This report presents work done on a laboratory combustor in an attempt to identify mechanisms that govern the simultaneous capture of alkali and sulfur species using sorbent injection techniques. The mechanisms of capture fall into two broad categories i.e. Physical transport of alkali species (in vapor or condensed phase) to the sorbent surface and surface reaction between the alkali species and the sorbents. Water solubility, though not specific, has been used to get an indication of relative significance of these two broad mechanisms. It is assumed that the physically adsorbed alkali species on sorbents are predominantly water soluble while the chemically reacted alkali content is predominantly water insoluble. In order to infer possible dominant mechanisms, specific parameters has been varied during experimentation. Such parameters include, speciation, particle time-temperature history, and furnace burning conditions.

Certain changes in the end-plug design in the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF-B) are described. The Laboratory (LLNL) proposes to implement these changes as soon as possible in order to construct the machine in an axicell configuration. The present physics and technology goals as well as the project cost and schedule will not be affected by these changes.

Detailed measurements were made of the fast-neutron and gamma dose rates and the thermal-neutron fluxes existing at the surfaces of the biological shield of the University of Illinois TRIGA Mark II Research Reactor. Dose rates and fluxes were found to be extremely low. A comparison was made by means of threshold foil techniques between the fast-neutron flux in a beam hole of the reactor during steady-state operation at 1 kw and during a nominal 250 Mw, 30 msec pulse produced by rapid insertion of approximates two dollars of excess reactivity. The flux over the duration of the pulse was approximately four times that for steady-state operation for 1 hr at 1 kw. Fast-neutron dose rates and thermal-neutron fluxes were measured at each of the four beam ports of the reactor at operating powers of 0, 1, and 5 watts. Some gamma dose rate data was also obtained at 0 and 1 watt. The threshold foil technique used is described. (auth)

The objective of this study program is to minimize automotive accessory horsepower consumption, and thereby maximize overall vehicle fuel economy, by utilizing continuously variable speed drives or auxiliary power units (APUs) in a standard passenger automobile. As an aid to definitizing accessory performance, load requirements and fuel economy, a baseline vehicle has beeen established. This vehicle is a conventional intermediate size 5- or 6-passenger automobile with a 4.1 to 5.7 liter (250 to 350 cubic inch) displacement, spark ignition engine. Accessories to be considered are the alternator, power steering system, power brakes, air conditioner, cooling fan, water pump and emission control air pump. A program summary of major accomplishments is presented including: accessory drive devices analyses; vehicle computer model fuel economy analyses; improved accessory efficiency analysis; resized engine fuel economy analysis; accessory evaluation matrix completed; drive-systems trade-study completed and the prime concept presented; and variable-speed belt-drive concepts reviewed.

A one-dimensional radial transport code which was developed to study radial transport in tandem mirror machines has been used to perform buildup studies for the central-cell plasma of the proposed MFTF-B experiment. The effects of the cold, unpumped, neutral gas (which accompanies the hot, neutral-beam injection in the central cell) upon the central-cell plasma have been studied for the low-epsilon (epsilon Identical with (..cap omega../sub pi//..cap omega../sub ci/)2) mode and for the two-component mode. A mode here is defined as a particular set of parameters (density, temperature, etc.) under which the experiment will be performed. A very preliminary study of the effects of plateau resonant transport upon the equilibrium plasma obtained for the low-epsilon mode of operation has also been performed.

The short time and deposition distance for the energy from inertial fusion products results in local peak power densities on the order of 10/sup 18/ watts/m/sup 3/. This paper presents an overview of the various inertial fusion reactor designs which attempt to reduce these peak power intensities and describes the heat transfer considerations for each design.

The torsional rigidity of the central calorimeter module is obtained using ANSYS.

As part of a joint USA/USSR Environmental Agreement to determine the distribution and concentration of Chernobyl radioactivity in the northwest Black Sea area, the sediment from eight stations was collected and analyzed to assess the ability of sediment from the northwest Black Sea to adsorb radiocesium. Two methods were used to determine partitioning between liquid and solid phases; batch tests and porewater separation. In the batch test, Cs-137 tracer was added to mixtures of sediment and bottom water, with contact solutions ranging from 85 Bq/ml to 1760 Bq/ml. The distribution ratios (R{sub D}) for individual batch tests ranged from 390 to 1770 ml/g. Isotherms were linear for all cores and R{sub D} values calculated from the slopes of the isotherms ranged from 660 to 1660 ml/g. A second approach was used to determine the partitioning of Cs-137 between the porewater and the sediment under more natural conditions. The top 2 cm of two cores were sectioned and the sediment and the porewater were separated. In both samples the sediment contained significant amounts of Cs-137 and Cs-134 indicating the presence of fallout from the Chernobyl reactor accident. There was no cesium activity observed in the porewater at a minimum detectable level …

Thermophysical properties for coal-solvent slurries were determined in the range 300 to 600 K, in some cases extending to 700 K. Density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and enthalpy were determined. A recycle solvent from the Wilsonville SRC-I plant and a KY-9 coal were used. Rheology was studied with a reciprocating cylinder viscometer designed to operate at elevated pressure and temperature. Viscous properties were found to follow the Bingham plastic model. A high-viscosity peak in the range 500 to 600 K was characterized by very high values of yield stress. At other temperatures the slurries were nearly Newtonian. Time and temperature dependence of viscous behavior were studied. Densities were determined by high temperature pyknometer, thermal conductivities by the transient line-source technique, and enthalpies by drop calorimeter and by pressure DSC.

many GEN-IV candidate designs are currently under investigation. Technical issues related to material, safety and economics are being addressed at research laboratories, industry and in academia. After safety, economic feasibility is likely to be the most important crterion in the success of GEN-IV design(s). Lessons learned from the designers and operators of GEN-II (and GEN-III) reactors must play a vital role in achieving both safety and economic feasibility goals.

A salt fog test of an iron-based amorphous metal, SAM2X5, coated Type 316L stainless steel (SS316L) cylinder was made. The cylinder was 30-inch diameter by 88-inch long, and 3/8-inch thick. One end was welded shut with a SS316L end cap before coating. The body of the cylinder and the end cap were both coated. The cylinder was coated with SAM2X5 by the HVOF thermal spray process. The coating thickness was 0.015-inch to 0.019-inch thick. The cylinder was tested in a horizontal position. Also included in the test for reference purposes were five coupons (2-inch x 2-inch x 1/8-inch) of uncoated Type 1018 carbon steel (1018CS). The test used an abbreviated form of GM 9540P. Each cycle was 6 hours in duration and the cylinder and reference samples were exposed to a total of eight cycles. The cylinder was in relatively good condition after the test. Along the body of the cylinder only two pinpoint spot sized signs of rust were seen. The 1018CS reference specimens were extensively rusted.

Silicone polymers are frequently used as cushions and inserts between load bearing parts. In this capacity, they must act to position their associated parts and distribute mechanical force as appropriate. One type of failure is specific to silicones that are filled with high surface area particulates for purposes of tailoring the polymer compressive properties. Additives such as fumed silicon oxide are presumed to have a high degree of surface interaction with the polymer matrix, thus causing the polymer to stiffen and to display greater dimensional stability as a function of temperature. However, it has been observed that the compressive behavior of these materials is not always invariant over long times. There is evidence that suggests changes in humidity and temperature can irreversibly alter the silicone-filler interaction, thereby changing the overall characteristics of parts made from such materials. As before, changes in compressive or shear stability can have serious effects on the ability of these materials to effectively position precision parts or distribute high mechanical loads. We approach the analysis of the filled systems by creating controlled layers of silicone polymers attached to silicon oxide substrates. Straight chain vinyl-silicone polymers identical to those used in the formulation of pads for stockpile …

Controls on the solution chemistry (minimum nitrite and hydroxide concentrations) are in place to prevent the initiation and propagation of pitting and stress corrosion cracking in high level waste (HLW) tanks. These controls are based upon a series of experiments performed on carbon steel coupons in simulated waste solutions. An experimental program was undertaken to investigate reducing the minimum molar nitrite concentration required to confidently inhibit pitting. A statistical basis to quantify the probability of pitting for the tank wall, when exposed to various dilute solutions, is being developed. Electrochemical and coupon testing are being performed within the framework of the statistical test matrix to determine the minimum necessary inhibitor concentrations and develop a quantitative model to predict pitting propensity. A subset of the original statistical test matrix was used to develop an applied understanding of the corrosion response of the carbon steel in the various environments. The interim results suggest that there exists some critical nitrite concentration that sufficiently inhibits against localized corrosion mechanisms due to nitrates/chlorides/sulfates, beyond which further nitrite additions are unnecessary. The combination of visual observation and the cyclic potentiodynamic polarization scans indicate the potential for significant inhibitor reductions without consequence specifically at nitrate concentrations near …

The Data group provides data analysis and visualization support to its customers. This consists primarily of the development and support of VisIt, a data analysis and visualization tool. Support ranges from answering questions about the tool, providing classes on how to use the tool, and performing data analysis and visualization for customers. The Information Management and Graphics Group supports and develops tools that enhance our ability to access, display, and understand large, complex data sets. Activities include applying visualization software for terascale data exploration; running two video production labs; supporting graphics libraries and tools for end users; maintaining PowerWalls and assorted other displays; and developing software for searching, managing, and browsing scientific data. Researchers in the Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC) work on various projects including the development of visualization techniques for terascale data exploration that are funded by the ASC program, among others. The researchers also have LDRD projects and collaborations with other lab researchers, academia, and industry. During the past year we have completed our visualization cluster strategy of converting to Opteron/IB clusters. We support a 128-node Opteron/IB cluster providing a visualization production server for our unclassified systems and a 256-node Opteron/IB cluster for the classified systems, …

In Bousso-Polchinski models with hundreds of fluxes, we compute the effects of cosmological dynamics on the probability distribution of landscape vacua. Starting from generic initial conditions, we find that most fluxes are dynamically driven into a different and much narrower range of values than expected from landscape statistics alone. Hence, cosmological evolution will access only a tiny fraction of the vacua with small cosmological constant. This leads to a host of sharp predictions. Unlike other approaches to eternal inflation, the holographic measure employed here does not lead to staggering, an excessive spread of probabilities that would doom the string landscape as a solution to the cosmological constant problem.

This project is for the design of a wind turbine that can generate most or all of the net energy required for homes and small businesses in moderately windy areas. The purpose is to expand the current market for residential wind generators by providing cost effective power in a lower wind regime than current technology has made available, as well as reduce noise and improve reliability and safety. Robert W. Preus’ experience designing and/or maintaining residential wind generators of many configurations helped identify the need for an improved experience of safety for the consumer. Current small wind products have unreliable or no method of stopping the wind generator in fault or high wind conditions. Consumers and their neighbors do not want to hear their wind generators. In addition, with current technology, only sites with unusually high wind speeds provide payback times that are acceptable for the on-grid user. Abundant Renewable Energy’s (ARE) basic original concept for the ARE660 was a combination of a stall controlled variable speed small wind generator and automatic fail safe furling for shutdown. The stall control for a small wind generator is not novel, but has not been developed for a variable speed application with a …

Production of a sterile species is studied within an effective model of active-sterile neutrino mixing in a medium in thermal equilibrium. The quantum kinetic equations for the distribution functions and coherences are obtained from two independent methods: the effective action and the quantum master equation. The decoherence time scale for active-sterile oscillations is tau(dec)=2/Gamma(aa), but the evolution of the distribution functions is determined by the two different time scales associated with the damping rates of the quasiparticle modes in the medium: Gamma(1)=Gamma(aa)cos^2theta(m); Gamma(2)=Gamma(aa)sin^2theta(m) where Gamma(aa) is the interaction rate of the active species in the absence of mixing and theta(m) the mixing angle in the medium. These two time scales are widely different away from Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein resonances and preclude the kinetic description of active-sterile production in terms of a simple rate equation. We give the complete set of quantum kinetic equations for the active and sterile populations and coherences and discuss in detail the various approximations. A generalization of the active-sterile transition probability in a medium is provided via the quantum master equation. We derive explicitly the usual quantum kinetic equations in terms of the"polarization vector" and show their equivalence to those obtained from the quantum master equation and effective …

Electrical resistivity may contribute to progress inunderstanding geothermal systems by imaging the geometry, bounds andcontrolling structures in existing production, and thereby perhapssuggesting new areas for field expansion. To these ends, a dense grid ofmagnetotelluric (MT) stations plus a single line of contiguous bipolearray profiling has been acquired over the east flank of the Cosogeothermal system. Acquiring good quality MT data in producing geothermalsystems is a challenge due to production related electromagnetic (EM)noise and, in the case of Coso, due to proximity of a regional DCintertie power transmission line. To achieve good results, a remotereference completely outside the influence of the dominant source of EMnoise must be established. Experimental results so far indicate thatemplacing a reference site in Amargosa Valley, NV, 65 miles from the DCintertie, isstill insufficient for noise cancellation much of the time.Even though the DC line EM fields are planar at this distance, theyremain coherent with the nonplanar fields in the Coso area hence remotereferencing produces incorrect responses. We have successfully unwrappedand applied MT times series from the permanent observatory at Parkfield,CA, and these appear adequate to suppress the interference of thecultural EM noise. The efficacy of this observatory is confirmed bycomparison to stations taken using an ultra-distant …

Light-Front Holography is a remarkable consequence of the correspondence between string theory in AdS space and conformal field theories in physical-space time. It allows string modes {Phi}(z) in the AdS fifth dimension to be precisely mapped to the light-front wavefunctions of hadrons in terms of a specific light-front impact variable {zeta} which measures the separation of the quark and gluonic constituents within the hadron. This mapping was originally obtained by matching the exact expression for electromagnetic current matrix elements in AdS space with the corresponding exact expression for the current matrix element using light-front theory in physical space-time. More recently we have shown that one obtains the identical holographic mapping using matrix elements of the energy-momentum tensor, thus providing an important consistency test and verification of holographic mapping from AdS to physical observables defined on the light-front. The resulting light-front Schrodinger equations predicted from AdS/QCD give a good representation of the observed meson and baryon spectra and give excellent phenomenological predictions for amplitudes such as electromagnetic form factors and decay constants.

An isomeric series of heterocyclic amines related to one found in heated muscle meats was investigated for properties that predict their measured mutagenic potency. Eleven of the 12 possible 2-amino-trimethylimidazopyridine (TMIP) isomers were tested for mutagenic potency in the Ames/Salmonella test with bacterial strain TA98, and resulted in a 600-fold range in potency. Structural, quantum chemical and hydropathic data were calculated on the parent molecules and the corresponding nitrenium ions of all of the tested isomers to establish models for predicting the potency of the unknown isomer. The regression model accounting for the largest fraction of the total variance in mutagenic potency contains four predictor variables: dipole moment, a measure of the gap between amine LUMO and HOMO energies, percent hydrophilic surface, and energy of amine LUMO. The most important determinants of high mutagenic potency in these amines are: (1) a small dipole moment, (2) the combination of b-face ring fusion and N3-methyl group, and (3) a lower calculated energy of the {pi} electron system. Based on predicted potency from the average of five models, the isomer not yet synthesized and tested is expected to have a mutagenic potency of 0.84 revertants/{micro}g in test strain TA98.

A calculation is given of the radiated energy loss from a charged rod which moves at constant speed past an infinite set of parallel semi-infinite conducting plates of infinitesimal thickness, with the rod taken parallel to and at a fixed distance from the plate edges. The problem is analyzed using the Wiener-Hopf technique, and the resulting formulas are evaluated analytically in the limits of high rod speed and low rod speed, and compared with numerical evaluation over the full range of speeds.

Dust production and accumulation impose safety and operational concerns for ITER. Diagnostics to monitor dust levels in the plasma as well as in-vessel dust inventory are currently being tested in a few tokamaks. Dust accumulation in ITER is likely to occur in hidden areas, e.g. between tiles and under divertor baffles. A novel electrostatic dust detector for monitoring dust in these regions has been developed and tested at PPPL. In DIII-D tokamak dust diagnostics include Mie scattering from Nd:YAG lasers, visible imaging, and spectroscopy. Laser scattering resolves size of particles between 0.16-1.6 {micro}m in diameter; the total dust content in the edge plasmas and trends in the dust production rates within this size range have been established. Individual dust particles are observed by visible imaging using fast-framing cameras, detecting dust particles of a few microns in diameter and larger. Dust velocities and trajectories can be determined in 2D with a single camera or 3D using multiple cameras, but determination of particle size is problematic. In order to calibrate diagnostics and benchmark dust dynamics modeling, pre-characterized carbon dust has been injected into the lower divertor of DIII-D. Injected dust is seen by cameras, and spectroscopic diagnostics observe an increase of carbon …

We have developed a new tool for ultrahigh-pressure research at LLL. This system, which we call the electric gun, has already achieved thin flyer plate velocities in excess of 20 km/s and pressures of the order of 2 TPa in tantalum. We believe that the electric gun is competitive with laser- and nuclear-driven methods of producing shocks in the 1-to-5 TPa range because of its precision and ease and economy of operation. Its development is recommended for shock initiation studies, dry runs for Site 300 hydroshots, and as a shock wave generator for surface studies.

This paper describes the design and fabrication of a unique silicon substrate with which laser-target components can be mass produced. Different sizes and shapes of gold foils from 50 to 3000 microns in diameter and up to 25 microns thick have been produced with this process since 1976.