A Key objective of this program is to identify electrodes that will make it possible to significantly reduce the operating temperature of micro-SOFC and thin film-based SOFCs. Towards this end, efforts are directed towards: (a) identifying the key rate limiting steps which limit presently utilized electrodes from performing at reduced temperatures, as well as, (b) investigating the use of optical, as opposed to thermal energy, as a means for photocatalyzing electrode reactions and enabling reduced operating temperatures. During Phase I, the following objectives were achieved: (a) assembly and testing of our unique Microprobe Thin Film Characterization System; (b) fabrication of the model cathode materials system in thin film form by both PLD and ink jet printing; and (c) the successful configuration and testing of the model materials as cathodes in electrochemical cells. A further key objective (d) to test the potential of illumination in enhancing electrode performance was also achieved.

Despite recent progress in the development of SiC-SiC ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), their application in industrial gas turbines for distributed energy (DE) systems has been limited. The poor oxidation resistance of the non-oxide ceramics warrants the use of envrionmental barrier coatings (EBCs), which in turn lead to issues pertaining to life expectancy of the coatings. On the other hand, oxide/oxide CMCs are potential replacements, but their use has been limited until now due to the poor creep resistance at high temperatures, particularly above 1200 oC: the lack of a creep resistant matrix has been a major limiting factor. Using yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) as the matrix material system, we have advanced the state-of-the-art in oxide/oxide CMCs by introducing innovations in both the structure and composition of the matrix material, thereby leading to high temperature matrix creep properties not achieved until now. An array of YAG-based powders with a unique set of particle characteristics were produced in-house and sintered to full density and compressive creep data was obtained. Aided in part by the composition and the microstructure, the creep rates were found to be two orders of magnitude smaller than the most creep resistant oxide fiber available commercially. Even after accounting …

In this presentation we will summarize the work performed at NETL on the production of hydrogen via partial oxidation/dry reforming of methane and catalytic decomposition of hydrogen sulfide. We have determined that high pressure resulted in greater carbon formation on the reforming catalysts, lower methane and CO2 conversions, as well as a H2/CO ratio. The results also showed that Rh/alumina catalyst is the most resistant toward carbon deposition both at lower and at higher pressures. We studied the catalytic partial oxidation of methane over Ni-MgO solid solutions supported on metal foams and the results showed that the foam-supported catalysts reach near-equilibrium conversions of methane and H2/CO selectivities. The rates of carbon deposition differ greatly among the catalysts, varying from 0.24 mg C/g cat h for the dipped foams to 7.0 mg C/g cat h for the powder-coated foams, suggesting that the exposed Cr on all of the foam samples may interact with the Ni-MgO catalyst to kinetically limit carbon formation. Effects of sulfur poisoning on reforming catalysts were studies and pulse sulfidation of catalyst appeared to be reversible for some of the catalysts but not for all. Under pulse sulfidation conditions, the 0.5%Rh/alumina and NiMg2Ox-1100ºC (solid solution) catalysts were fully …

Transmission electron microscopy was applied to study InN nanorods grown on the a-, c-and r-plane of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and (111) Si substrates by non-catalytic, template-free hydride metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (H-MOVPE). Single crystal nanorod growth was obtained on all substrates. However, the shape of the nanorods varied depending on the substrate used. For example, nanorods grown on r-plane sapphire and (111) Si have sharp tips. In contrast, growth on a- and c- planes of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} results in flat tips with clear facets on their sides. The structural quality of these nanorods and their growth polarity are compared to crystalline quality, surface roughness, defects and growth polarity of InN layers grown by MBE on the same planes of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}.

Acrylamido-quinazolines substituted at the 6-position bindirreversibly to the intracellular ATP binding domain of the epidermalgrowth factor receptor (EGFR). A general route was developed forpreparing 6-substituted-4-anilinoquinazolines from [18F]fluoroanilinesfor evaluation as EGFR targeting agents with PET. By a cyclizationreaction, 2-[18F]fluoroaniline was reacted withN'-(2-cyano-4-nitrophenyl)-N,N-dimethylimidoformamide to produce6-nitro-4-(2-[18F]fluoroanilino)quinazoline in 27.5 percentdecay-corrected radiochemical yield. Acid mediated tin chloride reductionof the nitro group was achieved in 5 min (80 percent conversion) andsubsequent acylation with acrylic acid gave6-acrylamido-4-(2-[18F]fluoroanilino)quinazoline in 8.5 percentdecay-corrected radiochemical yield, from starting fluoride, in less than2 hours.

Methods are investigated for predicting the power at which critical heat flux (CHF) occurs in TRIGA reactors that rely on natural convection for primary flow. For a representative TRIGA reactor, two sets of functions are created. For the first set, the General Atomics STAT code and the more widely-used RELAP5-3D code are each employed to obtain reactor flow rate as a function of power. For the second set, the Bernath correlation, the 2006 Groeneveld table, the Hall and Mudawar outlet correlation, and each of the four PG-CHF correlations for rod bundles are used to predict the power at which CHF occurs as a function of channel flow rate. The two sets of functions are combined to yield predictions of the power at which CHF occurs in the reactor. A combination of the RELAP5-3D code and the 2006 Groeneveld table predicts 67% more CHF power than does a combination of the STAT code and the Bernath correlation. Replacing the 2006 Groeneveld table with the Bernath CHF correlation (while using the RELAP5-3D code flow solution) causes the increase to be 23% instead of 67%. Additional RELAP5-3D flow-versus-power solutions obtained from Reference 1 and presented in Appendix B for four specific TRIGA reactors …

A great deal of research funding is being devoted to the use of hydrogen for transportation fuel, particularly in the development of fuel cell vehicles. When this research bears fruit in the form of consumer-ready vehicles, will the fueling infrastructure be ready? Will the required fueling systems work in cold climates as well as they do in warm areas? Will we be sure that production of hydrogen as the energy carrier of choice for our transit system is the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly option? Will consumers understand this fuel and how to handle it? Those are questions addressed by the EVermont Wind to Wheels Hydrogen Project: Sustainable Transportation. The hydrogen fueling infrastructure consists of three primary subcomponents: a hydrogen generator (electrolyzer), a compression and storage system, and a dispenser. The generated fuel is then used to provide transportation as a motor fuel. EVermont Inc., started in 1993 by then governor Howard Dean, is a public-private partnership of entities interested in documenting and advancing the performance of advanced technology vehicles that are sustainable and less burdensome on the environment, especially in areas of cold climates, hilly terrain and with rural settlement patterns. EVermont has developed a demonstration wind powered …

An overview of several aspects of the weathering of roofing materials is presented. Degradation of materials initiated by ultraviolet radiation is discussed for plastics used in roofing, as well as wood and asphalt. Elevated temperatures accelerate many deleterious chemical reactions and hasten diffusion of material components. Effects of moisture include decay of wood, acceleration of corrosion of metals, staining of clay, and freeze-thaw damage. Soiling of roofing materials causes objectionable stains and reduces the solar reflectance of reflective materials. (Soiling of non-reflective materials can also increase solar reflectance.) Soiling can be attributed to biological growth (e.g., cyanobacteria, fungi, algae), deposits of organic and mineral particles, and to the accumulation of flyash, hydrocarbons and soot from combustion.

The Sludge Treatment Project (STP), managed for the U. S. DOE by Fluor Hanford (FH), was created to design and operate a process to eliminate uranium metal from K Basin sludge prior to packaging for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The STP process uses high temperature liquid water to accelerate the reaction, produce uranium dioxide from the uranium metal, and safely discharge the hydrogen. Under nominal process conditions, the sludge will be heated in pressurized water at 185°C for as long as 72 hours to assure the complete reaction (corrosion) of up to 0.25-inch diameter uranium metal pieces. Under contract to FH, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted bench-scale testing of the STP hydrothermal process in November and December 2006. Five tests (~50 ml each) were conducted in sealed, un-agitated reaction vessels under the hydrothermal conditions (e.g., 7 to 72 h at 185°C) of the STP corrosion process using radioactive sludge samples collected from the K East Basin and particles/coupons of N Reactor fuel also taken from the K Basins. The tests were designed to evaluate and understand the chemical changes that may be occurring and the effects that any changes would have on sludge rheological properties. The tests …

This document summarizes the Flash X-Ray accelerator (FXR) optical transition radiation (OTR) spot-size diagnostics efforts in FY07. During this year, new analysis, simulation, and experimental approaches were utilized to interpret OTR spot data from both dielectric foils such as Kapton (VN type) and metal coated foils. Significant new findings of the intricacies involved in the diagnostic and of FXR operational issues were achieved. Geometry and temperature based effects were found to affect the beam image profiles from the OTR foils. These effects must be taken into account in order to deduce accurately the beam current density profile.

The objective of this project was to design, construct and field demonstrate a membrane system to recover natural gas liquids (NGL) and remove water from raw natural gas. An extended field test to demonstrate system performance under real-world high-pressure conditions was conducted to convince industry users of the efficiency and reliability of the process. The system was designed and fabricated by Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) and installed and operated at BP Amoco's Pascagoula, MS plant. The Gas Research Institute partially supported the field demonstration and BP-Amoco helped install the unit and provide onsite operators and utilities. The gas processed by the membrane system meets pipeline specifications for dew point and BTU value and can be delivered without further treatment to the pipeline. During the course of this project, MTR has sold thirteen commercial units related to the field test technology. Revenue generated from new business is already more than four times the research dollars invested in this process by DOE. The process is ready for broader commercialization and the expectation is to pursue the commercialization plans developed during this project, including collaboration with other companies already servicing the natural gas processing industry.

The DVD based integrated pulser combines the storage capacity and simplicity of DVD technology with commonly available electronic components to build a relatively inexpensive yet highly capable testing instrument. DVD technology has matured to the mass consumer level and has found widespread acceptance in many scientific, industrial, and consumers sectors. Coupling the removable media and relatively large data capacity with a simple electronic readout allows this device to be easy to build, export and authenticate. Since there are few parts and the heart of the device is a mass consumer item the duplication cost is very low.

In lieu of performing laboratory testing, Eaton Corporation and Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) conducted an additional field test in March 2007 at ORNL facilities. The results of this test summarized in the report entitled 'DE-FC26-04NT42071, Final Technical Report' submitted to the Department of Energy on June 27, 2007.

Trace amounts of mercury are found in all coals. During combustion this mercury is vaporized and can be released to the atmosphere. This has been a cause for concern for a number of years, and has resulted in a determination by the EPA to regulate and control these emissions. Present technology does not, however, provide inexpensive ways to capture or remove mercury from flue gases. The mercury that exits the furnace in the oxidized form (HgCl{sub 2}) is known to much more easily captured in existing wet pollution control equipment (e.g., wet FGD for SO{sub 2}), principally due to its high solubility in water. Until recently, however, nobody knew what caused this oxidation, or how to promote it. Recent DOE-funded research in our group, along with work by others, has identified the gas phase mechanism responsible for this oxidation. The scenario is as follows. In the flame the mercury is quantitatively vaporized as elemental mercury. Also, the chlorine in the fuel is released as HCl. The direct reaction Hg+HCl is, however, far too slow to be of practical consequence in oxidation. The high temperature region does supports a small concentration of atomic chlorine due to disassociation of HCl. As the …

This study is for in-situ investigation of chemical bonding and molecular structure of low z-elements and simple molecular solids at high pressures and temperatures using 3rd-generation synchrotron x-ray diffraction. To understand the contribution of the empty d-electron orbital of Mg in relation to the formation of molecular solids like MgO, which is one of the important Earth lower mantle materials and MgB{sub 2}, which has recently been the focus of intense superconducting material research, we have performed double-sided laser heating experiments using a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Understanding the structural stability and the formation of the above Mg-compounds requires studying Mg itself as well as the relevant compounds. BL10XU at the Spring-8 was used to study phase stability and make accurate equation of state (EOS) determinations of Mg coupled with external heating and the double-sided laser heating technique. Monochromatic x-ray at 30 keV (0.4135 {angstrom}) was focused to about 40 {micro}m at the sample and the diffracted x-ray were recorded using a high-resolution image plate (3000 x 3000 pixels with a 0.1 mm resolution per pixel). EOS parameters for hcp and bcc Mg were determined by fitting to a Birch-Murnaghan equation. An isothermal compression of Mg at 300 K up …

The FY 2003 risk assessment (RA) of bulk vitrification (BV) waste packages used 0.3 wt% of the technetium (Tc) inventory as a leachable salt and found it sufficient to create a significant peak in the groundwater concentration in a 100-meter down-gradient well. Although this peak met regulatory limits, considering uncertainty in the actual Tc salt fraction, peak concentrations could exceed the maximum concentration limit (MCL) under some scenarios so reducing the leachable salt inventory is desirable. The main objective of this study was to reduce the mobile Tc species available within a BV disposal package by reducing the oxidation state of the Tc in the waste feed and/or during melting because Tc in its reduced form of Tc(IV) has a much lower volatility than Tc(VII). Reduced Tc volatility has a secondary benefit of increasing the Tc retention in glass.

The overall objective of this study is to provide a demonstration of capability for importing both high altitude meteorological forecast and climatological datasets from NRL into the NARAC modeling system to simulate high altitude atmospheric droplet release and dispersion. The altitude of release for the proposed study is between 60 and 100km altitude. As either standard climatological data (over a period of 40 years) or daily meteorological forecasts can drive the particle dispersion model, we did a limited comparison of simulations with meteorological data and simulations with climatological data. The modeling tools used to address this problem are the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) modeling system at LLNL which are operationally employed to assist DOE/DHS/DOD emergency response to an atmospheric release of chemical, biological, and radiological contaminants. The interrelation of the various data feeds and codes at NARAC are illustrated in Figure 1. The NARAC scientific models are all verified to both analytic solutions and other codes; the models are validated to field data such as the Prairie Grass study (Barad, 1958). NARAC has multiple real-time meteorological data feeds from the National Weather Service, from the European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasting, from the US Navy, and from …

We propose the construction of a Silicon Vertex Tracker (VTX) for the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. The VTX will substantially enhance the physics capabilities of the PHENIX central arm spectrometers. Our prime motivation is to provide precision measurements of heavy-quark production (charm and beauty) in A+A, p(d)+A, and polarized p+p collisions. These are key measurements for the future RHIC program, both for the heavy ion program as it moves from the discovery phase towards detailed investigation of the properties of the dense nuclear medium created in heavy ion collisions, and for the exploration of the nucleon spin-structure functions. In addition, the VTX will also considerably improve other measurements with PHENIX. The main physics topics addressed by the VTX are: (1) Hot and dense strongly interacting matter--Potential enhancement of charm production; Open beauty production; Flavor dependence of jet quenching and QCD energy loss; Accurate charm reference for quarkonium; Thermal dilepton radiation; High p{sub T} phenomena with light flavors above 10-15 GeV/c in p{sub T}; and Upsilon spectroscopy in the e{sup +}e{sup -} decay channel. (2) Gluon spin structure of the nucleon--{Delta}G/G with charm; {Delta}G/G with beauty; and x dependence of {Delta}G/G with {gamma}-jet correlations. (3) Nucleon structure in nuclei--Gluon shadowing over …

The extent to which finite element models of partially buried nuclear power plant structures may be used to compute seismic induced wall pressures is investigated in this paper. Stresses in three dimensional finite elements modeling the soil adjacent to the structure are used and stresses in these elements are used to evaluate wall pressures. Depths of burial of the structure varying from 1/4 to 1 times the height of the structure are considered. The SASSI computer code is used to perform the analyses. The wall pressures for the shallower depths of burial are found to depend on the inertial interaction loads, while the pressures for the deeper embedded structures are found to depend on kinematic interaction loads. The input ground motion for the study has a ZPA equal to 0.3 g. The maximum wall pressures are examined to determine whether non linear effects (separation of the wall and soil or slippage of the soil relative to the wall) are important. Non-linear effects are found to occur for depths of burial less than one half of the height and are found to occur over one half of the buried depth.

The Joint URBAN 2003 field experiment took place in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, during July 2003 to explore the effect of an urban canopy on the transport and diffusion of a passive tracer released in an urban area. Over one hundred three-dimensional sonic anemometers were deployed in and around the urban area to monitor wind speed, direction, and turbulence during releases of SF6. Deployment locations include a profile of eight sonic anemometers mounted on a crane located 1 km north (typically downwind) of the central business district, and several surface meteorological towers within an urban canyon.

There are 3 types of REWDC container types listed. Type 1 is used for long term storage of conditions waste. It's made of steel and it's a 55-gallon galvanized drum with a 90 mil HDPE liner. Type 2 is used for solid waste, point of generation and short term storage. It can be made of steel or poly. They come in 2-gallon, 5-gallon, 30-gallon, and 55-gallon drums used with 4 mil polyethylene liner. Type 3 is used for liquid waste. It can be made of steel or poly. It comes in 2-gallon, 5-gallon, 30-gallon, or 55-gallon drums. They have a closed head.

The key to overcome Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) load range limitations in reciprocating engines is based on proper control over the thermo-chemical properties of the in-cylinder charge. The studied alternative to achieve the required control of LTC is the use of two separate fuel streams to regulate timing and heat release at specific operational points, where the secondary fuel is a reformed product of the primary fuel in the tank. It is proposed in this report that the secondary fuel can be produced using exhaust heat and Thermo-Chemical Recuperation (TCR). TCR for reciprocating engines is a system that employs high efficiency recovery of sensible heat from engine exhaust gas and uses this energy to transform fuel composition. The recuperated sensible heat is returned to the engine as chemical energy. Chemical conversions are accomplished through catalytic and endothermic reactions in a specially designed reforming reactor. An equilibrium model developed by Gas Technology Institute (GTI) for heptane steam reforming was applied to estimate reformed fuel composition at different reforming temperatures. Laboratory results, at a steam/heptane mole ratio less than 2:1, confirm that low temperature reforming reactions, in the range of 550 K to 650 K, can produce 10-30% hydrogen (by volume, wet) …

In support of technology development to utilize coal for efficient, affordable, and environmentally clean power generation, the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF), located in Wilsonville, Alabama, routinely demonstrates gasification technologies using various types of coals. The PSDF is an engineering scale demonstration of key features of advanced coal-fired power systems, including a KBR Transport Gasifier, a hot gas particulate control device, advanced syngas cleanup systems, and high-pressure solids handling systems. This report summarizes the results of TC24, the first test campaign using a bituminous coal as the feedstock in the modified Transport Gasifier configuration. TC24 was conducted from February 16, 2008, through March 19, 2008. The PSDF gasification process operated for about 230 hours in air-blown gasification mode with about 225 tons of Utah bituminous coal feed. Operational challenges in gasifier operation were related to particle agglomeration, a large percentage of oversize coal particles, low overall gasifier solids collection efficiency, and refractory degradation in the gasifier solids collection unit. The carbon conversion and syngas heating values varied widely, with low values obtained during periods of low gasifier operating temperature. Despite the operating difficulties, several periods of steady state operation were achieved, which provided useful data for future testing. TC24 operation …

This is an analytical data report for sediments received from BX Tank Farm.