This document presents the final report of a study of residential energy use in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. It contains the findings of a household energy-use survey held in Caracas in 1988 and examines options for introducing energy conservation measures in the Venezuelan residential sector. Oil exports form the backbone of the Venezuelan economy. Improving energy efficiency in Venezuela will help free domestic oil resources that can be sold to the rest of the world. Energy conservation will also contribute to a faster recovery of the economy by reducing the need for major investments in new energy facilities, allowing the Venezuelan government to direct its financial investments towards other areas of development. Local environmental benefits will constitute an important additional by-product of implementing energy-efficiency policies in Venezuela. Caracas`s residential sector shows great potential for energy conservation. The sector is characterized by high saturation levels of major appliances, inefficiency of appliances available in the market, and by careless patterns of energy use. Household energy use per capita average 6.5 GJ/per year which is higher than most cities in developing countries; most of this energy is used for cooking. Electricity accounts for 41% of all energy use, while LPG and natural …

This report contains the results of efforts under the six tasks of the Sixth Amendment and Extension of Annex 4, Enhanced Oil Recovery Thermal Processes of the Venezuela/USA Agreement. The report is presented in sections (for each of the 6 tasks) and each section contains one or more reports prepared by various individuals or groups describing the results of efforts under each of the tasks. A statement of each task, taken from the agreement, is presented on the first page of each section. The tasks are numbered 44 through 49. Tasks are: DOE-SUPRI-laboratory research on steam foam, CAT-SCAN, and in-situ combustion; INTEVEP-laboratory research and field projects on steam foam; DOE-NIPER-laboratory research and field projects light oil steam flooding; INTEVEP-laboratory research and field studies on wellbore heat losses; DOE-LLNL-laboratory research and field projects on electromagnetic induction tomography; INTEVEP-laoboratory research on mechanistic studies.

New developments in dry and wet etching, ohmic contacts and epitaxial growth of Ill-V nitrides are reported. These make possible devices such as microdisk laser structures and GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors with improved InN ohmic contacts.

The purpose of this project is to develop and test improved kinetic models of petroleum generation and cracking, pore pressure buildup, and fluid expulsion. The work was performed jointly between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Research Organization of the Venezuelan National Petroleum Company under Annex 12 of an agreement between DOE and the Venezuelan Ministry of Energy and Mines. Laboratory experiments were conducted at both LLNL and INTEVEP to obtain the reaction rate and product composition information needed to develop chemical kinetic models. Experiments at INTEVEP included hydrous pyrolysis and characterization of oils by gas and liquid chromatography. Experiments at LLNL included programmed pyrolysis in open and self-purging reactors, sometimes including on-line gas analysis by tandem mass spectrometry, and characterization of oils by gas chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance. The PMOD code was used to develop a detailed pyrolysis mechanism from the extensive laboratory data. This mechanism is able to predict yield of bitumen, oil, and gas as a function of time and temperature for such diverse laboratory conditions as hydrous pyrolysis and rapid, programmed, open pyrolysis. PMOD calculations were compared to geologic observations for 22 wells in the Maracaibo basin. When permeability parameters are chosen to match calculated pore …

A unified theory of finite sparse matrix techniques based on a literature search and new results is presented. It is intended to aid in computational work and symbolic manipulation of large sparse systems of linear equations. The theory relies on the bijection property of bipartite graph and rectangular Boolean matrix representation. The concept of perfect elimination matrices is extended from the classification under similarity transformations to that under equivalence transformations with permutation matrices. The reducibility problem is treated with a new and simpler proof than found in the literature. A number of useful algorithms are described. The minimum deficiency algorithms are extended to the new classification, where the latter required a different technique of proof. 13 figures, 7 tables.

An understanding of the interactions of neutrons and protons below a few hundred MeV with nuclei is important for a number of applications. In this paper, two new applications are discussed: radiation transport calculations of energy deposition in fast neutron and proton cancer radiotherapy to optimize the dose given to a tumor; and intermediate-energy proton accelerators which are currently being designed for a range of applications including the destruction of long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. We describe nuclear theory calculations of direct, preequilibrium, and compound nucleus reaction mechanisms important for the modeling of these systems.

As part of a continuing study of the physics of matter under extreme conditions, I give some results on matter at extremely low density. In particular I compare a quantum mechanical calculation of the pressure for atomic hydrogen with the corresponding pressure given by Thomas-Fermi theory. (This calculation differs from the ``confined atom`` approximation in a physically significant way.) Since Thomas-Fermi theory in some sense, represents the case of infinite nuclear charge, these cases should represent extremes. Comparison is also made with Saha theory, which considers ionization from a chemical point of view, but is weak on excited-state effects. In this theory, the pressure undergoes rapid variation as electron ionization levels are passed. This effect is in contrast to the smooth behavior of the Thomas-Fermi fixed temperature, complete ionization occurs in the low density limit, I study the case where the temperature goes appropriately to zero with the density. Although considerable modification is required, Saha theory is closer to the actual results for this case than is Thomas-Fermi theory.

Soils contaminated with petroleum by-products can now be effectively remediated using a variety of technologies. Among these are in-situ bioremediation, land farming, and landfill/replacing of soil. The range of efficiencies and cost effectiveness of these technologies has been well documented. Exsorbet Plus is showing promise as an in-situ bioremediation agent. It is made of naturally grown Spaghnum Peat Moss which has been activated for encapsulation and blended with nitrogen-rich fertilizer. In its initial field test in Caracas, Venezuela, it was able to remediate crude oil-contaminated soil in 90 days at less than half of the cost of competing technologies. Waste Solutions, Corp and the US Department of Energy signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to test Exsorbet Plus at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center near Casper, Wyoming. As part of the test, soil contaminated with crude oil was treated with Exsorbet Plus to aid the in-situ bioremediation process. Quantitative total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) measurements were acquired comparing the performance of Exsorbet Plus with an adjacent plot undergoing unaided in-situ bioremediation.

Some types of oil and gas production and processing wastes contain naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). If NORM is present at concentrations above regulatory levels in oil field waste, the waste requires special disposal practices. The existing disposal options for wastes containing NORM are limited and costly. This paper evaluates the legality, technical feasibility, economics, and human health risk of disposing of NORM-contaminated oil field wastes in salt caverns. Cavern disposal of NORM waste is technically feasible and poses a very low human health risk. From a legal perspective, there are no fatal flaws that would prevent a state regulatory agency from approving cavern disposal of NORM. On the basis of the costs charged by caverns currently used for disposal of nonhazardous oil field waste (NOW), NORM waste disposal caverns could be cost competitive with existing NORM waste disposal methods when regulatory agencies approve the practice.

Most of the published theoretical and calculational effort on unsupported, ordered, ultra-thin films (``UTF``) in vacuo has focused on the thickest computationally feasible systems as models for surface properties of semi-infinite slabs. Crystalline periodic length scales in two cartesian dimensions combined with molecular- scale thickness in the third, however, make UTF`s strong candidates for the occurrence of quantum interference effects. Many UTF properties were predicted first from jellium slab models. A noteworthy prediction was that there would be large oscillations in the work function as a function of layer number. Extensive calculations on a variety of N-layers (N = 1,2,3... atomic planes) using all-electron, full-potential, local-spin-density approximation techniques show that the work function oscillation is weaker than expected but that there are significant layer-number dependences in the equilibrium lattice parameters, inter-planar spacings, electronic structure, density of states, and electronic stopping power. This paper reviews our own calculations as well as some others. Our objectives include the discernment of systematics within UTF`s, systematics in relationship to their counterpart crystals, relationship with surface properties, and appraisal of challenges to current models and methods.

In two dimensional systems in a strong magnetic field, electrons can be transformed into composite Fermions (CF) by attaching to each a fictitious flux tube (carrying flux {Phi}) and fictitious charge q, where the product q{sup {Phi}} is a multiple of 2 {Pi}. In the mean field approximation, this transformation converts a fractionally filled electron Landau level into an integrally filled CF Landau level. This integrally filled CF Landau level corresponds to the ground state of a Laughlin incompressible fluid. Excited states are described by the n{sub QE} and n{sub QH}, the numbers of quasielectron and quasihole CF excitations. For N electrons on the surface of a sphere the energy and angular momentum of a quasihole (or quasielectron) are {var_epsilon}{sub QH} and l{sub QH}=1/2(N+n{sub QH}-n{sub QE}-1) (or {var_epsilon}{sub QE} and l{sub QE}=l{sub QH}+1). The lowest energy sector of the energy spectrum contains the minimum number of CF excitations consistent with the value of N and the degeneracy of the lowest Landau level, 2S+1. The first excited sector contains one additional QE-QH pair. The total angular momentum L is obtained by adding the angular momenta of QE excitations and QH excitations treated as distinguished sets of Fermions. In the absence of …

X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) was used to characterize the structural and electronic properties of a series of cobalt- and nickel-molybdate catalysts (AMoO{sub 4}.nH{sub 2}O, {alpha}-AMoO{sub 4}, {beta}-AMoO{sub 4}; A=Co or Ni). The results of XANES indicate that the Co and Ni atoms are in octahedral sites in all these compounds, while the coordination of Mo varies from octahedral in the {alpha}-phases to tetrahedral in the {beta}-phases and hydrate. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction shows a direct transformation of the hydrates into the {beta}-AMoO{sub 4} compounds (following a kinetics of first order) at temperatures between 200 and 350{degrees}C. This is facilitated by the similarities that the AMoO{sub 4}.nH{sub 2}O and H{sub 2} at temperatures between 400 and 600{degrees}C, forming gaseous water oxides in which the oxidation state of Co and Ni remains +2 while that of Mo is reduced to +5 or +4. After exposing {alpha}-NiMoO{sub 4} and {beta}-NiMoO{sub 4} to H{sub 2}S, both metals get sulfided and a NiMoS{sub x} phase is formed. For the {beta} phase of NiMoO{sub 4} the sulfidation of Mo is more extensive than for the {alpha} phase, making the former a better precursor for catalysts of hydrodesulfurization reactions.

On March 6, 1980, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Venezuela (MEMV) entered into a joint agreement which included analysis of heavy crude oils from the Venezuelan Orinoco oil belt.The purpose of this report is to present compositional data and describe new analytical methods obtained from work on the Cerro Negro Orinoco belt crude oil since 1980. Most of the chapters focus on the methods rather than the resulting data on Cerro Negro oil, and results from other oils obtained during the verification of the method are included. In addition, published work on analysis of heavy oils, tar sand bitumens, and like materials is reviewed, and the overall state of the art in analytical methodology for heavy fossil liquids is assessed. The various phases of the work included: distillation and determination of routine'' physical/chemical properties (Chapter 1); preliminary separation of >200{degree}C distillates and the residue into acid, base, neutral, saturated hydrocarbon and neutral-aromatic concentrates (Chapter 2); further separation of acid, base, and neutral concentrates into subtypes (Chapters 3-5); and determination of the distribution of metal-containing compounds in all fractions (Chapter 6).

This report identifies the most important results of a comparative analysis of household commercial energy use in Venezuelan urban cities. The use of modern fuels is widespread among all cities. Cooking consumes the largest share of urban household energy use. The survey documents no use of biomass and a negligible use of kerosene for cooking. LPG, natural gas, and kerosene are the main fuels available. LPG is the fuel choice of low-income households in all cities except Maracaibo, where 40% of all households use natural gas. Electricity consumption in Venezuela`s urban households is remarkably high compared with the levels used in households in comparable Latin American countries and in households of industrialized nations which confront harsher climatic conditions and, therefore, use electricity for water and space heating. The penetration of appliances in Venezuela`s urban households is very high. The appliances available on the market are inefficient, and there are inefficient patterns of energy use among the population. Climate conditions and the urban built form all play important roles in determining the high level of energy consumption in Venezuelan urban households. It is important to acknowledge the opportunities for introducing energy efficiency and conservation in Venezuela`s residential sector, particularly given current …

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The Thermal Oil Production Research Group at NIPER has conducted research on behalf of the US Department of Energy on thermal methods of oil production (steam and for 1 year, in situ combustion) since 1983. Research projects performed by this group have attempted to adapt to the needs and direction of the DOE`s oil research program and that of industry. This report summarizes the research that has been conducted, analyses the contributions of the research, describes how the technology was transferred to potential users, analyzes current trends in thermal research and thermal oil production, and makes suggestions for future research where NIPER could contribute to advances in thermal oil production.

The use of LiChrospher and LiChrosorb to obtain profiles of molecular weight distributions is shown for some petroleum crudes, pitches, and asphaltenes. The elution time was less than thirty minutes, and data were obtained on less than 16 ..mu..g of sample.

This project involves an open-ended, continuous process of information gathering with respect to Latin American and Caribbean environmental issues. This entails the development of contacts with individuals and institutions conducting research and work on issues of sustainability and environmental technology in the Americas. As part of this phase, a database containing information on firms, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governmental institutions, and other participants in Latin America's environmental sector was developed and is continually being updated. In addition, FIU-HCET's efforts were geared toward determining environmental technological needs in different parts of the region and identifying the most significant and lucrative markets. The project requires that FIU-HCET continually cement those contacts already established, continue updating the database to be made available to external users, and identify U.S. companies with the necessary expertise to participate in the Latin American and Caribbean markets. To aid in this endeavor, comprehensive, country-specific studies of the market for environmental goods and services are drafted and published by FIU-HCET. FIU-HCET, with sponsorship from OST, will make new, innovative, and more cost-effective technologies available for transfer throughout the Western Hemisphere. Environmental/energy technology development projects encompass the range of problems experienced by LACN. This includes mixed waste characterization and treatment, soils …

This report sets forth the rationale and need for the task. It provides SERI's program statement, activities engaged in, and a discussion of the several visits with accompanying names of international visitors. Approximately 80 international visitors representing 38 countries visited SERI for purposes of information exchange during the reporting period.

In 1964, John A. Blume & Associates Research Division (Blume) began a broad-range structural response program to assist the Nevada Operations Office of the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in ensuring the continued safe conduct of underground nuclear detonation testing at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and elsewhere. Blume`s long experience in earthquake engineering provided a general basis for the program, but much more specialized knowledge was required for the AEC`s purposes. Over the next 24 years Blume conducted a major research program to provide essential understanding of the detailed nature of the response of structures to dynamic loads such as those imposed by seismic wave propagation. The program`s results have been embodied in a prediction technology which has served to provide reliable advanced knowledge of the probable effects of seismic ground motion on all kinds of structures, for use in earthquake engineering and in building codes as well as for the continuing needs of the US Department of Energy`s Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV). This report is primarily an accounting of the Blume work, beginning with the setting in 1964 and the perception of the program needs as envisioned by Dr. John A. Blume. Subsequent chapters describe the structural response …

This report summarizes NIPER's research on four interrelated topics for Light Oil Steamflooding. Four interrelated topics are described: The methodology for measuring capillary pressure and wettability at elevated temperature, the use of silylating agents to convert water-wet Berea sandstones or unconsolidated quartz sands to oil-wetted surfaces, the evaluation of the thermal hydrolytic stability of these oil-wet surfaces for possible use in laboratory studies using steam and hot water to recover oil, and the effect of porous media of different wettabilities on oil recovery where the porous media is first waterflooded and then steamflooded.

This report summarizes NIPER`s research on four interrelated topics for Light Oil Steamflooding. Four interrelated topics are described: The methodology for measuring capillary pressure and wettability at elevated temperature, the use of silylating agents to convert water-wet Berea sandstones or unconsolidated quartz sands to oil-wetted surfaces, the evaluation of the thermal hydrolytic stability of these oil-wet surfaces for possible use in laboratory studies using steam and hot water to recover oil, and the effect of porous media of different wettabilities on oil recovery where the porous media is first waterflooded and then steamflooded.

This report summarizes the progress of the research performed by the Stanford University Petroleum Research Institute (SUPRI) during the past three years. Some of SUPRI`s past results are discussed briefly for the following five projects: flow properties studies;in-situ combustion; additives to improve mobility control; reservoir definition; and support services. Abstracts of technical reports published from 1990--1993 are also included.

This report summarizes the progress of the research performed by the Stanford University Petroleum Research Institute (SUPRI) during the past three years. Some of SUPRI's past results are discussed briefly for the following five projects: flow properties studies;in-situ combustion; additives to improve mobility control; reservoir definition; and support services. Abstracts of technical reports published from 1990--1993 are also included.