The goal of this project has been to develop a lossless compression algorithm for message-passing libraries that can accelerate HPC systems by reducing the communication time. Because both compression and decompression have to be performed in software in real time, the algorithm has to be extremely fast while still delivering a good compression ratio. During the first half of this project, they designed a new compression algorithm called FPC for scientific double-precision data, made the source code available on the web, and published two papers describing its operation, the first in the proceedings of the Data Compression Conference and the second in the IEEE Transactions on Computers. At comparable average compression ratios, this algorithm compresses and decompresses 10 to 100 times faster than BZIP2, DFCM, FSD, GZIP, and PLMI on the three architectures tested. With prediction tables that fit into the CPU's L1 data acache, FPC delivers a guaranteed throughput of six gigabits per second on a 1.6 GHz Itanium 2 system. The C source code and documentation of FPC are posted on-line and have already been downloaded hundreds of times. To evaluate FPC, they gathered 13 real-world scientific datasets from around the globe, including satellite data, crash-simulation data, and …

This report documents implementation strategies to leverage public and private resources for the development of an adequate national security workforce as part of the National Security Preparedness Project (NSPP), being performed under a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) grant. There are numerous efforts across the United States to develop a properly skilled and trained national security workforce. Some of these efforts are the result of the leveraging of public and private dollars. As budget dollars decrease and the demand for a properly skilled and trained national security workforce increases, it will become even more important to leverage every education and training dollar. This report details some of the efforts that have been implemented to leverage public and private resources, as well as implementation strategies to further leverage public and private resources.

Abstract -The majority of studies investigating the importance of coarse woody debris (CWD) to forest- floor vertebrates have taken place in the Pacific Northwest and southern Appalachian Mountains, while comparative studies in the southeastern Coastal Plain are lacking. My study was a continuation of a long-term project investigating the importance of CWD as a habitat component for shrew and herpetofaunal communities within managed pine stands in the southeastern Coastal Plain. Results suggest that addition of CWD can increase abundance of southeastern and southern short-tailed shrews. However, downed wood does not appear to be a critical habitat component for amphibians and reptiles. Rising petroleum costs and advances in wood utilization technology have resulted in an emerging biofuels market with potential to decrease CWD volumes left in forests following timber harvests. Therefore, forest managers must understand the value of CWD as an ecosystem component to maintain economically productive forests while conserving biological diversity.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: FastCAP is improving the performance of an ultracapacitor—a battery-like electronic device that can complement, and possibly even replace, an HEV or EV battery pack. Ultracapacitors have many advantages over conventional batteries, including long lifespans (over 1 million cycles, as compared to 10,000 for conventional batteries) and better durability. Ultracapacitors also charge more quickly than conventional batteries, and they release energy more quickly. However, ultracapacitors have fallen short of batteries in one key metric: energy density—high energy density means more energy storage. FastCAP is redesigning the ultracapacitor’s internal structure to increase its energy density. Ultracapacitors traditionally use electrodes made of irregularly shaped, porous carbon. FastCAP’s ultracapacitors are made of tiny, aligned carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes provide a regular path for ions moving in and out of the ultracapacitor’s electrode, increasing the overall efficiency and energy density of the device.

Forced outages and boiler unavailability in conventional coal-fired fossil power plants is most often caused by fireside corrosion of boiler waterwalls. Industry-wide, the rate of wall thickness corrosion wastage of fireside waterwalls in fossil-fired boilers has been of concern for many years. It is significant that the introduction of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission controls with staged burners systems has increased reported waterwall wastage rates to as much as 120 mils (3 mm) per year. Moreover, the reducing environment produced by the low-NOx combustion process is the primary cause of accelerated corrosion rates of waterwall tubes made of carbon and low alloy steels. Improved coatings, such as the MCrAl nanocoatings evaluated here (where M is Fe, Ni, and Co), are needed to reduce/eliminate waterwall damage in subcritical, supercritical, and ultra-supercritical (USC) boilers. The first two tasks of this six-task project-jointly sponsored by EPRI and the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FC26-07NT43096)-have focused on computational modeling of an advanced MCrAl nanocoating system and evaluation of two nanocrystalline (iron and nickel base) coatings, which will significantly improve the corrosion and erosion performance of tubing used in USC boilers. The computational model results showed that about 40 wt.% is required in Fe based nanocrystalline coatings …

The Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology (NUCL) of the American Chemistry Society (ACS) is sponsoring a symposium entitled "New Directions in Isotope Production, Nuclear Forensics and Radiochemistry Supported by the DOE" at the 240th ACS National Meeting in Boston, MA 22-26 August 2010. Radiochemistry and nuclear science is a critical area of research and funding for which the DOE has provided support over the years. Radiochemistry is undergoing a renaissance in interdisciplinary areas including medicine, materials, nanotechnology, nuclear forensics and energy. For example, interest in nuclear energy is growing in response to global warming. The field of nuclear forensics has grown significantly since 9/11 in response to potential terror threats and homeland security. Radioactive molecular imaging agents and targeted radiotherapy are revolutionizing molecular medicine. The need for radiochemists is growing, critical, and global. The NUCL Division of the ACS has been involved in various areas of radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry for many years, and is the host of the DOE supported Nuclear Chemistry Summer Schools. This Symposium is dedicated to three of the critical areas of nuclear science, namely isotope production, nuclear forensics and radiochemistry. An important facet of this meeting is to provide support for young radiochemistry students/postdoctoral …

This report discusses Test Campaign TC15 of the Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (KBR) Transport Gasifier train with a Siemens Power Generation, Inc. (SPG) particle filter system at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) located in Wilsonville, Alabama. The Transport Gasifier is an advanced circulating fluidized-bed reactor designed to operate as either a combustor or gasifier using a particulate control device (PCD). While operating as a gasifier, either air or oxygen can be used as the oxidant. Test run TC15 began on April 19, 2004, with the startup of the main air compressor and the lighting of the gasifier startup burner. The Transport Gasifier was shutdown on April 29, 2004, accumulating 200 hours of operation using Powder River Basin (PRB) subbituminous coal. About 91 hours of the test run occurred during oxygen-blown operations. Another 6 hours of the test run was in enriched-air mode. The remainder of the test run, approximately 103 hours, took place during air-blown operations. The highest operating temperature in the gasifier mixing zone mostly varied from 1,800 to 1,850 F. The gasifier exit pressure ran between 200 and 230 psig during air-blown operations and between 110 and 150 psig in oxygen-enhanced air operations.

A major goal for microbiologists in the twenty-first century is to develop an understanding of the microbial cell in all its complexity. In addition to understanding the function of individual gene products we need to focus on how the cell regulates gene expression at a global level to respond to different environmental parameters. Development of genomic technologies such as complete genome sequencing, proteomics, and global comparisons of mRNA expression patterns allows us to begin to address this issue. This proposal focuses on a number of phylogenetically related bacteria that are involved in environmentally important processes such as carbon sequestration and bioremediation. Genome sequencing projects of a number of these bacteria have revealed the presence of a small family of regulatory genes found thus far only in the alpha-proteobacteria. These genes encode proteins that are related to the global regulatory protein RosR in Rhizobium etli, which is involved in determining nodulation competitiveness in this bacterium. Our goal is to examine the function of the proteins encoded by this gene family in several of the bacteria containing homologs to RosR. We will construct gene disruption mutations in a number of these bacteria and characterize the resulting mutant strains using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis …

For this Aluminum Industry of the Future (IOF) project, the effect of impurities on the processing of aluminum alloys was systematically investigated. The work was carried out as a collaborative effort between the Pennsylvania State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Industrial support was provided by ALCOA and ThermoCalc, Inc. The achievements described below were made. A method that combines first-principles calculation and calculation of phase diagrams (CALPHAD) was used to develop the multicomponent database Al-Ca-K-Li-Mg-Na. This method was extensively used in this project for the development of a thermodynamic database. The first-principles approach provided some thermodynamic property data that are not available in the open literature. These calculated results were used in the thermodynamic modeling as experimental data. Some of the thermodynamic property data are difficult, if not impossible, to measure. The method developed and used in this project allows the estimation of these data for thermodynamic database development. The multicomponent database Al-Ca-K-Li-Mg-Na was developed. Elements such as Ca, Li, Na, and K are impurities that strongly affect the formability and corrosion behavior of aluminum alloys. However, these impurity elements are not included in the commercial aluminum alloy database. The process of thermodynamic modeling began from Al-Na, Ca-Li, Li-Na, …

Performing sorbent testing for mercury control at a large scale is a very expensive endeavor and requires months of planning and careful execution. Even with good planning, there are plant limitations on what operating/design parameters can be varied/tested and when. For parameters that cannot be feasibly tested at the full scale (lower/higher gas flow, different bag material, cleaning methods, sorbents, etc.), an alternative approach is used to perform tests on a slipstream unit using flue gas from the plant. The advantage that a slipstream unit provides is the flexibility to test multiple operating and design parameters and other possible technology options without risking major disruption to the operation of the power plant. Additionally, the results generated are expected to simulate full-scale conditions closely, since the flue gas used during the tests comes directly from the plant in question. The Energy & Environmental Research Center developed and constructed a mobile baghouse that allows for cost-effective testing of impacts related to variation in operating and design parameters, as well as other possible mercury control options. Multiple sorbents, air-to-cloth ratios, bag materials, and cleaning frequencies were evaluated while flue gas was extracted from Big Brown when it fired a 70% Texas lignite-30% Powder …

Adequate path calibrations are crucial for improving the accuracy of seismic event location and origin time, size, and mechanism, as required for CTBT monitoring. There is considerable information on structure in broadband seismograms that is currently not fully utilized. The limitations have been largely theoretical. the development and application to solid earth problems of powerful numerical techniques, such as the Spectral Element Method (SEM), has opened a new era, and theoretically, it should be possible to compute the complete predicted wavefield accurately without any restrictions on the strength or spatial extent of heterogeneity. This approach requires considerable computational power, which is currently not fully reachable in practice. We propose an approach which relies on a cascade of increasingly accurate theoretical approximations for the computation of the seismic wavefield to develop a model of regional structure for the area of Eurasia located between longitudes of 30 and 150 degrees E, and latitudes of -10 to 60 degrees North. The selected area is particularly suitable for the purpose of this experiment, as it is highly heterogeneous, presenting a challenge for calibration purposes, but it is well surrounded by earthquake sources and, even though they are sparsely distributed, a significant number of high …

A pump-probe scheme measures the rise time of ultrafast x-ray pulses. Conventional high speed x-ray diagnostics (x-ray streak cameras, PIN diodes, diamond PCD devices) do not provide sufficient time resolution to resolve rise times of x-ray pulses on the order of 50 fs or less as they are being produced by modern fast x-ray sources. Here, we are describing a pump-probe technique that can be employed to measure events where detector resolution is insufficient to resolve the event. The scheme utilizes a diamond plate as an x-ray transducer and a p-polarized probe beam.

This 4-page Clean Cities fact sheet provides a list of important resources for learning more about alternative fuels in school buses. It includes information regarding Alternative Fuel School Bus Manufacturers, Alternative Fuel HD Engine Manufacturers, Alternative Fuel School Bus Operators, and Key Web Resources for Alternative Fuels.

Fact sheet describes government policies that give financial incentives for the development of renewable energy in China.

These tip sheets provide steam system optimization information that can be implemented immediately in manufacturing facilities to achieve more energy-efficient processes.

This is a routine revision of a general fact sheet that describes the Clean Cities partnership efforts and includes a list of Clean Cities coordinators.

Blue Heron Paper Company conducted a model-based energy assessment (MEA) to determine how to reduce effluent flow and heat load, minimize fresh water, and reduce process energy use at the company's Oregon City, Oregon, paper mill. Assessment staff recommended 15 projects, 7 of which the company considered. These projects would save an estimated 608,161 million British thermal units per year in natural gas and 990 kilowatt hours per year in electricity. Corresponding annual cost savings would be about $2.9 million per year. Furthermore, by reducing fuel requirements for the plant steam system, Blue Heron would also reduce stack gas emissions.

This 2-page Clean Cities fact sheet describes the use of biodiesel as a fuel source in buses by the Clark County School District, located in Las Vegas, NV. It includes information on the history of the program, along with contact information for the local Clean Cities Coordinator and Clark County School District.

The State Energy Program in Kentucky summarizes the important renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and recent successes of the Kentucky Division of Energy, which is the state energy office in the Kentucky.

Sixth issue of a quarterly reporting to stakeholders on progress on the National Bioenergy Center Sugar Platform Integration Project

This 2-page Clean Cities fact sheet describes the use of natural gas power for Tulsa Public Schools' fleet of buses and cars. It includes information on the history of the program, along with contact information for the local Clean Cities Coordinator and Tulsa Public Schools.

Individual raw datastreams from instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility fixed and mobile sites are collected and sent to the Data Management Facility (DMF) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for processing in near real-time. Raw and processed data are then sent approximately daily to the ARM Data Archive, where they are made available to users. For each instrument, we calculate the ratio of the actual number of processed data records received daily at the Data Archive to the expected number of data records. The results are tabulated by (1) individual datastream, site, and month for the current year and (2) site and fiscal year (FY) dating back to 1998.

This report provides an overview of the current state of electrolytic hydrogen production technologies and an economic analysis of the processes and systems available as of December 2003. The operating specifications of commercially available electrolyzers from five manufacturers, i.e., Stuart, Teledyne, Proton, Norsk Hydro, and Avalence, are summarized. Detailed economic analyses of three systems for which cost and economic data were available were completed. The contributions of the cost of electricity, system efficiency, and capital costs to the total cost of electrolysis are discussed.

Fact sheet describes China's use of wind energy, policy and market development programs, financing, research and development, and information resources.