A description of Tiger Teams, sponsored by DOE and NREL to help implement the use of alternative fuels by constituents of DOE's Clean Cities coalitions.

Piston-wetting effects are investigated in an optical direct-injection spark-ignition (DISI) engine. Fuel spray impingement on the piston leads to the formation of fuel films, which are visualized with a laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) imaging technique. Oxygen quenching is found to reduce the fluorescence yield from liquid gasoline. Fuel films that exist during combustion of the premixed charge ignite to create piston-top pool fires. These fires are characterized using direct flame imaging. Soot produced by the pool fires is imaged using laser elastic scattering and is found to persist throughout the exhaust stroke, implying that piston-top pool fires are a likely source of engine-out particulate emissions for DISI engines.

A training and qualification program for nuclear criticality safety technical staff personnel has been developed and implemented. All personnel who are to perform nuclear criticality safety technical work are required to participate in the program. The program includes both general nuclear criticality safety and plant specific knowledge components. Advantage can be taken of previous experience for that knowledge which is portable such as performance of computer calculations. Candidates step through a structured process which exposes them to basic background information, general plant information, and plant specific information which they need to safely and competently perform their jobs. Extensive documentation is generated to demonstrate that candidates have met the standards established for qualification.

The alpha particle population from fusion reactions in a DT tokamak reactor can have dramatic effects on the pressure profiles, energetic particle confinement, and the overall stability of the plasma; thus leading to important design consideration of a fusion reactor based on the tokamak concept. In order to fully understand the effects of the alpha population, a non-invasive diagnostic technique suitable for use in a reacting plasma environment needs to be developed to map out both the spatial and velocity distribution of the alphas. The proposed experimental goals for the eventual demonstration of LH wave interaction with a fast ion population is given in the reduced 3 year plan in table 1. At present time the authors are approaching the 8th month in their first year of this project. Up to now, their main effort has been concentrated in the operation of the two beat wave sources in burst mode. The second priority in the experimental project is the probe diagnostics and computer aided data acquisition system. The progress made so far is given, and they are ready to perform the beat-wave generated lower hybrid wave experiment. Some theoretical calculation had been reported at APS meetings. More refined theoretical models …

A method of separating ultra-fine particulate from an aqueous suspension such as a process stream or a waste stream. The method involves the addition of alkali silicate and an organic gelling agent to a volume of liquid, from the respective process or waste stream, to form a gel. The gel then undergoes syneresis to remove water and soluble salts from the gel-containing the particulate, thus, forming a silica monolith. The silica monolith is then sintered to form a hard, nonporous waste form.

An account of the successful use of alternative fuels in a fleet of SuperShuttle passenger vans, which offer shared-rides between Boulder and Denver International Airport.

There have been incidents in which the irradiance resulting from laser guide stars have temporarily blinded pilots or passengers of aircraft. An aircraft detection system based on passive near infrared cameras (instead of active radar) is described in this report.

Based on previous results [1] further details of the oxidation of copper foil 2 Cu + O{sub 2} {r_arrow} 2 CuO were resolved using high quality, high temperature Cu{sub 2}O and CuO standards for Cu-K XAFS and Cu-K PCA [2] analysis. These were prepared from copper foils using the same experimental techniques as for the oxidation under study. As the reaction can be divided into a step-wise oxidation mechanism: 2 Cu + 0.5 O{sub 2} {r_arrow}Cu{sub 2}O; Cu{sub 2}O + 0.5 O{sub 2} {r_arrow} 2 CuO, we attempted to check whether the formation of CuO is kinetically inhibited (delayed) or whether it takes place simultaneously to the formation of Cu{sub 2}O. To achieve an optimal time resolution the QEXAFS technique [3] was applied. This investigation was completed by XRD and SEM investigations on samples quenched within the oxidation period.

The motion of water adsorbed in Type-Azeotites has been measured using quasielastic and inelastic neutron spectroscopy. Changes in the charge-compensating cation has a dramatic effect on the low frequency vibrational spectrum, which has a well defined low frequency feature for sodium and lithium but no such peak is present for the case of potassium and calcium. At 297K the low frequency feature is still visible, while there is also quasielastic broadening of the elastic line due to diffusion of the water protons. These measurements are interpreted in the light of the results from computer simulations of these materials.

A new methodology to predict the Upper Shelf Energy (USE) of standard Charpy specimens (Full size) based on subsize specimens has been developed. The prediction methodology uses Finite Element Modeling (FEM) to model the fracture behavior. The inputs to FEM are the tensile properties of material and subsize Charpy specimen test data.

This report presents detailed results for three flow problems involving CO2 migration in saline aquifers, that had been posed as part of an international code intercomparison study. Selected data for PVT properties of aqueous mixtures involving CO2 are given, and the dynamics of immiscible displacement of an aqueous phase by supercritical CO2 is discussed. Simulations were conducted with a version of the TOUGH2 general purpose reservoir simulator that includes a special property package for supercritical CO2. The results can serve as benchmarks for debugging numerical simulation models.

This document is a close-out report describing the work done under this DOE grant to improve Federal Energy Productivity. Over the four years covered in this document, the Alliance To Save Energy conducted liaison with the private sector through our Federal Energy Productivity Task Force. In this time, the Alliance held several successful workshops on the uses of metering in Federal facilities and other meetings. We also conducted significant research on energy efficiency, financing, facilitated studies of potential energy savings in energy intensive agencies, and undertook other tasks outlined in this report.

The Smackover Formation, a major hydrocarbon-producing horizon in the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin (MISB), conformably overlies the Norphlet Formation and is conformably overlain by the Buckner Anhydrite Member of the Haynesville Formation. The Norphlet-Smackover contact can be either gradational or abrupt. The thickness and lithofacies distribution of the Smackover Formation were controlled by the configuration of incipient paleotopography. The Smackover Formation has been subdivided into three informal members, referred to as the lower, middle and upper members.

The highlight for the first quarter was the presentation of research progress and findings at the DPI Symposium on March 5, 1997. Since that presentation, additional progress was slowed down due to the decreased budget funding for year two, and consequently, the decrease in time-effort of the principal investigators. This report summarizes the progress in each of the topical areas to date. A research article has been prepared for publication for the Optical Character Recognition project; two progress reports are included for the Logical Analysis project; and two progress reports for the Knowledge Representation project. Research activities for the Tipster Technology project will resume this fall.

The principal research effort for Year 1 of the project is T-R cycle characterization and modeling. The research focus for the first nine (9) months of Year 1 is on outcrop study, well log analysis, seismic interpretation and data integration and for the remainder of the year the emphasis is on T-R cycle model development.