This study investigated potential biological effects of produced water contamination derived from occasional surface overflow and possible subsurface intrusion at an oil production site along the shore of Skiatook Lake, Oklahoma. We monitored basic chemistry and acute toxicity to a suite of standard aquatic test species (fathead minnow-Pimephales promelas, Daphnia pulex, Daphnia magna, and Ceriodaphnia dubia) in produced water and in samples taken from shallow groundwater wells on the site. Toxicity identification evaluations and ion toxicity modeling were used to identify toxic constituents in the samples. Lake sediment at the oil production site and at a reference site were also analyzed for brine intrusion chemically and by testing sediment toxicity using the benthic invertebrates, Chironomus dilutus, and Hyallela azteca. Sediment quality was also assessed with in situ survival and growth studies with H. azteca and the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea, and by benthic macroinvertebrate community sampling. The produced water was acutely toxic to the aquatic test organisms at concentrations ranging from 1% to 10% of the whole produced water sample. Toxicity identification evaluation and ion toxicity modeling indicated major ion salts and hydrocarbons were the primary mixture toxicants. The standardized test species used in the laboratory bioassays exhibited differences in …

Our program was a materials intensive one, based on preparing new materials for phosphorescent based white organic LEDs (WOLEDs). Each of the principal projects are summarized.

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has pursued a research program for producing activated carbon from North Dakota lignite that can be competitive with commercial-grade activated carbon. As part of this effort, small-scale production of activated carbon was produced from Fort Union lignite. A conceptual design of a commercial activated carbon production plant was drawn, and a market assessment was performed to determine likely revenue streams for the produced carbon. Activated carbon was produced from lignite coal in both laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactors and in a small pilot-scale rotary kiln. The EERC was successfully able to upgrade the laboratory-scale activated carbon production system to a pilot-scale rotary kiln system. The activated carbon produced from North Dakota lignite was superior to commercial grade DARCO{reg_sign} FGD and Rheinbraun's HOK activated coke product with respect to iodine number. The iodine number of North Dakota lignite-derived activated carbon was between 600 and 800 mg I{sub 2}/g, whereas the iodine number of DARCO FGD was between 500 and 600 mg I{sub 2}/g, and the iodine number of Rheinbraun's HOK activated coke product was around 275 mg I{sub 2}/g. The EERC performed both bench-scale and pilot-scale mercury capture tests using the activated carbon made under various …

The objective of this program was to quantify the emissions from heavy-duty vehicles operating on alternative fuels or advanced fuel blends, often with novel engine technology or aftertreatment. In the first year of the program West Virginia University (WVU) researchers determined that a transportable chassis dynamometer emissions measurement approach was required so that fleets of trucks and buses did not need to be ferried across the nation to a fixed facility. A Transportable Heavy-Duty Vehicle Emissions Testing Laboratory (Translab) was designed, constructed and verified. This laboratory consisted of a chassis dynamometer semi-trailer and an analytic trailer housing a full scale exhaust dilution tunnel and sampling system which mimicked closely the system described in the Code of Federal Regulations for engine certification. The Translab was first used to quantify emissions from natural gas and methanol fueled transit buses, and a second Translab unit was constructed to satisfy research demand. Subsequent emissions measurement was performed on trucks and buses using ethanol, Fischer-Tropsch fuel, and biodiesel. A medium-duty chassis dynamometer was also designed and constructed to facilitate research on delivery vehicles in the 10,000 to 20,000lb range. The Translab participated in major programs to evaluate low-sulfur diesel in conjunction with passively regenerating exhaust …

Weyerhaeuser operates the world's only commercial high-temperature black liquor gasifier at its pulp mill in New Bern, NC. The unit was started-up in December 1996 and currently processes about 15% of the mill's black liquor. Weyerhaeuser, Chemrec AB (the gasifier technology developer), and the U.S. Department of Energy recognized that the long-term, continuous operation of the New Bern gasifier offered a unique opportunity to advance the state of high temperature black liquor gasification toward the commercial-scale pressurized O2-blown gasification technology needed as a foundation for the Forest Products Bio-Refinery of the future. Weyerhaeuser along with its subcontracting partners submitted a proposal in response to the 2004 joint USDOE and USDA solicitation - 'Biomass Research and Development Initiative'. The Weyerhaeuser project 'Advancement of High Temperature Black Liquor Gasification' was awarded USDOE Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-04NT42259 in November 2004. The overall goal of the DOE sponsored project was to utilize the Chemrec{trademark} black liquor gasification facility at New Bern as a test bed for advancing the development status of molten phase black liquor gasification. In particular, project tasks were directed at improvements to process performance and reliability. The effort featured the development and validation of advanced CFD modeling tools and the application of …

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 …

In order to meet DOE's goals of developing low-emissions coal-based power systems, PCI has further developed and adapted it's Rich-Catalytic Lean-burn (RCL{reg_sign}) catalytic reactor to a combustion system operating on syngas as a fuel. The technology offers ultra-low emissions without the cost of exhaust after-treatment, with high efficiency (avoidance of after-treatment losses and reduced diluent requirements), and with catalytically stabilized combustion which extends the lower Btu limit for syngas operation. Tests were performed in PCI's sub-scale high-pressure (10 atm) test rig, using a two-stage (catalytic then gas-phase) combustion process for syngas fuel. In this process, the first stage consists of a fuel-rich mixture reacting on a catalyst with final and excess combustion air used to cool the catalyst. The second stage is a gas-phase combustor, where the air used for cooling the catalyst mixes with the catalytic reactor effluent to provide for final gas-phase burnout and dilution to fuel-lean combustion products. During testing, operating with a simulated Tampa Electric's Polk Power Station syngas, the NOx emissions program goal of less than 0.03 lbs/MMBtu (6 ppm at 15% O{sub 2}) was met. NOx emissions were generally near 0.01 lbs/MMBtu (2 ppm at 15% O{sub 2}) (PCI's target) over a range on …

This research project is concerned with developing a fundamental understanding of the effects of processing and microstructure on the creep behavior of refractory intermetallic alloys based on the Mo-Si-B system. In the first part of this project, the compression creep behavior of a Mo-8.9Si-7.71B (in at.%) alloy, at 1100 and 1200 C was studied, whereas in the second part of the project, the constant strain rate compression behavior at 1200, 1300 and 1400 C of a nominally Mo-20Si-10B (in at.%) alloy, processed such as to yield five different {alpha}-Mo volume fractions ranging from 5 to 46%, was studied. In order to determine the deformation and damage mechanisms and rationalize the creep/high temperature deformation data and parameters, the microstructure of both undeformed and deformed samples was characterized in detail using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with back scattered electron imaging (BSE) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD)/orientation electron microscopy in the SEM and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The microstructure of both alloys was three-phase, being composed of {alpha}-Mo, Mo{sub 3}Si and T2-Mo{sub 5}SiB{sub 2} phases. The values of stress exponents and activation energies, and their dependence on microstructure were determined. The data suggested the operation …

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a multidisciplinary Laboratory that carries out basic and applied research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, and in selected energy technologies. It is managed by Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC, (BSA) under contract with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). BNL's Fiscal Year 2008 spending was $531.6 million. There are approximately 2,800 employees, and another 4,300 guest scientists and students who come each year to use the Laboratory's facilities and work with the staff. The BNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program reports its status to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) annually in March, as required by DOE Order 413.2B, 'Laboratory Directed Research and Development,' April 19, 2006, and the Roles, Responsibilities, and Guidelines for Laboratory Directed Research and Development at the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratories dated June 13, 2006. The goals and objectives of BNL's LDRD Program can be inferred from the Program's stated purposes. These are to (1) encourage and support the development of new ideas and technology, (2) promote the early exploration and exploitation of creative and innovative concepts, and (3) develop new 'fundable' R&D projects and programs. The emphasis is clearly articulated by BNL to …

A new concept of electrostatic precipitator (ESP), named a Staged ESP (an Energy & Environmental Research Center proprietary), was conceived in June 2004. The concept is based on a simple design that can be retrofitted on existing coal-fired power plants to provide high particulate matter (PM) collection efficiency without compromising reliability. A prototype of Staged ESP was designed, fabricated, and tested in two different combustion coal flue gases with different fly ash resistivities. Several design parameters of the Staged ESP were evaluated under various operating conditions to optimize PM collection performance. A set of particulate sampling data, including aerodynamic particle sizer, scanning mobility particle sizer, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Method 5 data, was collected to determine PM emissions of the Staged ESP configurations. These data were compared against data collected with a conventional ESP configuration. Compared to PM capture performance in conventional ESPs, an additional 30% to 70% reductions on total PM emissions were achieved for Staged ESPs in flue gas with medium- to high-resistivity fly ashes. Experimental data proved that the Staged ESP concept is capable of achieving higher PM collection efficiency, especially for particles in the submicrometer size range typically thought difficult to capture in an ESP.

A joint University of Idaho (UI) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) University Nuclear Research Initiative (UNERI) was to initiated to extend initial INL efforts to develop doped molybdenum/niobium alloy High Temperature Irradiation Resistant Thermocouples (HTIR-TCs). The overall objective of this UNERI was to develop recommendations for an optimized thermocouple design for high temperature, long duration, in-pile testing by expanding upon results from initial INL efforts. Tasks to quantify the impact of candidate enhancements, such as alternate alloys, alternate geometries, and alternate thermocouple fabrication techniques, on thermocouple performance were completed at INL's High Temperature Test Laboratory (HTTL), a state of the art facility equipped with specialized equipment and trained staff in the area of high temperature instrumentation development and evaluation. Key results of these evaluations, which are documented in this report, are as follows. The doped molybdenum and Nb-1%Zr, which were proposed in the initial INL HTIR-TC design, were found to retain ductility better than the developmental molybdenum-low niobium alloys and the niobium-low molybdenum alloys evaluated. Hence, the performance and lower cost of the commercially available KW-Mo makes a thermocouple containing KW-Mo and Nb-1%Zr the best option at this time. HTIR-TCs containing larger diameter wires offer the potential to increase HTIR-TC …

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This report contains an overview of the environmental impacts of airport operations, maintenance, and expansion.

This report gives an overview of Safety and Health Conditions in the Coal Mining industry, regulatory regime, and Legislative activity ( MINER act and S-MINER act)

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Photograph of participants on stage during a hypnotist's act. They are all sitting in chairs facing the audience and some are slumped over or at least in a more relaxed position.

Photograph of a hypnotist and one of the participants on stage during his act. They are facing the audience and the girl is holding out her hands to count her fingers. Other participants are sitting in chairs behind them.

Photograph of participants on stage during a hypnotist's act. They are sitting down and are slumped over in chairs facing the audience while under the hypnotist's influence.

Photograph of a graduate student sitting on a padded seat on the second floor of a building on the UNT campus. He is meeting with other graduate students that are members of the Graduate Student Council. The open area behind him is a bridge-walkway with high ceilings and views through to the lower level.