Gary J Capps

Laser-induced fluorescence of phosphors for remote cryogenic thermometry

Remote cryogenic temperature measurements can be made by inducing fluorescence in phosphors with temperature-dependent emissions and measuring the emission lifetimes. The thermographic phosphor technique can be used for making precision, noncontact, cryogenic-temperature measurements in electrically hostile environments, such as high dc electric or magnetic fields. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is interested in using these thermographic phosphors for mapping hot spots on cryogenic tank walls. Europium-doped lanthanum oxysulfide (La2O2S:Eu) and magnesium fluorogermanate doped with manganese (Mg4FGeO6:Mn) are suitable for low-temperature surface thermometry. Several emission lines, excited by a 337-nm ultraviolet laser, provide fluorescence lifetimes having logarithmic dependence with temperature from 4 to above 125 K. A calibration curve for both La2O2S:Eu and Mg4FGeO6:Mn is presented, as well as emission spectra taken at room temperature and 11 K.

Tracking Systems Evaluation for the “Hybrid Lighting System”

As part of the design and development effort for the “Hybrid Lighting System,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) scientists have evaluated two potential candidate-tracking systems for the solar collector. The first system, the WattSun Solar Tracker, built by Array Technologies, utilizes a patented, closed loop, optical sun sensor to sense the sun’s position and track it. The second tracking system, SolarTrak Controller, built by Enhancement Electronics, Inc., is a micro controller-based tracking system. The SolarTrak micro controller-based Tracker’s sun position is determined by computing the celestial bearing of the sun with respect to the earth using the local time, date, latitude, longitude and time zone rather than sensing the relative bearing of the sun with optical receptors. This system connects directly to the mechanical system hardware supplied by Array Technologies. Both the WattSun Solar Tracker and the SolarTrak Controller were mounted on the prototype “Hybrid Lighting” mechanical system (array) hardware. A simple switch allowed independent testing of each system. Upon completion of the evaluation of the two systems we found the WattSun Solar Tracker controller to be unacceptable for use with our prototype hybrid lighting system. The SolarTrak Controller has performed well to date and provides suitable tracking accuracy for use with our prototype “Hybrid Lighting System”. After a six-month evaluation period at ORNL, the first prototype “Hybrid Lighting System” was installed at Ohio University as part of an “Enhanced Practical Photosynthetic CO2 Mitigation.” This document will highlight the results of the tracker investigation and outline the remaining issues to be addressed, to provide a suitable tracking system for our “Hybrid Lighting” collector.© 2003 ASME

Evaluating thermographic phosphors in an operating turbine engine

The results of a field test in a commercial turbine engine showed that we can remotely measure the temperature of engine components in operating engines using thermographic phosphors. The remote-measurement method exploits the temperature dependence of the characteristic decay time of the laser-induced fluorescence of thermographic phosphors. This paper summarizes recent work leading up to and including a successful test of the thermographic-phosphor method in an operating turbine engine.Copyright

Truck rollover characterization for class-8 tractor-trailers utilizing standard dual tires and new-generation single tires

OVERVIEW The Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization Project is a USDOT-sponsored research effort conducted through its University Transportation Centers (UTCs) Program through the National Transportation Research Center, Inc. (NTRCI), located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The research is being conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in partnership with Michelin Americas Research and Development Corporation (Michelin), Western Michigan University, Battelle, Volvo Trucks North America, Clemson University and Dana Corporation. The long term fivephase project will: (1) contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of heavy truck rollover; (2) contribute to the development of advanced models of heavy truck vehicle dynamics that reflect project experiences, and (3) develop recommendations for improvement of the roll stability of heavy vehicles and testing such realizations in an integrated tractortrailer concept. The five phases include: Phase 1 Tractor-Box-Trailer Characterization with Standard Dual Tires; Phase 2 Tractor-Box-Trailer Characterization with New Generation Single Wide-Based Tires (NGSWBTs) and a wider-slider trailer suspension; Phase A Tractor-Flat-Bed Trailer with standard dual tires, NGSWBTs, and Electronic Stability Control; Phase B Tractor-Tanker with technologies yet to be determined; and Phase C Development of an Integrated Tractor-Trailer Concept building on the lessons learned from the previous four phases – the SafeTruck Concept.

First-generation hybrid solar lighting collector system development and operating experience

Research is underway at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that could lead to entirely new, highly energy-efficient ways of lighting buildings using the power of sunlight. In addition to providing light, the hybrid lighting system will convert sunlight to electricity much more efficiently than conventional solar technologies using thermo-photovoltaic cells. In commercial buildings today, lighting consumes more electric energy than any other building end-use. It accounts for more than a third of all electricity consumed for commercial use in the United States. Typically, less than 25% of that energy actually produces light; the rest generates heat that increases the need for air-conditioning. ORNL is developing a system to reduce the energy required for lighting and the air-conditioning loads associated with it, while generating power for other uses. The system uses roof-mounted concentrators to collect and separate the visible and infrared portions of sunlight. The visible portion is distributed through large-diameter optical fibers to hybrid luminaires. (Hybrid luminaires are lighting fixtures that contain both electric lamps and fiber optics for direct sunlight distribution.) When sunlight is plentiful, the fiber optics in the luminaries, provide all or most of the light needed in an area. Unlike conventional electric lamps, they produce little heat. During times of little or no sunlight, sensor-controlled electric lamps will operate to maintain the desired illumination level. A second use of the hybrid lighting collector system is to provide sunlight for enhanced practical photosynthesis carbon dioxide mitigation. In this project the hybrid lighting collector system is being used to provide sunlight to a lab-scale photobioreactor for growing algae that is being used for CO2 mitigation. The end goal of this project is to provide a photobioreactor that can be used to mitigate CO2 in fossil fuel fire power plants. This paper will discuss the development and operating experience to date of two hybrid lighting solar collectors installed at ORNL and at Ohio University. The first hybrid lighting collector system was tested at ORNL and then installed at Ohio University in June of 2002. A second collector of the same design was installed at ORNL in September of 2002. The Ohio University collector system has been running continually since its installation while the ORNL unit has been operated in a research mode on most sunny days. They have operated with very little human interaction and this paper will summarize the development, operating experience, collection efficiency, as well as providing information on additional data being collected as part of the system operation.

Supply Chain-Based Solution to Prevent Fuel Tax Evasion: Final Report

The primary source of funding for the United States transportation system is derived from motor fuel and other highway use taxes. Loss of revenue attributed to fuel-tax evasion has been assessed to be somewhere between

Supply Chain Based Solution to Prevent Fuel Tax Evasion: Proof of Concept Final Report

1 billion per year, or approximately 25% of the total tax collected. Any solution that addresses this problem needs to include not only the tax-collection agencies and auditors, but also the carriers transporting oil products and the carriers customers. This paper presents a system developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Federal Highway Administration which has the potential to reduce or eliminate many fuel-tax evasion schemes. The solution balances the needs of tax-auditors and those of the fuel-hauling companies and their customers. The technology was deployed and successfully tested during an eight-month period on a real-world fuel-hauling fleet. Day-to-day operations of the fleet were minimally affected by their interaction with this system. The results of that test are discussed in this paper.

Wireless Roadside Inspection Phase II Tennessee Commercial Mobile Radio Services Pilot Test Final Report

The goal of this research was to provide a proof-of-concept (POC) system for preventing non-taxable (non-highway diesel use) or low-taxable (jet fuel) petrochemical products from being blended with taxable fuel products and preventing taxable fuel products from cross-jurisdiction evasion. The research worked to fill the need to validate the legitimacy of individual loads, offloads, and movements by integrating and validating, on a near-real-time basis, information from global positioning system (GPS), valve sensors, level sensors, and fuel-marker sensors.

Fiber-optic sensors for composite cure analysis and lifetime nondestructive evaluation

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI) Program is researching the feasibility and value of electronically assessing truck and bus driver and vehicle safety at least 25 times more often than is possible using only roadside physical inspections. The WRI program is evaluating the potential benefits to both the motor carrier industry and to government. These potential benefits include reduction in accidents, fatalities and injuries on our highways and keeping safe and legal drivers and vehicles moving on the highways. WRI Pilot tests were conducted to prototype, test and demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of electronically collecting safety data message sets from in-service commercial vehicles and performing wireless roadside inspections using three different communication methods. This report summarizes the design, conduct and results of the Tennessee CMRS WRI Pilot Test. The purpose of this Pilot test was to demonstrate the implementation of commercial mobile radio services to electronically request and collect safety data message sets from a limited number of commercial vehicles operating in Tennessee. The results of this test have been used in conjunction with the results of the complimentary pilot tests to support an overall assessment of the feasibility and benefits of WRI in enhancing motor carrier safety (reduction in accidents) due to increased compliance (change in motor carrier and driver behavior) caused by conducting frequent safety inspections electronically, at highway speeds, without delay or need to divert into a weigh station

System and methods for accurately weighing and characterizing moving vehicles

A proposed multiplexed fiber-optic sensor system capable of analyzing a composite material during its curing cycle and over its service lifetime is presented. The sensor is composed of two independent sensing schemes that will ultimately be multiplexed onto a specialized single-mode/multimode optical fiber. The first sensing scheme is a fiber-optic viscosity and temperature sensor used for composite cure analyses. This sensor is based on (1) the laser-induced viscosity-dependent fluorescence phenomena observed in epoxy-based composite materials and (2) the temperature-dependent decay-time fluorescence phenomena observed in thermographic phosphors. The second sensor is based on a low-finesse, single-mode fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer and is used as a strain/vibration sensor for lifetime nondestructive evaluations on composites. Experimental results have determined that these sensor concepts are feasible alternatives to cure-analysis monitors and conventional strain-analysis techniques.A proposed multiplexed fiber-optic sensor system capable of analyzing a composite material during its curing cycle and over its service lifetime is presented. The sensor is composed of two independent sensing schemes that will ultimately be multiplexed onto a specialized single-mode/multimode optical fiber. The first sensing scheme is a fiber-optic viscosity and temperature sensor used for composite cure analyses. This sensor is based on (1) the laser-induced viscosity-dependent fluorescence phenomena observed in epoxy-based composite materials and (2) the temperature-dependent decay-time fluorescence phenomena observed in thermographic phosphors. The second sensor is based on a low-finesse, single-mode fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer and is used as a strain/vibration sensor for lifetime nondestructive evaluations on composites. Experimental results have determined that these sensor concepts are feasible alternatives to cure-analysis monitors and conventional strain-analysis techniques.