; Simon, K.; Turley, J.; Frye, L.; Monroe, D.
We have developed a high efficiency steel filter that can be cleaned in-situ by reverse air pulses. The filter consists of 64 pleated cylindrical filter elements packaged into a 6l0 {times} 6l0 {times} 292 mm aluminum frame and has 13.5 m{sup 2} of filter area. The filter media consists of a sintered steel fiber mat using 2 {mu}m diameter fibers. We conducted an optimization study for filter efficiency and pressure drop to determine the filter design parameters of pleat width, pleat depth, outside diameter of the cylinder, and the total number of cylinders. Several prototype cylinders were then built and evaluated in terms of filter cleaning by reverse air pulses. The results of these studies were used to build the high efficiency steel filter. We evaluated the prototype filter for efficiency and cleanability. The DOP filter certification test showed the filter has a passing efficiency of 99.99% but a failing pressure drop of 0.80 kPa at 1,700 m{sup 3}/hr. Since we were not able to achieve a pressure drop less than 0.25 kPa, the steel filter does not meet all the criteria for a HEPA filter. Filter loading and cleaning tests using AC Fine dust showed the filter could be repeatedly cleaned by reverse air pulses. The next phase of the prototype evaluation consisted of installing the unit and support housing in the exhaust duct work of a uranium grit blaster for a field evaluation at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, TN. The grit blaster is used to clean the surface of uranium parts and generates a cloud of UO{sub 2} aerosols. We used a 1,700 m{sup 3}/hr slip stream from the 10,200 m{sup 3}/hr exhaust system.
High Efficiency Thermoelectric Generators Using New Very High Performance Materials
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fleurial, Jean-Pierre; Ewell, Richard; Caillat, Thierry; Vandersande, Jan
Extensive theoretical and experimental studies have resulted in reasonable performance improvements (from an average ZT of 0.62 up to 0.75) of the state of the art high temperature SiGe thermoelectric materials in the last 5 years. However, significantly higher material conversion efficiencies are needed to make thermoelectrics competitive and economically attractive. A new approach that looks at radically different compounds and alloys was recently started at JPL and a new family of materials with great potential has been discovered. A real breakthrough was achieved when maximum ZT values of 2.0 were obtained to date on one of these materials in the 300-400C temperature range. Initial analysis of various experimental tests have confirmed its good mechanical and physico-chemical properties. Substantial increases in conversion efficiency and specific power are predicted (60-90%) by incorporating this new material into state of the art space nuclear power systems such as Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG).
Stratified Diffractive Optic Approach for Creating High Efficiency Gratings
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chambers, Diana M.; Nordin, Gregory P.
Gratings with high efficiency in a single diffracted order can be realized with both volume holographic and diffractive optical elements. However, each method has limitations that restrict the applications in which they can be used. For example, high efficiency volume holographic gratings require an appropriate combination of thickness and permittivity modulation throughout the bulk of the material. Possible combinations of those two characteristics are limited by properties of currently available materials, thus restricting the range of applications for volume holographic gratings. Efficiency of a diffractive optic grating is dependent on its approximation of an ideal analog profile using discrete features. The size of constituent features and, consequently, the number that can be used within a required grating period restricts the applications in which diffractive optic gratings can be used. These limitations imply that there are applications which cannot be addressed by either technology. In this paper we propose to address a number of applications in this category with a new method of creating high efficiency gratings which we call stratified diffractive optic gratings. In this approach diffractive optic techniques are used to create an optical structure that emulates volume grating behavior. To illustrate the stratified diffractive optic grating concept we consider a specific application, a scanner for a space-based coherent wind lidar, with requirements that would be difficult to meet by either volume holographic or diffractive optic methods. The lidar instrument design specifies a transmissive scanner element with the input beam normally incident and the exiting beam deflected at a fixed angle from the optical axis. The element will be rotated about the optical axis to produce a conical scan pattern. The wavelength of the incident beam is 2.06 microns and the required deflection angle is 30 degrees, implying a grating period of approximately 4 microns
Performance of a high efficiency advanced coal combustor
Toqan, M.A.; Paloposki, T.; Yu, T.; Teare, J.D.; Beer, J.M. )
Under contract from DOE-PETC, Combustion Engineering, Inc. undertook the lead-role in a multi-task R D program aimed at development of a new burner system for coal-based fuels; the goal was that this burner system should be capable of being retrofitted in oil- or gas-fired industrial boilers, or usable in new units. In the first phase of this program a high efficiency advanced coal combustor was designed jointly by CE and MIT. Its burner is of the multiannular design with a fixed shrouded swirler in the center immediately surrounding the atomizer gun to provide the primary act,'' and three further annuli for the supply of the secondary air.'' The degree of rotation (swirl) in the secondary air is variable. The split of the combustion air into primary and secondary air flows serves the purpose of flame stabilization and combustion staging, the latter to reduce NO{sub x} formation.
State Energy Efficiency Resource Standards: Design, Status, and Impacts
Steinberg, D.; Zinaman, O.
An energy efficiency resource standard (EERS) is a policy that requires utilities or other entities to achieve a specified amount of energy savings through customer energy efficiency programs within a specified timeframe. EERSs may apply to electricity usage, natural gas usage, or both. This paper provides an overview of the key design features of EERSs for electricity, reviews the variation in design of EERSs across states, and provides an estimate of the amount of savings required by currently specified EERSs in each state. As of December, 2013, 23 states have active and binding EERSs for electricity. We estimate that state EERSs will require annual electricity savings of approximately 8-11% of total projected demand by 2020 in states with EERSs, however the level of savings targeted by the policies varies significantly across states. In addition to the variation in targeted savings, the design of EERSs varies significantly across states leading to differences in the suite of incentives created by the policy, the flexibility of compliance with the policy, the balance of benefits and costs of the policy between producers and consumers, and the certainty with which the policy will drive long-term savings.
Design of an energy efficient solar powered water desalting plant
Nadler, M.
A preliminary design was completed for a 6000 m/sup 3//day totally solar thermal energy powered seawater desalting plant. The objective was to design a process which would produce water at minimum cost using leading edge but commercial or near-commercial technology. Because the cost of solar energy is high, about half the cost of the plant is for solar equipment, minimum product water cost is achieved by minimizing energy consumption.
A high-efficiency 59- to 64-GHz TWT for intersatellite communications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wilson, Jeffrey D.; Ramins, Peter; Force, Dale A.; Limburg, Helen C.; Tammaru, Ivo
The design of a 75-W, 59- to 64- GHz TWT with a predicted overall efficiency in excess of 40 percent is described. This intersatellite communications TWT, designated Model 961HA, employs a coupled-cavity slow-wave structure with a two-step velocity taper and an isotropic graphite multistage depressed collector (MDC). Because the RF efficiency of this TWT is less than 8 percent, an MDC design providing a very high collector efficiency was necessary to achieve the overall efficiency goal of 40 percent.
High Efficiency, Ultra-Low Emission, Integrated Process Heater System
Mason, Howard; Boral, Anindya; Chhotray, San; Martin, Matthew
The team of TIAX LLC, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, and Callidus Technologies, LLC conducted a six-year program to develop an ultra-low emission process heater burner and an advanced high efficiency heater design. This project addresses the critical need of process heater operators for reliable, economical emission reduction technologies to comply with stringent emission regulations, and for heater design alternatives that reduce process heater energy requirements without significant cost increase. The key project targets were NOx emissions of 10 ppm (@ 3% O2), and a heater thermal efficiency of 95 percent. The ultra low NOx burner was developed through a series of pilot-scale and field tests combined with computational fluid dynamic modeling to arrive at simultaneous low emissions and suitable flame shape and stability. Pilot scale tests were run at TIAX, at the 2 MMBtu/hr scale, and at Callidus at 8 MMBtu/hr. The full scale burner was installed on a 14 burner atmospheric pipestill furnace at an ExxonMobil refinery. A variety of burner configurations, gas tips and flame stabilizers were tested to determine the lowest emissions with acceptable flame shape and stability. The resulting NOx emissions were 22 ppm on average. Starting in 2001, Callidus commercialized the original ultra low NOx burner and made subsequent design improvements in a series of commercial burners evolving from the original concept and/or development. Emissions in the field with the ultra low-NOx burner over a broad spectrum of heater applications have varied from 5 ppm to 30 ppm depending on heater geometry, heater service, fuel and firing capacity. To date, 1550 of the original burners, and 2500 of subsequent generation burners have been sold by Callidus. The advanced heater design was developed by parametric evaluations of a variety of furnace and combustion air preheater configurations and technologies for enhancing convective and radiative heat transfer. The design evolution
High-Efficiency Hall Thruster Discharge Power Converter
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Jaquish, Thomas
Busek Company, Inc., is designing, building, and testing a new printed circuit board converter. The new converter consists of two series or parallel boards (slices) intended to power a high-voltage Hall accelerator (HiVHAC) thruster or other similarly sized electric propulsion devices. The converter accepts 80- to 160-V input and generates 200- to 700-V isolated output while delivering continually adjustable 300-W to 3.5-kW power. Busek built and demonstrated one board that achieved nearly 94 percent efficiency the first time it was turned on, with projected efficiency exceeding 97 percent following timing software optimization. The board has a projected specific mass of 1.2 kg/kW, achieved through high-frequency switching. In Phase II, Busek optimized to exceed 97 percent efficiency and built a second prototype in a form factor more appropriate for flight. This converter then was integrated with a set of upgraded existing boards for powering magnets and the cathode. The program culminated with integrating the entire power processing unit and testing it on a Busek thruster and on NASA's HiVHAC thruster.
Cascaded parametric amplification for highly efficient terahertz generation.
Ravi, Koustuban; Hemmer, Michael; Cirmi, Giovanni; Reichert, Fabian; Schimpf, Damian N; Mücke, Oliver D; Kärtner, Franz X
A highly efficient, practical approach to high-energy multi-cycle terahertz (THz) generation based on spectrally cascaded optical parametric amplification (THz-COPA) is introduced. Feasible designs are presented that enable the THz wave, initially generated by difference frequency generation between a narrowband optical pump and optical seed (0.1-10% of pump energy), to self-start a cascaded (or repeated) energy downconversion of pump photons in a single pass through a single crystal. In cryogenically cooled, periodically poled lithium niobate, unprecedented energy conversion efficiencies >8% achievable with existing pump laser technology are predicted using realistic simulations. The calculations account for cascading effects, absorption, dispersion, and laser-induced damage. Due to the simultaneous, coupled nonlinear evolution of multiple phase-matched three-wave mixing processes, THz-COPA exhibits physics distinctly different from conventional three-wave mixing parametric amplifiers. This, in turn, governs optimal phase-matching conditions, evolution of optical spectra, and limitations of the nonlinear process. Circumventing these limitations is shown to yield conversion efficiencies ≫10%. PMID:27519094
High-efficiency ballistic electrostatic generator using microdroplets
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Xie, Yanbo; Bos, Diederik; de Vreede, Lennart J.; de Boer, Hans L.; van der Meulen, Mark-Jan; Versluis, Michel; Sprenkels, Ad J.; van den Berg, Albert; Eijkel, Jan C. T.
The strong demand for renewable energy promotes research on novel methods and technologies for energy conversion. Microfluidic systems for energy conversion by streaming current are less known to the public, and the relatively low efficiencies previously obtained seemed to limit the further applications of such systems. Here we report a microdroplet-based electrostatic generator operating by an acceleration-deceleration cycle ('ballistic' conversion), and show that this principle enables both high efficiency and compact simple design. Water is accelerated by pumping it through a micropore to form a microjet breaking up into fast-moving charged droplets. Droplet kinetic energy is converted to electrical energy when the charged droplets decelerate in the electrical field that forms between membrane and target. We demonstrate conversion efficiencies of up to 48%, a power density of 160 kW m-2 and both high- (20 kV) and low- (500 V) voltage operation. Besides offering striking new insights, the device potentially opens up new perspectives for low-cost and robust renewable energy conversion.
High efficiency CIP 10-I personal inhalable aerosol sampler
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Görner, P.; Wrobel, R.; Simon, X.
The CIP 10 personal aerosol sampler was first developed by Courbon for sampling the respirable fraction of mining dust. This respirable aerosol sampler was further improved by Fabries, then selectors for sampling thoracic and inhalable aerosols were designed. Kenny et al. evaluated the particle-size dependent sampling efficiency of the inhalable version in a large-scale wind tunnel using a life-size dummy. The authors found that the overall sampling efficiency decreases more rapidly than the CEN-ISO-ACGIH target efficiency curve. Görner and Witschger measured the aspiration efficiency of the CIP 10 omni-directional inlet. They found that the aspiration efficiency was high enough for inhalable aerosol sampling. This result led to the conclusion that the low sampling efficiency is due to some internal losses of the aspirated particles before they reach the final sampling stage, namely the CIP 10 rotating filter. Based on the assumption that the inhalable particles are selected at selector aspiration level, an experimental research project was conducted to improve particle transmission to the collection stage of the sampler. Two different inhalable selectors were designed by Görner and tested in a laboratory wind tunnel. The transmission efficiency of both models was measured by Roger following an experimental protocol described by Witschger. The T-shaped air flow circuit was finally adopted to draw the aspirated particles into the final collection stage of the CIP 10. Actually, in this selector, the almost horizontally aspirated particles should be conducted vertically to the rotating cup. In two previous prototypes, particles could be deposited in certain places by inertia (where the aerosol was forced to deviate drastically) or by sedimentation (where the aerosol decelerated). The aerodynamic behaviour of the adopted solution causes the particles to accelerate radially between two horizontal plates before they enter a vertical tube. This acceleration avoids the
Energy efficiency indicators for high electric-load buildings
Aebischer, Bernard; Balmer, Markus A.; Kinney, Satkartar; Le Strat, Pascale; Shibata, Yoshiaki; Varone, Frederic
Energy per unit of floor area is not an adequate indicator for energy efficiency in high electric-load buildings. For two activities, restaurants and computer centres, alternative indicators for energy efficiency are discussed.
Porous Carbon Spheres: Rational Design of Si/SiO2 @Hierarchical Porous Carbon Spheres as Efficient Polysulfide Reservoirs for High-Performance Li-S Battery (Adv. Mater. 16/2016).
Rehman, Sarish; Guo, Shaojun; Hou, Yanglong
S. Guo, Y. Hou, and S. Rehman develop a new class of silicon crosslinked with hierarchical porous carbon spheres usable as an efficient polysulfide reservoir for enhancing the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries. As described on page 3167, the developed hybrid material adsorbs negatively charged polysulfides via both chemical and physical adsorption. Remarkably, the hybrid spheres show a high specific capacity, an excellent rate capability and long cyclability. PMID:27105813
Tunable C2N Membrane for High Efficient Water Desalination
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Yanmei; Li, Weifeng; Zhou, Hongcai; Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhao, Mingwen
Water scarcity represents one of the most serious global problems of our time and challenges the advancements in desalination techniques. Although water-filtering architectures based on graphene have greatly advanced the approach to high performance desalination membranes, the controlled-generation of nanopores with particular diameter is tricky and has stunted its wide applications. Here, through molecular dynamic simulations and first-principles calculations, we propose that the recently reported graphene-like carbon nitride (g-C2N) monolayer can serve as high efficient filters for water desalination. Taking the advantages of the intrisic nanoporous structure and excellent mechanical properties of g-C2N, high water transparency and strong salt filtering capability have been demonstrated in our simulations. More importantly, the "open" and "closed" states of the g-C2N filter can be precisely regulated by tensile strain. It is found that the water permeability of g-C2N is significantly higher than that reported for graphene filters by almost one order of magnitude. In the light of the abundant family of graphene-like carbon nitride monolayered materials, our results thus offer a promising approach to the design of high efficient filteration architectures.
Tunable C2N Membrane for High Efficient Water Desalination.
Yang, Yanmei; Li, Weifeng; Zhou, Hongcai; Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhao, Mingwen
Water scarcity represents one of the most serious global problems of our time and challenges the advancements in desalination techniques. Although water-filtering architectures based on graphene have greatly advanced the approach to high performance desalination membranes, the controlled-generation of nanopores with particular diameter is tricky and has stunted its wide applications. Here, through molecular dynamic simulations and first-principles calculations, we propose that the recently reported graphene-like carbon nitride (g-C2N) monolayer can serve as high efficient filters for water desalination. Taking the advantages of the intrisic nanoporous structure and excellent mechanical properties of g-C2N, high water transparency and strong salt filtering capability have been demonstrated in our simulations. More importantly, the "open" and "closed" states of the g-C2N filter can be precisely regulated by tensile strain. It is found that the water permeability of g-C2N is significantly higher than that reported for graphene filters by almost one order of magnitude. In the light of the abundant family of graphene-like carbon nitride monolayered materials, our results thus offer a promising approach to the design of high efficient filteration architectures. PMID:27384666
Tunable C2N Membrane for High Efficient Water Desalination
Yang, Yanmei; Li, Weifeng; Zhou, Hongcai; Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhao, Mingwen
Water scarcity represents one of the most serious global problems of our time and challenges the advancements in desalination techniques. Although water-filtering architectures based on graphene have greatly advanced the approach to high performance desalination membranes, the controlled-generation of nanopores with particular diameter is tricky and has stunted its wide applications. Here, through molecular dynamic simulations and first-principles calculations, we propose that the recently reported graphene-like carbon nitride (g-C2N) monolayer can serve as high efficient filters for water desalination. Taking the advantages of the intrisic nanoporous structure and excellent mechanical properties of g-C2N, high water transparency and strong salt filtering capability have been demonstrated in our simulations. More importantly, the "open" and "closed" states of the g-C2N filter can be precisely regulated by tensile strain. It is found that the water permeability of g-C2N is significantly higher than that reported for graphene filters by almost one order of magnitude. In the light of the abundant family of graphene-like carbon nitride monolayered materials, our results thus offer a promising approach to the design of high efficient filteration architectures. PMID:27384666
High-diffraction-efficiency pseudorandom encoding.
Yang, Y; Stark, H; Gurkan, D; Lawson, C L; Cohn, R W
Pseudorandom encoding (PRE) is a statistics-based procedure in which a pure-phase spatial light modulator (SLM) can yield, on the average, the prescribed diffraction pattern specified by the user. We seek to combine PRE with the optimization of an aperture-based target function. The target function is a fully complex input transmittance, unrealizable by a phase-only SLM, that generates a prescribed light intensity. The optimization is done to increase the diffraction efficiency of the overall process. We compare three optimization methods-Monte Carlo simulation, a genetic algorithm, and a gradient search-for maximizing the diffraction efficiency of a spot-array generator. Calculated solutions are then encoded by PRE, and the resulting diffraction patterns are computer simulated. Details on the complexity of each procedure are furnished, as well as comparisons on the quality, such as uniformity of the output spot array. PMID:10680630
High efficiency annual denuder for formaldehyde monitoring
Cecchini, F.; Febo, A.; Possanzini, M.
A practical and correct methodology for evaluating CH/sub 2/O in air without sampling artifact formation is presented. Formaldehyde is collected on an annual denuder coated with bisulfite-triethanolamine. The sorbent layer is extracted with water and the solution analyzed by the chromotropic acid (CTA) procedure. Sorption efficiency and loading capacity have been investigated along with storage stability. Results of laboratory validation studies have indicated that a small annual denuder was able to sample about 300 ..mu..g CH/sub 2/O without an appreciable decrease in the initial collection efficiency (99% at 2.5 1 min/sup -1/). Tests on storage stability before and after exposure have also demonstrated that both oxidation of bisulfite and release of CH/sub 2/O did not occur for time periods as long as 1 month.
Highly efficient self-replicating RNA enzymes.
Robertson, Michael P; Joyce, Gerald F
An RNA enzyme has been developed that catalyzes the joining of oligonucleotide substrates to form additional copies of itself, undergoing self-replication with exponential growth. The enzyme also can cross-replicate with a partner enzyme, resulting in their mutual exponential growth and enabling self-sustained Darwinian evolution. The opportunity for inventive evolution within this synthetic genetic system depends on the diversity of the evolving population, which is limited by the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme. Directed evolution was used to improve the efficiency of the enzyme and increase its exponential growth rate to 0.14 min(-1), corresponding to a doubling time of 5 min. This is close to the limit of 0.21 min(-1) imposed by the rate of product release, but sufficient to enable more than 80 logs of growth per day. PMID:24388759
Hardware Design of the Energy Efficient Fall Detection Device
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Skorodumovs, A.; Avots, E.; Hofmanis, J.; Korāts, G.
Health issues for elderly people may lead to different injuries obtained during simple activities of daily living. Potentially the most dangerous are unintentional falls that may be critical or even lethal to some patients due to the heavy injury risk. In the project "Wireless Sensor Systems in Telecare Application for Elderly People", we have developed a robust fall detection algorithm for a wearable wireless sensor. To optimise the algorithm for hardware performance and test it in field, we have designed an accelerometer based wireless fall detector. Our main considerations were: a) functionality - so that the algorithm can be applied to the chosen hardware, and b) power efficiency - so that it can run for a very long time. We have picked and tested the parts, built a prototype, optimised the firmware for lowest consumption, tested the performance and measured the consumption parameters. In this paper, we discuss our design choices and present the results of our work.
Highly Efficient Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification
Ostapchenko, Valeriy G.; Savtchenk, Regina; Alexeeva, Irina; Rohwer, Robert G.; Baskakov, Ilia V.
Protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) provides faithful replication of mammalian prions in vitro and has numerous applications in prion research. However, the low efficiency of conversion of PrPC into PrPSc in PMCA limits the applicability of PMCA for many uses including structural studies of infectious prions. It also implies that only a small sub-fraction of PrPC may be available for conversion. Here we show that the yield, rate, and robustness of prion conversion and the sensitivity of prion detection are significantly improved by a simple modification of the PMCA format. Conducting PMCA reactions in the presence of Teflon beads (PMCAb) increased the conversion of PrPC into PrPSc from ∼10% to up to 100%. In PMCAb, a single 24-hour round consistently amplified PrPSc by 600-700-fold. Furthermore, the sensitivity of prion detection in one round (24 hours) increased by 2-3 orders of magnitude. Using serial PMCAb, a 1012-fold dilution of scrapie brain material could be amplified to the level detectible by Western blotting in 3 rounds (72 hours). The improvements in amplification efficiency were observed for the commonly used hamster 263K strain and for the synthetic strain SSLOW that otherwise amplifies poorly in PMCA. The increase in the amplification efficiency did not come at the expense of prion replication specificity. The current study demonstrates that poor conversion efficiencies observed previously have not been due to the scarcity of a sub-fraction of PrPC susceptible to conversion nor due to limited concentrations of essential cellular cofactors required for conversion. The new PMCAb format offers immediate practical benefits and opens new avenues for developing fast ultrasensitive assays and for producing abundant quantities of PrPSc in vitro. PMID:21347353
High efficiency air cycle air conditioning system
Rannenberg, G. C.
An air cycle air conditioning system is provided with regenerative heat exchangers upstream and downstream of an expansion turbine. A closedloop liquid circulatory system serially connects the two regenerative heat exchangers for regeneration without the bulk associated with air-to-air heat exchange. The liquid circulatory system may also provide heat transport to a remote sink heat exchanger and from a remote load as well as heat exchange within the sink heat exchanger and load for enhanced compactness and efficiency.
Kwang-Bok Yi; Anirban Mukherjee; Elizabeth J. Podlaha; Douglas P. Harrison
Mixed metal oxides containing ceria and zirconia have been studied as high temperature desulfurization sorbents with the objective of achieving the DOE Vision 21 target of 1 ppmv or less H{sub 2}S in the product gas. The research was justified by recent results in this laboratory that showed that reduced CeO{sub 2}, designated CeOn (1.5 < n < 2.0), is capable of achieving the 1 ppmv target in highly reducing gas atmospheres. The addition of ZrO{sub 2} has improved the performance of oxidation catalysts and three-way automotive catalysts containing CeO{sub 2}, and was postulated to have similar beneficial effects on CeO{sub 2} desulfurization sorbents. An electrochemical method for synthesizing CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} mixtures was developed and the products were characterized by XRD and TEM during year 01. Nanocrystalline particles having a diameter of about 5 nm and containing from approximately 10 mol% to 80 mol% ZrO{sub 2} were prepared. XRD analysis showed the product to be a solid solution at low ZrO{sub 2} contents with a separate ZrO{sub 2} phase emerging at higher ZrO{sub 2} levels. Unfortunately, the quantity of CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} that could be prepared electrochemically was too small to permit desulfurization testing. Also during year 01 a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor was constructed for desulfurization testing. All components of the reactor and analytical systems that were exposed to low concentrations of H{sub 2}S were constructed of quartz, Teflon, or silcosteel. Reactor product gas composition as a function of time was determined using a Varian 3800 gas chromatograph equipped with a pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD) for measuring low H{sub 2}S concentrations from approximately 0.1 to 10 ppmv, and a thermal conductivity detector (TCD) for higher concentrations of H{sub 2}S. Larger quantities of CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} mixtures from other sources, including mixtures prepared in this laboratory using a coprecipitation procedure, were obtained
Designing High Performance Schools (CD-ROM)
Not Available
The EnergySmart Schools Design Guidelines and Best Practices Manual were written as a part of the EnergySmart Schools suite of documents, provided by the US Department of Energy, to educate school districts around the country about energy efficiency and renewable energy. Written for school administrators, design teams, and architects and engineers, the documents are designed to help those who are responsible for designing or retrofitting schools, as well as their project managers. This manual will help design staff make informed decisions about energy and environmental issues important to the school systems and communities.
Efficient global optimization of a limited parameter antenna design
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
O'Donnell, Teresa H.; Southall, Hugh L.; Kaanta, Bryan
Efficient Global Optimization (EGO) is a competent evolutionary algorithm suited for problems with limited design parameters and expensive cost functions. Many electromagnetics problems, including some antenna designs, fall into this class, as complex electromagnetics simulations can take substantial computational effort. This makes simple evolutionary algorithms such as genetic algorithms or particle swarms very time-consuming for design optimization, as many iterations of large populations are usually required. When physical experiments are necessary to perform tradeoffs or determine effects which may not be simulated, use of these algorithms is simply not practical at all due to the large numbers of measurements required. In this paper we first present a brief introduction to the EGO algorithm. We then present the parasitic superdirective two-element array design problem and results obtained by applying EGO to obtain the optimal element separation and operating frequency to maximize the array directivity. We compare these results to both the optimal solution and results obtained by performing a similar optimization using the Nelder-Mead downhill simplex method. Our results indicate that, unlike the Nelder-Mead algorithm, the EGO algorithm did not become stuck in local minima but rather found the area of the correct global minimum. However, our implementation did not always drill down into the precise minimum and the addition of a local search technique seems to be indicated.
Kwang-Bok Yi; Elizabeth J. Podlaha; Douglas P. Harrison
Mixed metal oxides containing CeO{sub 2} and ZrO{sub 2} are being studied as high temperature desulfurization sorbents capable of achieving the DOE Vision 21 target of 1 ppmv or less H{sub 2}S. The research is justified by recent results in this laboratory that showed that reduced CeO{sub 2}, designated CeOn (1.5 < n < 2.0), is capable of achieving the 1 ppmv target in highly reducing gas atmospheres. The addition of ZrO{sub 2} has improved the performance of oxidation catalysts and three-way automotive catalysts containing CeO{sub 2}, and should have similar beneficial effects on CeO{sub 2} desulfurization sorbents. An electrochemical method for synthesizing CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} was developed and the products were characterized by XRD and TEM during year 01. Nanocrystalline particles having a diameter of about 5 nm and containing from approximately 10 mol% to 80 mol% ZrO{sub 2} were prepared. XRD analysis showed the product to be a solid solution at low ZrO{sub 2} contents with a separate ZrO{sub 2} phase emerging at higher ZrO{sub 2} levels. Unfortunately, the quantity of CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} that could be prepared electrochemically was too small to permit full desulfurization testing. Also during year 01 a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor was constructed for desulfurization testing. All components of the reactor and analytical systems that may be exposed to low concentrations of H{sub 2}S are constructed of quartz, Teflon, or silcosteel. Reactor product gas composition as a function of time is determined using a Varian 3800 gas chromatograph equipped with a pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD) for measuring low H{sub 2}S concentrations (<{approx}10 ppmv) and a thermal conductivity detector (TCD) for higher concentrations of H{sub 2}S. Larger quantities of CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} mixtures from other sources, including mixtures prepared in this laboratory using a coprecipitation procedure, have been obtained. Much of the work during year 02 consisted of
Kwang-Bok Yi; Elizabeth J. Podlaha; Douglas P. Harrison
Mixed metal oxides containing CeO{sub 2} and ZrO{sub 2} are being studied as high temperature desulfurization sorbents capable of achieving the DOE Vision 21 target of 1 ppmv or less H{sub 2}S. The research is justified by recent results in this laboratory that showed that reduced CeO{sub 2}, designated CeO{sub n} (1.5 < n < 2.0), is capable of achieving the 1 ppmv target in highly reducing gas atmospheres. The addition of ZrO{sub 2} has improved the performance of oxidation catalysts and three-way automotive catalysts containing CeO{sub 2}, and should have similar beneficial effects on CeO{sub 2} desulfurization sorbents. An electrochemical method for synthesizing CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} was developed and the products were characterized by XRD and TEM during year 01. Nanocrystalline particles having a diameter of about 5 nm and containing from approximately 10 mol% to 80 mol% ZrO{sub 2} were prepared. XRD showed the product to be a solid solution at low ZrO{sub 2} contents with a separate ZrO{sub 2} phase emerging at higher ZrO{sub 2} levels. Unfortunately, the quantity of CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} that could be prepared electrochemically was too small to permit full testing in our desulfurization reactor. Also during year 01 a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor was constructed for desulfurization testing. All components of the reactor and analytical systems that may be exposed to low concentrations of H{sub 2}S are constructed of quartz, Teflon, or silcosteel. Reactor product gas composition as a function of time is determined using a Varian 3800 gas chromatograph equipped with a pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD) for measuring low H{sub 2}S concentrations ({approx}< 10 ppmv) and a thermal conductivity detector (TCD) for higher concentrations of H{sub 2}S. Larger quantities of CeO{sub 2}-ZrO{sub 2} mixtures from other sources, including mixtures prepared in this laboratory using a coprecipitation procedure, have been obtained. Characterization and desulfurization
Development of manufacturing capability for high-concentration, high-efficiency silicon solar cells
Sinton, R.A.; Verlinden, P.J.; Crane, R.A.; Swanson, R.N.
This report presents a summary of the major results from a program to develop a manufacturable, high-efficiency silicon concentrator solar cell and a cost-effective manufacturing facility. The program was jointly funded by the Electric Power Research Institute, Sandia National Laboratories through the Concentrator Initiative, and SunPower Corporation. The key achievements of the program include the demonstration of 26%-efficient silicon concentrator solar cells with design-point (20 W/cm{sup 2}) efficiencies over 25%. High-performance front-surface passivations; that were developed to achieve this result were verified to be absolutely stable against degradation by 475 days of field exposure at twice the design concentration. SunPower demonstrated pilot production of more than 1500 of these cells. This cell technology was also applied to pilot production to supply 7000 17.7-cm{sup 2} one-sun cells (3500 yielded wafers) that demonstrated exceptional quality control. The average efficiency of 21.3% for these cells approaches the peak efficiency ever demonstrated for a single small laboratory cell within 2% (absolute). Extensive cost models were developed through this program and calibrated by the pilot-production project. The production levels achieved indicate that SunPower could produce 7-10 MW of concentrator cells per year in the current facility based upon the cell performance demonstrated during the program.
Efficient, designable, and broad-bandwidth optical extinction via aspect-ratio-tailored silver nanodisks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Anquillare, E. L.; Miller, O. D.; Hsu, C. W.; DeLacy, B. G.; Joannopoulos, J. D.; Johnson, S. G.; Soljačić, M.
Subwavelength resonators, ranging from single atoms to metallic nanoparticles, typically exhibit a narrow-bandwidth response to optical excitations. We computationally design and experimentally synthesize tailored distributions of silver nanodisks to extinguish light over broad and varied frequency windows. We show that metallic nanodisks are two-to-ten-times more efficient in absorbing and scattering light than common structures, and can approach fundamental limits to broadband scattering for subwavelength particles. We measure broadband extinction per volume that closely approaches theoretical predictions over three representative visible-range wavelength windows, confirming the high efficiency of nanodisks and demonstrating the collective power of computational design and experimental precision for developing new photonics technologies.
Building Operations Efficiencies into NASA's Crew Launch Vehicle Design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Dumbacher, Daniel L.
The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration guides NASA's challenging missions of technological innovation and scientific investigation. With the Agency's commitment to complete the International Space Station (ISS) and to retire the Space Shuttle by 2010, the NASA Administrator commissioned the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS) in mid 2005 to analyze options for a safer, simpler, more cost efficient launch system that could deliver timely human-rated space transportation capabilities. NASA's finite resources yield discoveries with infinite possibilities. As the Agency begins the process of replacing the Shuttle with new launch vehicles destined for missions beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars, NASA is designing the follow-on crew and cargo systems for maximum operational efficiencies. This mandate is imperative to reduce the $4.5 billion NASA spends on space transportation each year. This paper gives top-level details of how the follow-on Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) is being designed for reduced lifecycle costs as a primary catalyst for the expansion of future frontiers.
Ceramic high temperature receiver design and tests
Davis, S.B.
The High Temperature Solar Thermal Receiver, which was tested a Edwards AFB, CA during the winter of 1980-1981, evolved from technologies developed over a five year period of work. This receiver was tested at the Army Solar Furnace at White Sands, NM in 1976. The receiver, was tested successfully at 1768 deg F and showed thermal efficiencies of 85%. The results were sufficiently promising to lead ERDA to fund our development and test of a 250 kW receiver to measure the efficiency of an open cavity receiver atop a central tower of a heliostat field. This receiver was required to be design scalable to 10, 50, and 100 MW-electric sizes to show applicability to central power tower receivers. That receiver employed rectangular silicon carbide panels and vertical stanchions to achieve scalability. The construction was shown to be fully scalable, and the receiver was operated at temperatures up to 2000 deg F to achieve the performance goals of the experiment during tests at the GIT advanced components test facility during the fall of 1978.
Ceramic high temperature receiver design and tests
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Davis, S. B.
The High Temperature Solar Thermal Receiver, which was tested a Edwards AFB, CA during the winter of 1980-1981, evolved from technologies developed over a five year period of work. This receiver was tested at the Army Solar Furnace at White Sands, NM in 1976. The receiver, was tested successfully at 1768 deg F and showed thermal efficiencies of 85%. The results were sufficiently promising to lead ERDA to fund our development and test of a 250 kW receiver to measure the efficiency of an open cavity receiver atop a central tower of a heliostat field. This receiver was required to be design scalable to 10, 50, and 100 MW-electric sizes to show applicability to central power tower receivers. That receiver employed rectagular silicon carbide panels and vertical stanchions to achieve scalability. The construction was shown to be fully scalable; and the receiver was operated at temperatures up to 2000 deg F to achieve the performance goals of the experiment during tests at the GIT advanced components test facility during the fall of 1978.
Multiobjective optimal design of runner blade using efficiency and draft tube pulsation criteria
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pilev, I. M.; Sotnikov, A. A.; Rigin, V. E.; Semenova, A. V.; Cherny, S. G.; Chirkov, D. V.; Bannikov, D. V.; Skorospelov, V. A.
In the present work new criteria of optimal design method for turbine runner [1] are proposed. Firstly, based on the efficient method which couples direct simulation of 3D turbulent flow and engineering semi empirical formulas, the combined method is built for hydraulic energy losses estimation in the whole turbine water passage and the efficiency criterion is formulated. Secondly, the criterion of dynamic loads minimization is developed for those caused by vortex rope precession downstream of the runner. This criterion is based on the finding that the monotonic increase of meridional velocity component in the direction to runner hub, downstream of its blades, provides for decreasing the intensity of vortex rope and thereafter, minimization of pressure pulsation amplitude. The developed algorithm was applied to optimal design of 640 MW Francis turbine runner. It can ensure high efficiency at best efficiency operating point as well as diminished pressure pulsations at full load regime.
PMMA lens with high efficiency and reliability
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Matsuzaki, Ichiro; Abe, Koji; Fujita, Katsuhiro
Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) Fresnel lenses are increasingly being used in concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems installed outdoors and, accordingly, emphasis is being placed on the durability of such lenses with regard to light transmittance when subject to ultraviolet (UV) light and dust exposure. Accelerated testing methods for evaluating durability under UV exposure were established, allowing development of a lens material with improved UV resistance. Simultaneously, through a proprietary molding method, a Fresnel lens that boasts favorable light concentration efficiency with little deformation even after prolonged outdoor use was developed. Moreover, the lens incorporates a new hard-coat finish that possesses sand durability and UV resistance comparable to that of tempered glass.
Design of Efficient Full Adder in Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata
Sen, Bibhash; Sikdar, Biplab K.
Further downscaling of CMOS technology becomes challenging as it faces limitation of feature size reduction. Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA), a potential alternative to CMOS, promises efficient digital design at nanoscale. Investigations on the reduction of QCA primitives (majority gates and inverters) for various adders are limited, and very few designs exist for reference. As a result, design of adders under QCA framework is gaining its importance in recent research. This work targets developing multi-layered full adder architecture in QCA framework based on five-input majority gate proposed here. A minimum clock zone (2 clock) with high compaction (0.01 μm2) for a full adder around QCA is achieved. Further, the usefulness of such design is established with the synthesis of high-level logic. Experimental results illustrate the significant improvements in design level in terms of circuit area, cell count, and clock compared to that of conventional design approaches. PMID:23844385
High-efficiency target-ion sources for RIB generation
Alton, G.D.
A brief review is given of high-efficiency ion sources which have been developed or are under development at ISOL facilities which show particular promise for use at existing, future, or radioactive ion beam (RIB) facilities now under construction. Emphasis will be placed on those sources which have demonstrated high ionization efficiency, species versatility, and operational reliability and which have been carefully designed for safe handling in the high level radioactivity radiation fields incumbent at such facilities. Brief discussions will also be made of the fundamental processes which affect the realizable beam intensities in target-ion sources. Among the sources which will be reviewed will be selected examples of state-of-the-art electron-beam plasma-type ion sources, thermal-ionization, surface-ionization, ECR, and selectively chosen ion source concepts which show promise for radioactive ion beam generation. A few advanced, chemically selective target-ion sources will be described, such as sources based on the use of laser-resonance ionization, which, in principle, offer a more satisfactory solution to isobaric contamination problems than conventional electromagnetic techniques. Particular attention will be given to the sources which have been selected for initial or future use at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility now under construction at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
High efficiency pulse tube cryocoolers for aerospace applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dang, Haizheng
This paper reviews the recent advances in Stirling-type pulse tube cryocoolers for aerospace applications in the author's group. Due to the special environment featuring the limited power supply and adverse rejection condition, high cooler efficiencies are emphasized and thus the approaches to realize them are stressed. The cold fingers involve three geometries, and designs and optimizations on key dimensional parameters of coaxial and in-line ones for given compressors are discussed and compared. The high performance moving-coil linear compressors are studied, and the optimizations on linear motor and flexure springs are briefly reviewed as examples of studies on the key compressor technologies. The mature single-stage coolers cover 25-200 K with the capacities varying from milliwatt levels to over 30 W, and the high efficiencies at typical temperatures such as 40 K, 60 K, 80 K and 95 K are presented. The two-stage arrangement is becoming another trend to achieve cooling below 25 K and also to simultaneously provide cooling powers at both stages. Some typical development programs are introduced and a brief overview of the data package is updated.
Analysis of highly-efficient electric residential HPWHs
Baxter, Van D; Murphy, Richard W; Rice, C Keith; Shen, Bo; Gao, Zhiming
A scoping level analysis was conducted to identify electric HPWH concepts that have the potential to achieve or exceed 30% source energy savings compared to a gas tankless water heater (GTWH) representative of the type represented in version 0.9.5.2 beta of the BEopt software developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The analysis was limited to evaluation of options to improve the energy efficiency of electric HPWH product designs currently on the market in the US. The report first defines the baseline GTWH system and determines its efficiency (source-energy-based adjusted or derated EF of ~0.71). High efficiency components (compressors, pumps, fans, heat exchangers, etc.) were identified and applied to current US HPWH products and analyzed to determine the viability of reaching the target EF. The target site-based energy factor (EF) required for an electric HPWH necessary to provide 30% source energy savings compared to the GTWH baseline unit is then determined to be ~3.19.
High-efficiency integrated piezoelectric energy harvesting systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hande, Abhiman; Shah, Pradeep
This paper describes hierarchically architectured development of an energy harvesting (EH) system that consists of micro and/or macro-scale harvesters matched to multiple components of remote wireless sensor and communication nodes. The micro-scale harvesters consist of thin-film MEMS piezoelectric cantilever arrays and power generation modules in IC-like form to allow efficient EH from vibrations. The design uses new high conversion efficiency thin-film processes combined with novel cantilever structures tuned to multiple resonant frequencies as broadband arrays. The macro-scale harvesters are used to power the collector nodes that have higher power specifications. These bulk harvesters can be integrated with efficient adaptive power management circuits that match transducer impedance and maximize power harvested from multiple scavenging sources with very low intrinsic power consumption. Texas MicroPower, Inc. is developing process based on a composition that has the highest reported energy density as compared to other commercially available bulk PZT-based sensor/actuator ceramic materials and extending it to thin-film materials and miniature conversion transducer structures. The multiform factor harvesters can be deployed for several military and commercial applications such as underground unattended sensors, sensors in oil rigs, structural health monitoring, supply chain management, and battlefield applications such as sensors on soldier apparel, equipment, and wearable electronics.
Efficient image acquisition design for a cancer detection system
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nguyen, Dung; Roehrig, Hans; Borders, Marisa H.; Fitzpatrick, Kimberly A.; Roveda, Janet
Modern imaging modalities, such as Computed Tomography (CT), Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) or Magnetic Resonance Tomography (MRT) are able to acquire volumetric images with an isotropic resolution in micrometer (um) or millimeter (mm) range. When used in interactive telemedicine applications, these raw images need a huge storage unit, thereby necessitating the use of high bandwidth data communication link. To reduce the cost of transmission and enable archiving, especially for medical applications, image compression is performed. Recent advances in compression algorithms have resulted in a vast array of data compression techniques, but because of the characteristics of these images, there are challenges to overcome to transmit these images efficiently. In addition, the recent studies raise the low dose mammography risk on high risk patient. Our preliminary studies indicate that by bringing the compression before the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) stage is more efficient than other compression techniques after the ADC. The linearity characteristic of the compressed sensing and ability to perform the digital signal processing (DSP) during data conversion open up a new area of research regarding the roles of sparsity in medical image registration, medical image analysis (for example, automatic image processing algorithm to efficiently extract the relevant information for the clinician), further Xray dose reduction for mammography, and contrast enhancement.
High energy efficient solid state laser sources
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Byer, Robert L.
Investigations continue of diode-laser-pumped solid-state laser oscillators and nonlinear processes using them as sources. Diode laser array pumped Nd:YAG and Nd:glass lasers have been demonstrated. Theoretical studies of non-planar oscillators have been advanced, producing new designs which should be more resistant to feedback and offer better frequency stability. A monolithic, singly resonant Optical Parametric Oscillator in MgO:LiNbO3 has been operated.
Energy efficient engine high-pressure turbine supersonic cascade technology report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kopper, F. C.; Milano, R.; Davis, R. L.; Dring, R. P.; Stoeffler, R. C.
The performance of two vane endwall geometries and three blade sections for the high-pressure turbine was evaluated in terms of the efficiency requirements of the Energy Efficient Engine high-pressure turbine component. The van endwall designs featured a straight wall and S-wall configuration. The blade designs included a base blade, straightback blade, and overcambered blade. Test results indicated that the S-wall vane configuration and the base blade configuration offered the most promising performance characteristics for the Energy Efficient Engine high-pressure turbine component.
Design of quasi-one-dimensional phononic crystal cavity for efficient photoelastic modulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kim, Ingi; Iwamoto, Satoshi; Arakawa, Yasuhiko
We propose and design a phononic crystal (PnC) cavity for efficient photoelastic modulation. A strongly confined acoustic field in the cavity enhances light-sound interaction, which results in efficient phase modulation of light. As one of the possible configurations, an acoustic cavity formed in a quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) PnC was investigated. By carefully tuning geometrical parameters, we successfully designed a high-Q cavity mode for a longitudinal wave within a complete phononic band gap. The acoustic Q was calculated to be as high as 9.5 × 104. This enables efficient optical modulation by a factor of 2.5 compared with a bar-type structure without PnCs.
Relative Efficiencies and Design Charts for Various Engine-Propeller Combinations, Special Report
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Biermann, David
The relative efficiencies of various engine-propeller combinations were the subject of a study that covered the important flight conditions, particularly the take-off. Design charts that graphically correlate the various propeller parameters were prepared to facilitate the solution of problems and also to c1arify the conception of the relationships of the various engine-propeller design factors. It is shown that, among the many methods for improving the take-off thrust, the use of high-pitch, large-diameter controllable propellers turning at low rotational speeds is probably the most generally promising. With such a combination the take-off thrust may be further increased, at the expense of a small loss in cruising efficiency, by compromise designs wherein the pitch setting is slightly reduced and the diameter is further increased. The degree of compromise necessary to accomplish the maximum possible take-off improvement depends on such design factors as overspeeding and overboosting at take-off as well as depending on the design altitude. Both overspeeding and designing for altitude operation have the same effect on the take-off thrust as compromising in that the propulsive efficiency is increased thereby; boosting the engine, however, has the reverse effect on the propulsive efficiency, although the brake horsepower is increased.
A high-efficiency double quantum dot heat engine
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liu, Y. S.; Yang, X. F.; Hong, X. K.; Si, M. S.; Chi, F.; Guo, Y.
High-efficiency heat engine requires a large output power at the cost of less input heat energy as possible. Here we propose a heat engine composed of serially connected two quantum dots sandwiched between two metallic electrodes. The efficiency of the heat engine can approach the maximum allowable Carnot efficiency ηC. We also find that the strong intradot Coulomb interaction can induce additional work regions for the heat engine, whereas the interdot Coulomb interaction always suppresses the efficiency. Our results presented here indicate a way to fabricate high-efficiency quantum-dot thermoelectric devices.
High efficiency GaP power conversion for Betavoltaic applications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sims, Paul E.; Dinetta, Louis C.; Barnett, Allen M.
AstroPower is developing a gallium phosphide (GaP) based energy converter optimized for radio luminescent light-based power supplies. A 'two-step' or 'indirect' process is used where a phosphor is excited by radioactive decay products to produce light that is then converted to electricity by a photovoltaic energy converter. This indirect conversion of beta-radiation to electrical energy can be realized by applying recent developments in tritium based radio luminescent (RL) light sources in combination with the high conversion efficiencies that can be achieved under low illumination with low leakage, gallium phosphide based devices. This tritium to light approach is inherently safer than battery designs that incorporate high activity radionuclides because the beta particles emitted by tritium are of low average energy and are easily stopped by a thin layer of glass. GaP layers were grown by liquid phase epitaxy and p/n junction devices were fabricated and characterized for low light intensity power conversion. AstroPower has demonstrated the feasibility of the GaP based energy converter with the following key results: 23.54 percent conversion efficiency under 968 muW/sq cm 440 nm blue light, 14.59 percent conversion efficiency for 2.85 muW/sq cm 440 nm blue light, and fabrication of working 5 V array. We have also determined that at least 20 muW/sq cm optical power is available for betavoltaic power systems. Successful developments of this device is an enabling technology for low volume, safe, high voltage, milliwatt power supplies with service lifetimes in excess of 12 years.