This report describes the activity undertaken by the project members under MORGANTOWN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CENTER (METC) contract No. DE-AC21-95MC32185 to develop a project that will provide a commercial use for Coal Mine Methane (CMM). In particular, the report describes a project to convert CMM into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and to market that LNG to the transportation sector in and around the I-79 corridor near Morgantown, West Virginia. The report discusses the sources of CMM and provides estimates of the extent of the resource specifically dedicated to the project. It discusses the novel refrigeration technology that will be employed to convert the CMM to LNG and the gas conditioning technology that will be used to bring the raw CMM up to cryogenic processing specifications. Summary capital and operating cost estimates are furnished for the project and specific monetary and schedule requirements are identified so the project can be examined in its entirety. The report discusses the immediate market potential for the successful commercial sale of LNG into the nearby market and provides estimates of future market penetration into local, regional and wider markets. Lastly, the report comments on the environmental effects of the project and extrapolates these benefits to future …

The results from the Michigan demonstration establish that this type of approach can be very effective for NORM sites. The advantages include (1) greatly reduced per sample analytical costs; (2) a reduced reliance on soil sampling and ex situ gamma spectroscopy analyses; (3) the ability to combine characterization with remediation activities in one fieldwork cycle; (4) improved documentation; and (5) ultimately better remediation, as measured by greater precision in delineating soils that are not in compliance with requirements from soils that are in compliance. In addition, the demonstration showed that the use of real-time technologies, such as the RadInSoil, can facilitate the implementation of a Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM)-based final status survey program

An algorithm known as SMAC (Synthesize Modes And Correlate), based on principles of modal filtering, has been in development for a few years. The new capabilities of the automated version are demonstrated on test data from a complex shell/payload system. Examples of extractions from impact and shaker data are shown. The automated algorithm extracts 30 to 50 modes in the bandwidth from each column of the frequency response function matrix. Examples of the synthesized Mode Indicator Functions (MIFs) compared with the actual MIFs show the accuracy of the technique. A data set for one input and 170 accelerometer outputs can typically be reduced in an hour. Application to a test with some complex modes is also demonstrated.

The objective of this project is to demonstrate incremental reserves from Osagian and Meramecian (Mississippian) dolomite reservoirs in western Kansas through application of reservoir characterization to identify areas of unrecovered mobile oil. The project addresses producibility problems in two fields: Specific reservoirs target the Schaben Field in Ness County, Kansas, and the Bindley Field in Hodgeman County, Kansas. The producibility problems to be addressed include inadequate reservoir characterization, drilling and completion design problems, non-optimum recovery efficiency. The results of this project will be disseminated through various technology transfer activities. At the Schaben demonstration site, the Kansas team will conduct a field project to demonstrate better approaches to identify bypassed oil within and between reservoir units.

A review of the applicability of Pitzer's equations to the aqueous thermodynamics of actinide species in natural waters is presented. This review includes a brief historical perspective on the application of Pitzer's equations to actinides, information on the difficulties and complexities of studying and modeling the different actinide oxidation states, and a discussion of the use of chemical analogs for different actinide oxidation states. included are tables of Pitzer ion-interaction parameters and associated standard state equilibrium constants for each actinide oxidation state. These data allow the modeling of the aqueous thermodynamics of different actinide oxidation states to high ionic strength.

Assessment of the performance of engineered capillary barriers at the potential Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site, in which 1.67-m-diameter waste packages are to be emplaced in 5-m-diameter tunnels according to current design, brings up aspects not commonly considered in more typical applications of capillary barriers (e.g., near-surface landfills). Engineered capillary barriers typically consist of two layers of granular materials with a sloping interface, in which the contrast in capillarity between the layers keeps infiltrating water in the upper layer. One issue is the effect of thermohydrologic processes that would occur at elevated repository temperatures (and temperature gradients). For example, backfill materials may be altered from that of the as-placed material by the hydrothermal regime imposed by the emplacement of waste in the repository, changing hydrologic properties in a way that degrades the performance of the barrier. A reduction of permeability in the upper layer might diminish the capacity of the upper layer to divert incoming seepage or to cause a ''vapor lid'' whereby buoyant vapor flow would be trapped, then condense and drain onto waste packages. Other concerns are the result of highly spatially and temporally variable seepage distribution and the very limited spatial scale available for flow attenuation …

Efficient and complete recovery of petroleum reserves from existing oil wells has proven difficult due to a lack of robust instrumentation that can monitor processes in the downhole environment. Commercially available sensors for measurement of pressure, temperature, and fluid flow exhibit shortened lifetimes in the harsh downhole conditions, which are characterized by high pressures (up to 20 kpsi), temperatures up to 250 C, and exposure to chemically reactive fluids. Development of robust sensors that deliver continuous, real-time data on reservoir performance and petroleum flow pathways will facilitate application of advanced recovery technologies, including horizontal and multi-lateral wells. The main objective of the research program is to develop cost-effective, reliable fiber sensor instrumentation for real-time monitoring and /or control of various key parameters crucial to efficient and economical oil production. This report presents the detailed research work and technical progress from October 1, 1998 to September 30, 1999. The research performed over the first year of the program has followed the schedule as proposed, and solid research progress has been made in specification of the technical requirements, design and fabrication of the SCIIB sensor probes, development of the sensor systems, development of DSP-based signal processing techniques, and construction of the test …

A new high-speed x-ray beam chopper using laser scanner technology has been developed and tested on the SRI-CAT sector 1 beamline at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring (1). As illustrated in figure 1, it is compact in size and has two sets of transmission windows: BK-7 glass for visible light transmission and 0.23-mm-thick Be for the transmission of x-rays. The rotor is made of aluminum and has a diameter of 50.8 mm. A 0.5-mm-wide and 2.29-mm-tall slit is cut through the center of the rotor. The circumference of the rotor has a coating of 1-mm-thick Ni, which gives an attenuation of 10{sup 8} at 30 keV. Turning at nearly 80000 RPM, this beam chopper has an opening time window of 2450 ns, corresponding to 67% of the revolution time of the APS storage ring. The primary feature in selecting laser scanner technology to develop into an x-ray beam chopper was the high level of rotational speed control of the rotor that makes up the beam chopper element (2). By using an optical feedback circuit to sample the rotational speed four times each revolution, the jitter in the position of the transmission open time window is only 3 ns …

The collisions of ultra-relativistic nuclei provide a window on the behavior of strong interactions at asymptotically high energies. They also will allow the authors to study the bulk properties of hadronic matter at very high densities.

The alternative fuel industry is heating up. It is a very exciting time to be in the energy business, especially when it comes to transportation. Celebrating of the milestone 75th Clean Cities coalition and kick off of the new Federal Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) USER Program is occurring in cities across the country. Clean Energy for the 21st Century and the events that are happening during Energy Awareness Month are covered in this issue. Spotlighted are niche markets; several airports across the country are successfully incorporating alternative fuels into their daily routines.

The goal of the program is to identify the optimal operating window for black liquor gasification. The goals during this year are to prepare the PEFR for operation, conduct a series of preliminary screening tests to bracket BLG operating conditions, and develop a process model that can guide identification of the optimal operating window.

The goal of this study was to develop a three-dimensional imaging method for studies of deformation in low-density materials during loading, and to implement finite element solutions of the elastic equations based on the images. Specimens of silica-reinforced polysiloxane foam pads, 15 mm in diameter by 1 mm thick, were used for this study. The nominal pore density was 50%, and the pores approximated interconnected spheres. The specimens were imaged with microtomography at {approx}16{micro}m resolution. A rotating stage with micrometer driven compression allowed imaging of the foams during deformation with precise registration of the images. A finite element mesh, generated from the image voxels, was used to calculate the mechanical properties of the structure, and the results were compared with conventional mechanical testing. The foam exhibited significant nonlinear behavior with compressive loading. The finite-element calculations from the images, which were in excellent agreement with experimental data, suggested that nonlinear behavior in the load displacement curves arises from buckling of the cell walls during compression and not from any nonlinear properties of the base elastomer. High-resolution microtomography, coupled with efficient finite-element modeling, shows promise for improving our understanding of the deformation behavior of cellular materials.

Laser-plasma interactions are sensitive to both the fine-scale speckle and the larger scale envelope intensity of the beam. For some time, simulations have been done on volumes taken from part of the laser beam cross-section, and the results from multiple simulations extrapolated to predict the behavior of the entire beam. However, extrapolation could very well miss effects of the larger scale structure on the fine-scale. The only definitive method is to simulate the entire beam. These very large calculations have been infeasible until recently, but they are now possible on massively parallel computers. Whole beam simulations show the dramatic difference in the propagation and break up of smoothed and aberrated beams.

This project is designed to develop a family of novel NO{sub x} control technologies, called Second Generation Advanced Reburning which has the potential to achieve 90+ NO{sub x} control in coal fired boilers at a significantly lower cost than Selective Catalytic Reduction. The eighth reporting period in Phase II (July 1--September 26, 1999) included combined chemistry-mixing modeling on advanced gas reburning and experimental activities in support of modeling. Modeling efforts focused on description of AR-Lean--combination of basic reburning and co-injection of N-agent with overfire air. Modeling suggests that efficiency of AR-Lean strongly depends on the amount of the reburning fuel, temperature of flue gas at the point of OFA/N-agent injection, and evaporation time of N-agent. The model describes the most important features of AR-Lean and can be used for AR-Lean optimization.

An experimental setup to perform high-resolution time-resolved X-ray scattering has been commissioned on the side station of beamline 8-ID at the Advanced Photon Source. A Peltier-cooled diode detector array covering an angle range of 20 degrees is mounted on a 4-circle goniometer and is used to temporally resolve X-ray scattering patterns with a resolution up to 10 ms. Metallic ribbon samples can be quickly heated and cooled from temperatures up to 500 C inside a furnace with controllable atmosphere and equipped with a beryllium window. A description of the setup is presented along with actual results showing time-resolved phase transitions and crystallization processes in AlYNi metallic alloys. These results demonstrate the power of this technique to investigate complex crystallization processes as well as the versatility of this time-resolved X-ray scattering spectrometer.

Silicon crystal monochromators at cryogenic temperatures have been used with great success at third-generation synchrotrons radiation sources. At the Advanced Photon Source (APS) the unique characteristics of silicon at liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 K) have been leveraged to significantly reduce the thermally induced distortions on beamline optical components. Finite element simulations of the nonlinear (temperature-dependent material properties) thermal stress problem were performed and compared with the experimental measurements. Several critical finite element modeling considerations are discussed for their role in accurately predicting the highly coupled thermal and structural response of the optical component's surface distortion to the high thermal heat flux. Depending on the estimated convection heat transfer coefficient, the final refined finite element model's predictions correlated well with the experimental measurements.

In the past decade, several third-generation synchrotrons x-ray sources have been constructed and commissioned around the world. Many of the major problems in the development and design of the optical components capable of handling the extremely high heat loads of the generated x-ray beams have been resolved. It is expected, however, that in the next few years even more powerful x-ray beams will be produced at these facilities, for example, by increasing the particle beam current. In this paper, the design of a next generation of synchrotron x-ray mirrors is discussed. The author shows that the design of contact-cooled mirrors capable of handing x-ray beam heat fluxes in excess of 500 W/mm{sup 2} - or more than three times the present level - is well within reach, and the limiting factor is the thermal stress rather then thermally induced slope error.

This project is designed to develop engineering and modeling tools for a family of NO{sub x}control technologies utilizing biomass as a reburning fuel. During the eighth reporting period (July 1--September 26, 1999), Antares Group Inc, under contract to Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, evaluated the economic feasibility of biomass reburning options for Dunkirk Station. This report includes summary of the findings; complete information will be submitted in the next Quarterly Report.

Inductive energy storage systems can have high energy density, lending to smaller, less expensive systems. The crucial element of an inductive energy storage system is the opening switch. This switch must conduct current while energy is stored in an inductor, then open quickly to transfer this energy to a load. Plasma can perform this function. The Plasma Opening Switch (POS) has been studied for more than two decades. Success with the conventional plasma opening switch has been limited. A system designed to significantly improve the performance of vacuum opening switches is described in this paper. The gap cleared of plasma is a rough figure-of-merit for vacuum opening switches. Typical opened gaps of 3 mm are reported for conventional switches. The goal for the system described in this paper is more than 3 cm. To achieve this, the command-triggered POS adds an active opening mechanism, which allows complete separation of conduction and opening. This separation is advantageous because of the widely different time scales of conduction and opening. The detrimental process of magnetic field penetration into the plasma during conduction is less important in this switch. The opening mechanism duration is much shorter than the conduction time, so penetration during opening …

The objective of this project is to address waterflood problems of the type found in Morrow sandstone reservoirs in southwestern Kansas and in Cherokee Group reservoirs in southeastern Kansas. Two demonstration sites operated by different independent oil operators are involved in this project. The Stewart Field is located in Finney County, Kansas and is operated by PetroSantander, Inc. Te Nelson Lease is located in Allen County, Kansas, in the N.E. Savonburg Field and is operated by James E. Russell Petroleum, Inc. General topics to be addressed are (1) reservoir management and performance evaluation, (2) waterflood optimization, and (3) the demonstration of recovery processes involving off-the-shelf technologies which can be used to enhance waterflood recovery, increase reserves, and reduce the abandonment rate of these reservoir types. In the Stewart Project, the reservoir management portion of the project conducted during Budget Period 1 involved performance evaluation. This included (1) reservoir characterization and the development of a reservoir database, (2) volumetric analysis to evaluate production performance, (3) reservoir modeling, (4) laboratory work, (5) identification of operational problems, (6) identification of unrecovered mobile oil and estimation of recovery factors, and (7) identification of the most efficient and economical recovery process. To accomplish these objectives …

The work described in this report was focused on generating fundamental data on fingerprint components which will be used to develop advanced forensic techniques to enhance fluorescent detection, and visualization of latent fingerprints. Chemical components of sweat gland secretions are well documented in the medical literature and many chemical techniques are available to develop latent prints, but there have been no systematic forensic studies of fingerprint sweat components or of the chemical and physical changes these substances undergo over time.

The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) must help Federal agencies reduce energy costs by delivering effective outreach programs. It is crucial that all professionals involved with the management of Federal facilities receive a clear message that FEMP offers effective information, education, tools, training, and resources. To achieve this objective, American Ideas and Designs, Inc., d/b/a Greening America, assisted FEMP in continuing a comprehensive energy efficiency outreach program titled ''You Have the Power.'' The ''You Have the Power'' campaign emphasized the ability of individual Federal employees, Federal agencies, and stakeholder organizations to easily access FEMP's energy efficiency tools and resources through a set of integrated interagency delivery programs.

The results presented in this report demonstrate the capabilities of Advanced Technology Corporation's patented Portable/In Situ Stress-Strain Microprobe (TM) (SSM) System and its Automated Ball Indentation (ABI) test techniques to nondestructively measure the yield strength, the stress-strain curve, and the fracture toughness of ferritic steel samples and components in a reliable and accurate manner.

If a known transformation of a random variable X is normally distributed with mean {mu} and variance {sigma}{sup 2}, then the mean, variance, and any other distributional property of X can be expressed in terms of {mu} and {sigma}{sup 2}. For example, if X is lognormally distributed, i.e., X {approx} {Lambda}({mu}, {sigma}{sup 2}) or (equivalently) Y = log(X) {approx} N({mu}, {sigma}{sup 2}), then the expected value, variance, median, and mode of X are, respectively, E(X) = exp({mu} + {sigma}{sup 2}/2), var (X) = exp(2{mu} + {sigma}{sup 2})(exp({sigma}{sup 2}) - 1), med(X) = exp({mu}), and mode(X) = exp({mu} - {sigma}{sup 2}). Exact and optimal (uniformly most accurate unbiased) confidence limit procedures have been developed for linear functions of {mu} and {sigma}{sup 2} (Land, 1971, 1973) and, therefore, because confidence limits for a parameter are invariant under smooth, monotone transformations of that parameter, for the mean and mode of a lognormal distribution. In fact, the lognormal distribution is the only one whose mean can be expressed as a function of a non-trivial linear combination of {mu} and {sigma}{sup 2} (Land, 1971), but other functions, including those arising in connection with other normalizing transformations, can be approximated locally by linear functions for which …