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For a series plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), it is critical that batteries be sized to maximize vehicle performance variables, such as fuel efficiency, gasoline savings, and zero emission capability. The wide range of design choices and the cost of prototype vehicles calls for a development process to quickly and systematically determine the design characteristics of the battery pack, including its size, and vehicle-level control parameters that maximize the net present value (NPV) of a vehicle during the planning stage. Argonne National Laboratory has developed Autonomie, a modeling and simulation framework. With support from The MathWorks, Argonne has integrated an optimization algorithm and parallel computing tools to enable the aforementioned development process. This paper presents a study that utilized the development process, where the NPV is the present value of all the future expenses and savings associated with the vehicle.

The general benefits of automation are well documented. Order of magnitude improvements are achievable in processing speeds, production rates, and efficiency. Other benefits include improved process consistency (inversely, reduced process variation), reduced waste and energy consumption, and risk reduction to operators. These benefits are especially true for the automation of the aerospace paint removal (or "depaint") processes. Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) developed and implemented two systems in the early 1990s for depainting full-body fighter aircraft at Robins Air Force Base (AFB) at Warner Robins, Georgia, and Hill AFB at Ogden, Utah. These systems have been in production use, almost continuously for approximately 20 years, for the depainting of the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Falcon fighter aircraft, respectively.

It is estimated that operating continuously on a B20 fuel containing the current allowable ASTM specification limits for metal impurities in biodiesel could result in a doubling of ash exposure relative to lube-oil-derived ash. The purpose of this study was to determine if a fuel containing metals at the ASTM limits could cause adverse impacts on the performance and durability of diesel emission control systems. An accelerated durability test method was developed to determine the potential impact of these biodiesel impurities. The test program included engine testing with multiple DPF substrate types as well as DOC and SCR catalysts. The results showed no significant degradation in the thermo-mechanical properties of cordierite, aluminum titanate, or silicon carbide DPFs after exposure to 150,000 mile equivalent biodiesel ash and thermal aging. However, exposure of a cordierite DPF to 435,000 mile equivalent aging resulted in a 69% decrease in the thermal shock resistance parameter.

Total and solid particle mass, size, and number were measured in the dilute exhaust of a 2009 vehicle equipped with a gasoline direct injection engine along with an exhaust three-way-catalyst. The measurements were performed over the FTP-75 and the US06 drive cycles using three different U.S. commercially available fuels, Fuels A, B, and C, where Fuel B was the most volatile and Fuel C was the least volatile with higher fractions of low vapor pressure hydrocarbons (C10 to C12), compared to the other two fuels. Substantial differences in particle mass and number emission levels were observed among the different fuels tested. The more volatile gasoline fuel, Fuel B, resulted in the lowest total (solid plus volatile) and solid particle mass and number emissions. This fuel resulted in a 62 percent reduction in solid particle number and an 88 percent reduction in soot mass during the highest emitting cold-start phase, Phasel, of the FTP-75, compared to Fuel C.

The minimum oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions over the U.S. Federal Test Procedure (FTP) using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) were investigated on a heavy-duty diesel engine featuring a pump-line-nozzle fuel injection system. Due to the technical merits of electronic fuel injection systems, most accounts of EGR system development for heavy-duty diesel engines have focused on these types of engines and not engines with mechanical fuel systems. This work details use of a high-pressure-loop EGR configuration and a novel, computer-controlled, EGR valve that allowed for optimizing the EGR rate as a function of speed and load on a 6L, turbo-charged/intercooled engine. Cycle NOx levels were reduced nearly 50 percent to 2.3 g/hp-hr using conventional diesel fuel and application of only EGR, but particulates increased nearly three-fold even with the standard oxidation catalyst employed.

The proliferation and growth of microorganisms in the Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has been of significant concern since 2001. Initial testing and assessments of biocides to determine bacterial disinfection capability, material compatibility, stability (rate of oxidative degradation and identification of degradation products), solubility, application methodology, impact on coolant toxicity hazard level, and impact on environmental control and life support systems identified a prioritized list of acceptable biocidal agents including glutaraldehyde, ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA), and methyl isothiazolone. Glutaraldehyde at greater than 25 ppm was eliminated due to NASA concerns with safety and toxicity and methyl isothiazolone was eliminated from further consideration due to ineffectiveness against biofilms and toxicity at higher concentrations.

In 2007, the architecture of the Orion Environmental Control and Life Support System went through a major reassessment driven by overall vehicle weight considerations. The changes were initiated with the challenge to switch from a two fault tolerant based configuration to one that is one fault tolerant. This paper describes this design evolution.

Model-based control system design improves quality, shortens development time, lowers engineering cost, and reduces rework. Evaluating a control system's performance, functionality, and robustness in a simulation environment avoids the time and expense of developing hardware and software for each design iteration. Simulating the performance of a design can be straightforward (though sometimes tedious, depending on the complexity of the system being developed) with mathematical models for the hardware components of the system (plant models) and control algorithms for embedded controllers. This paper describes a software tool and a methodology that not only allows a complete system simulation to be performed early in the product design cycle, but also greatly facilitates the construction of the model by automatically connecting the components and subsystems that comprise it.

Hypothermia is a well documented problem for surgical patients and is historically addressed by the use of a variety of warming aids and devices applied to the patient before, during, and after surgery. Their effectiveness is limited in many surgeries by practical constraints of surgical access, and hypothermia remains a significant concern. Increasing the temperature of the operating room has been proposed as an alternative solution. However, operating room temperatures must be cool enough to limit thermal stress on the surgical team despite the heat transport barriers imposed by protective sterile garments. Space technology in the form of the liquid cooling garment worn by EVA astronauts answers this need. Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International (HSSSI) has been working with Hartford Hospital to adapt liquid cooling garment technology for use by surgical teams in order to allow them to work comfortably in warmer operating room environments.

NASA has long recognized the advantages of providing improved information interfaces to EVA astronauts and has pursued this goal through a number of development programs over the past decade. None of these activities or parallel efforts in industry and academia has so far resulted in the development of an operational system to replace or augment the current extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) Display and Controls Module (DCM) display and cuff checklist. Recent advances in display, communications, and information processing technologies offer exciting new opportunities for EVA information interfaces that can better serve the needs of a variety of NASA missions. Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International (HSSSI) has been collaborating with Simon Fraser University and others on the NASA Haughton Mars Project and with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boeing, and Symbol Technologies in investigating these possibilities.

The demands of future NASA exploration and scientific missions in space force the reevaluation of some of the basic assumptions and approaches that underlie current extravehicular activity (EVA) systems. Developing designs that can simultaneously achieve the advanced capabilities and the reductions in system mass and mission expendables targeted by NASA has proven to be a formidable challenge. The constraints of human needs, space environments, and current EVA system architectures demand technical capabilities beyond current expectations to achieve system goals. Under NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) sponsorship, Hamilton Sundstrand has been studying a new system paradigm to achieve the EVA system goals. The Chameleon Suit concept employs an active pressure suit that directly interacts between human systems and space environments.

Hamilton Sundstrand has been working on the development of a new cryogenic flow boiler based on its patented compact, high-intensity cooler (CHIC) technology intended to provide low weight and volume and overcome freezing problems associated with cryogen use in EVA spacesuit cooling. Tests of the prototype device resulting from that effort have now been completed. The test data demonstrate that the design is extremely resistant to freezing the heat transport fluid as anticipated. Highly effective heat transfer is achieved in a compact device combining the functions of several conventional heat exchangers. This novel heat exchanger, a “normal flow” layered impingement arrangement should provide a very compact solution to any heat transfer applications where the cold fluid operates below the warm fluid's freezing point. Test results are generally consistent with design analyses for the prototype.

Catalytic oxidation is an effective means of controlling the build up of ammonia and other trace gas contaminants within closed spaces. However, it sometimes leads to the formation of noxious gases that need to be removed in post-treatment systems. In addition, ammonia removal is an issue when regeneration of water from wastewater is considered since ammonia is a byproduct of urea decomposition. For example, the VPCAR (Vapor Phase Catalytic Ammonia Reduction) advanced water processor system includes an oxidation reactor for the destruction of ammonia and of other volatile organics that are not separated out in the evaporator due to their volatility. The oxidation of ammonia may produce nitrogen, nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and water vapor. The Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentration (SMAC) for NO and NO2 are respectively 4.5 and 0.5 ppm whereas the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for N2O is 25 ppm.

The International Space Station (ISS) IATCS (Internal Active Thermal Control System) includes two internal coolant loops that use an aqueous based coolant for heat transfer. A silver salt biocide was used initially as an additive in the coolant formulation to control the growth and proliferation of microorganisms in the coolant loops. Ground-based and in-flight testing has demonstrated that the silver salt is rapidly depleted and not effective as a long-term biocide. Efforts are now underway to select an alternate biocide for the IATCS coolant loop with greatly improved performance. An extensive evaluation of biocides was conducted to select several candidates for test trials.

The purification of waste water is a critical element of any long-duration space mission. The Vapor Phase Catalytic Ammonia Removal (VPCAR) system offers the promise of a technology requiring low quantities of expendable material that is suitable for exploration missions. NASA has funded an effort to produce an engineering development unit specifically targeted for integration into the NASA Johnson Space Center's Integrated Human Exploration Mission Simulation Facility (INTEGRITY) formally known in part as the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Test Complex (Bio-Plex) and the Advanced Water Recovery System Development Facility. The system includes a Wiped-Film Rotating-Disk (WFRD) evaporator redesigned with micro-gravity operation enhancements, which evaporates wastewater and produces water vapor with only volatile components as contaminants. Volatile contaminants, including organics and ammonia, are oxidized in a catalytic reactor while they are in the vapor phase.

The Conductivity Sensor designed for use in the Node 3 Water Processor Assembly (WPA) was based on the existing Space Shuttle application for the fuel cell water system. However, engineering analysis has determined that this sensor design is potentially sensitive to two- phase fluid flow (gas/liquid) in microgravity. The source for this sensitivity is the fact that free gas will become lodged between the sensor probe and the wall of the housing without the aid of buoyancy in 1-g. Once gas becomes lodged in the housing, the measured conductivity will be offset based on the volume of occluded gas. A development conductivity sensor was flown on the NASA Microgravity Plane (KC-135) to measure the offset, which was determined to range between 0 and 50%. This range approximates the offset experienced in 1-g gas sensitivity testing.

Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Inc. (HSSSI) is under contract to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to develop a Water Processor Assembly (WPA) and Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) for the international Space Station (ISS). The WPA produces potable quality water from humidity condensate, carbon dioxide reduction water, water obtained from fuel cells, reclaimed urine distillate, hand wash and oral hygiene waste waters. The Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) electrolyzes potable water from the Water Recovery System (WRS) to provide gaseous oxygen to the Space Station module atmosphere. The OGA produces oxygen for metabolic consumption by crew and biological specimens. The OGA also replenishes oxygen lost by experiment ingestion, airlock depressurization, CO2 venting, and leakage. As a byproduct, gaseous hydrogen is generated. The hydrogen will be supplied at a specified pressure range to support future utilization.

Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Inc. (HSSSI) is under contract to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to develop a Water Processor Assembly (WPA) and Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) for the International Space Station (ISS). The WPA produces potable quality water from humidity condensate, carbon dioxide reduction water, water obtained from fuel cells, reclaimed urine distillate, shower, handwash and oral hygiene waste waters. The Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) electrolyzes potable water from the Water Recovery System (WRS) to provide gaseous oxygen to the Space Station module atmosphere. The OGA produces oxygen for metabolic consumption by crew and biological specimens. The OGA also replenishes oxygen lost by experiment ingestion, airlock depressurization, CO2 venting, and leakage. As a byproduct, gaseous hydrogen is generated. The hydrogen will be supplied at a specified pressure range to support future utilization.

Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International (HSSSI) has been conducting an internal research and development study of an integrated portable life support system design for advanced exploration missions. This design combines several new subsystem and component concepts to achieve dramatic reductions in system weight and consumables and increased reliability and safety. The study includes the design and manufacture of subsystems and components and the assembly and test of an integrated bench top system prototype. The system design and the results of testing and analysis are described.

The Water Processor developed for the International Space Station includes a high temperature catalytic reactor that utilizes oxygen gas to oxidize dissolved chemicals. The effluent from the reactor is a mixture of gases (O2, CO2, N2) and hot water. Since the crew has requested that drinking water does not contain any free gas at body temperature (37.8 °C or 100 °F), a phase separator operating at elevated temperatures is required downstream of the catalytic reactor. For this application, Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International (HSSSI) has developed a passive Gas Liquid Separator (GLS) that relies on a positive barrier - a membrane - to extract the free gas from the inlet two-phase mixture. The membrane selected is a hollow fiber hydrophobic asymmetric membrane with pore size in the ultra-filtration range. This paper outlines the challenges in both design and operation that were overcome during the development of this device.