The Very High Temperature gas cooled reactor (VHTR) is one of the GEN IV reactor concepts that have been proposed for thermochemical hydrogen production and other process-heat applications like coal gasification. The USDOE has selected the VHTR for further research and development, aiming to demonstrate emissions-free electricity and hydrogen production at a future time. One of the major safety advantages of the VHTR is the potential for passive decay heat removal by natural circulation of air in a Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS). The air-side of the RCCS is very similar to the Reactor Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System (RVACS) that has been proposed for the PRISM reactor design. The design and safety analysis of the RVACS have been based on extensive analytical and experimental work performed at ANL. The Natural Convective Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility (NSTF) at ANL that simulates at full scale the air-side of the RVACS was built to provide experimental support for the design and analysis of the PRISM RVACS system. The objective of this work is to demonstrate that the NSTF facility can be used to generate RCCS experimental data: to validate CFD and systems codes for the analysis of the RCCS; and to support …

The quest for the development of rechargeable lithium-metal batteries has attracted vigorous worldwide research efforts because this system offers the highest theoretical specific energy [1]. For this to be achieved, the repetitive deposition and stripping of lithium must be close to fully reversible. Thus, alternative electrolytes have been investigated, such as the room-temperature ionic liquid (RTILs). Lithium can be cycled with a high degree of reversibility with efficiencies exceeding 99% using systems based on N-methyl N-alkyl pyrrolidinium (P{sub 1X}{sup +}) combined with the TFSI anion [2]. More recent efforts have been directed towards systems based on P{sub 1X}{sup +} cations with the FSI anion and appear to be even more promising [3,4]. In this work, we discuss to what extent RTILs based on P{sub 1X}{sup +} cations with TFSI or FSI anions can be used as electrolytes for rechargeable Li batteries. In particular, their physical and chemical properties are thoroughly discussed so as to explain the difference observed in their electrochemical behavior. Although these two systems seem to be stable against lithium, their compatibilities with cathode materials require full assessment as well. Thus, various manganese oxide cathodes are investigated in this study. Strategies to minimize cathode dissolution are also debated, …

Autocatalytic dissociation of water on the Cu(110) metal surface is demonstrated based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies carried out in-situ under near ambient conditions of water vapor pressure (1 Torr) and temperature (275-520 K). The autocatalytic reaction is explained as the result of the strong hydrogen-bond in the H{sub 2}O-OH complex of the dissociated final state, which lowers the water dissociation barrier according to the Broensted-Evans-Polanyi relations. A simple chemical bonding picture is presented which predicts autocatalytic water dissociation to be a general phenomenon on metal surfaces.

A scanning transmission X-ray microscope at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is used to measure organic functional group abundance and morphology of atmospheric aerosols. We present a summary of spectra, sizes, and shapes observed in 595 particles that were collected and analyzed between 2000 and 2006. These particles ranged between 0.1 and 12 mm and represent aerosols found in a large range of geographical areas, altitudes, and times. They include samples from seven different field campaigns: PELTI, ACE-ASIA, DYCOMS II, Princeton, MILAGRO (urban), MILAGRO (C-130), and INTEX-B. At least 14 different classes of organic particles show different types of spectroscopic signatures. Different particle types are found within the same region while the same particle types are also found in different geographical domains. Particles chemically resembling black carbon, humic-like aerosols, pine ultisol, and secondary or processed aerosol have been identified from functional group abundance and comparison of spectra with those published in the literature.

Plasma dynamics in the divertor region is strongly affected by a variety of phenomena associated with the magnetic field geometry and the shape of the divertor plates. One of the most universal effects is the squeezing of a normal cross-section of a thin magnetic flux-tube on its way from the divertor plate to the main SOL. It leads to decoupling of the most unstable perturbations in the divertor legs from those in the main SOL. For perturbations on either side of the X-point, this effect can be cast as a boundary condition at some 'control surface' situated near the X-point. We discuss several boundary conditions proposed thus far and assess the influence of the magnetic field geometry on them. Another set of geometrical effects is related to the transformation of a flux-tube that occurs when it is displaced in such a way that its central magnetic field line coincides with some other field line, and the magnetic field is not perturbed. These flute-like displacements are of a particular interest for the low-beta edge plasmas. It turns out that this transformation may also lead to a considerable deformation of a flux-tube cross-section; in addition, the distance between plasma particles occupying the …

Activity coefficient derivatives with respect to molality are presented for the Scatchard Neutral Electrolyte description of a ternary common-ion electrolyte system. These quantities are needed for the calculation of 'diffusion Onsager coefficients' and in turn for tests of the Onsager Reciprocal Relations in diffusion. The usually-omitted b{sub 23} term is included. The direct SNE binary approximations and a further approximation are discussed. Binary evaluation strategies other than constant ionic strength are considered.

This decision document presents the selected remedy for Operable Unit (OU) 3-14 tank farm soil and groundwater at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC), which is located on the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site. The tank farm was initially evaluated in the OU 3-13 Record of Decision (ROD), and it was determined that additional information was needed to make a final decision. Additional information has been obtained on the nature and extent of contamination in the tank farm and on the impact to groundwater. The selected remedy was chosen in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Liability and Compensation Act of 1980 (CERCLA) (42 USC 9601 et seq.), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-499) and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 CFR 300). The selected remedy is intended to be the final action for tank farm soil and groundwater at INTEC. The response action selected in this ROD is necessary to protect the public health, welfare, or the environment from actual or threatened releases of hazardous substances into the environment. Such a release or threat of release may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public …

We perform an amplitude analysis of B{sup {+-}} {yields} {var_phi}(1020)K*(892){sup {+-}} decay with a sample of about 384 million B{bar B} pairs recorded with the BABAR detector. Overall, twelve parameters are measured, including the fractions of longitudinal f{sub L} and parity-odd transverse f{sub {perpendicular}} amplitudes, branching fraction, strong phases, and six parameters sensitive to CP-violation. We use the dependence on the K{pi} invariant mass of the interference between the J{sup P} = 1{sup -} and 0{sup +} K{pi} components to resolve the discrete ambiguity in the determination of the strong and weak phases. Our measurements of f{sub L} = 0.49 {+-} 0.05 {+-} 0.03, f{sub {perpendicular}} = 0.21 {+-} 0.05 {+-} 0.02, and the strong phases point to the presence of a substantial helicity-plus amplitude from a presently unknown source.

By some accounts, catalysis impacts ≥ 30% of GDP in developed countries [Maxwell, I. E. Nature 394, 325-326 (1998)]. Catalysis is the enabling technology for petroleum production, for control of gaseous emissions from petroleum combustion, and for the production of industrial and consumer chemicals. Future applications of catalysis are potentially even more far reaching. There is an ever-growing need to move the economy from a fossil-fuel energy base to cleaner alternatives. Hydrogen-based combustion systems and fuel cells could play a dominant role, given a plentiful and inexpensive source of hydrogen. Photocatalysis is the most promising clean technology for hydrogen production, relying solely on water and sunlight, but performance enhancements in photocatalysis are needed to make this technology economically competitive. Given the enormously wide spread utilization of catalysts, even incremental performance enhancements would have far-reaching benefits for multiple end-use sectors. In the area of fuel and chemical production, such improvements would translate into vast reductions in energy consumption. At the consumption end, improvements in the catalysts involved would yield tremendous reductions in pollution. In the area of photocatalysis, such efficiency improvements could finally render hydrogen an economically viable fuel. Prerequisite to the non-empirical design and refinement of improved catalysts is the …

The degradation of petroleum waste by mixed bacterial cultures which produce biosurfactants: Ralstonia pickettii SRS (BP-20), Alcaligenes piechaudii SRS (CZOR L-1B), Bacillus subtilis (1'- 1a), Bacillus sp. (T-1) and Bacillus sp. (T'-1) was investigated. The total petroleum hydrocarbons were degraded substantially (91 %) by the mixed bacterial culture in 30 days (reaching up to 29 % in the first 72 h). Similarly, the toxicity of the biodegraded petroleum waste decreased 3 times after 30 days as compared to raw petroleum waste. Thus, the mixed bacterial strains effectively clean-up the petroleum waste and they can be used in other bioremediation processes.

We have developed a new directional fast-neutron detector based on double proton recoil in two separated planes of plastic scintillators with position-sensitive readout. This method allows the energy spectrum of the neutrons to be measured by a combination of peak amplitude in the first plane and time of flight to the second plane. The planes are made up of 1-m long, 10-cm high paddles with photomultipliers at both ends, so that the location of an event along the paddle can be estimated from the time delay between the optical pulses detected at the two ends. The direction of the scattered neutron can be estimated from the locations of two time-correlated events in the two planes, and the energy lost in the first scattering event can be estimated from the pulse amplitude in the first plane. The direction of the incident neutron can then be determined to lie on a cone whose angle is determined by the kinematic equations. The superposition of many such cones generates an image that indicates the presence of a localized source. Setting upper and lower limits on the time of flight allows discrimination between gamma rays, muons and neutrons. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to determine …

The inhomogeneous ionization state of the universe when the first sources of ionizing radiation appeared should lead to anisotropies in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. We use cosmological simulations of the process by which the first sources ionized the intergalactic medium to study the induced polarization anisotropies. We find that the polarization anisotropies have rms of order {approx} 0.01 {mu}K, and local peak values of {approx} 0.1 {mu}K, smaller than those due to gravitational lensing on small scales. The polarization direction is highly coherent over degree scales. This directional coherence is not expected from either primary anisotropy or gravitational lensing effects, making the largest signals due to inhomogeneous ionization relatively easy to isolate, should experiments achieve the necessary very low noise levels.

The authors present results from an analysis of B{sup 0} {yields} {rho}{sup +}{rho}{sup -} decays using (383.6 {+-} 4.2) x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B Factory at SLAC. The measurements of the B{sup 0} {yields} {rho}{sup +}{rho}{sup -} branching fraction, longitudinal polarization fraction f{sub L}, and the CP-violating parameters S{sub long} and C{sub long} are: {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {rho}{sup +}{rho}{sup -}) = (25.5 {+-} 2.1(stat){sub -3.9}{sup +3.6}(syst)) x 10{sup -6}, f{sub L} = 0.992 {+-} 0.024(stat){sub -0.013}{sup +0.026}(syst), S{sub long} = -0.17 {+-} 0.20(stat){sub -0.06}{sup +0.05}(syst), C{sub long} = 0.01 {+-} 0.15(stat) {+-} 0.06(syst). The authors determine the unitarity triangle angle {alpha}, using an isospin analysis of B {yields} {rho}{rho} decays. One of the two solutions, {alpha} = [73.1, 117.0]{sup o} at 68% CL is compatible with standard model-based fits of existing data. Constraints on the unitarity triangle are also evaluated using an SU(3) symmetry based approach.

Large-scale controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM)three-dimensional (3D) geophysical imaging is now receiving considerableattention for electrical conductivity mapping of potential offshore oiland gas reservoirs. To cope with the typically large computationalrequirements of the 3D CSEM imaging problem, our strategies exploitcomputational parallelism and optimized finite-difference meshing. Wereport on an imaging experiment, utilizing 32,768 tasks/processors on theIBM Watson Research Blue Gene/L (BG/L) supercomputer. Over a 24-hourperiod, we were able to image a large scale marine CSEM field data setthat previously required over four months of computing time ondistributed clusters utilizing 1024 tasks on an Infiniband fabric. Thetotal initial data misfit could be decreased by 67 percent within 72completed inversion iterations, indicating an electrically resistiveregion in the southern survey area below a depth of 1500 m below theseafloor. The major part of the residual misfit stems from transmitterparallel receiver components that have an offset from the transmittersail line (broadside configuration). Modeling confirms that improvedbroadside data fits can be achieved by considering anisotropic electricalconductivities. While delivering a satisfactory gross scale image for thedepths of interest, the experiment provides important evidence for thenecessity of discriminating between horizontal and verticalconductivities for maximally consistent 3D CSEM inversions.

Continental margin sediments constitute only about 10% of the total sediment surface area in the world’s oceans, nevertheless they are the dominant sites of nitrogen (N) cycling. Recent studies suggest that the oceanic nitrogen budget is unbalanced, primarily due to a higher nitrogen removal rate in contrast to the fixation rate, and it has been suggested that denitrification activity contributes significantly to this imbalance. Although denitrification in marine environments has been studied intensively at the process level, little is known about the species abundance, composition, distribution, and functional differences of the denitrifying population. Understanding the diversity of microbial populations in marine environments, their responses to various environmental factors such as NO3-, and how this impact the rate of denitrification is critical to predict global N dynamics. Environmental Microbiology has the prompt to study the influence of each microbial population on a biogeochemical process within a given ecosystem. Culture-dependent and –independent techniques using nucleic acid probes can access the identity and activity of cultured and uncultured microorganisms. Nucleic acid probes can target distintict genes which set phylogenetic relationships, such as rDNA 16S, DNA gyrase (gyrB) and RNA polymerase sigma 70 factor (rpoD). In the other hand, the genetic capabilities and their …

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We report on the measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle {gamma} through a Dalitz analysis of neutral D decays to K-short {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +} in the processes B{sup {minus_plus}} {yields} D(*)K{sup {minus_plus}} and B{sup {minus_plus}} {yields} DK*{sup {minus_plus}}, D* {yields} D{pi}{sup 0}, D{gamma}, with the BaBar detector at the SLAC PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} asymmetric-energy collider.

This presentation by Cory Welch at the 2007 DOE Hydrogen Program Annual Merit Review Meeting focuses on Hydrogen Dynamic Infrastructure and Vehicle Evolution Model.