The goal of the Active System Area Networks (ASAN) project is to develop hardware and software technologies for the implementation of active system area networks (ASANs). The use of the term ''active'' refers to the ability of the network interfaces to perform application-specific as well as system level computations in addition to their traditional role of data transfer. This project adopts the view that the network infrastructure should be an active computational entity capable of supporting certain classes of computations that would otherwise be performed on the host CPUs. The result is a unique network-wide programming model where computations are dynamically placed within the host CPUs or the NIs depending upon the quality of service demands and network/CPU resource availability. The projects seeks to demonstrate that such an approach is a better match for data intensive network-based applications and that the advent of low-cost powerful embedded processors and configurable hardware makes such an approach economically viable and desirable.

The activities of the Advanced Gas Turbine Systems Research (AGTSR) program for this reporting period are described in this quarterly report. The report is divided into discussions of Membership, Administration, Technology Transfer (Workshop/Education), Research and Miscellaneous Related Activity. Items worthy of note are presented in extended bullet format following the appropriate heading.

OAK A271 ADVANCED HIGH PERFORMANCE SOLID WALL BLANKET CONCEPTS. First wall and blanket (FW/blanket) design is a crucial element in the performance and acceptance of a fusion power plant. High temperature structural and breeding materials are needed for high thermal performance. A suitable combination of structural design with the selected materials is necessary for D-T fuel sufficiency. Whenever possible, low afterheat, low chemical reactivity and low activation materials are desired to achieve passive safety and minimize the amount of high-level waste. Of course the selected fusion FW/blanket design will have to match the operational scenarios of high performance plasma. The key characteristics of eight advanced high performance FW/blanket concepts are presented in this paper. Design configurations, performance characteristics, unique advantages and issues are summarized. All reviewed designs can satisfy most of the necessary design goals. For further development, in concert with the advancement in plasma control and scrape off layer physics, additional emphasis will be needed in the areas of first wall coating material selection, design of plasma stabilization coils, consideration of reactor startup and transient events. To validate the projected performance of the advanced FW/blanket concepts the critical element is the need for 14 MeV neutron irradiation facilities for …

Power generators are concerned with the maintenance costs associated with the advanced turbines that they are purchasing. Since these machines do not have fully established operation and maintenance (O&M) track records, power generators face financial risk due to uncertain future maintenance costs. This risk is of particular concern, as the electricity industry transitions to a competitive business environment in which unexpected O&M costs cannot be passed through to consumers. These concerns have accelerated the need for intelligent software-based diagnostic systems that can monitor the health of a combustion turbine in real time and provide valuable information on the machine's performance to its owner/operators. Such systems would interpret sensor and instrument outputs, correlate them to the machine's condition, provide interpretative analyses, forward projections of servicing intervals, estimate remaining component life, and identify faults. EPRI, Impact Technologies, Boyce Engineering, and Progress Energy have teamed to develop a suite of intelligent software tools integrated with a diagnostic monitoring platform that will, in real time, interpret data to assess the ''total health'' of combustion turbines. The Combustion Turbine Health Management System (CTHM) will consist of a series of dynamic link library (DLL) programs residing on a diagnostic monitoring platform that accepts turbine health data …

Natural gas and oil production from stripper wells also produces water contaminated with hydrocarbons, and in most locations, salts and trace elements. The hydrocarbons are not generally present in concentrations that allow the operator to economically recover these liquids. Produced liquids, (Stripper Gas Water) which are predominantly water, present the operator with two options; purify the water to acceptable levels of contaminates, or pay for the disposal of the water. The project scope involves testing SynCoal as a sorbent to reduce the levels of contamination in stripper gas well produced water to a level that the water can be put to a productive use. Produced water is to be filtered with SynCoal, a processed sub-bituminous coal. It is expected that the surface area of and in the SynCoal would sorb the hydrocarbons and other contaminates and the effluent would be usable for agricultural purposes. Test plan anticipates using two well locations described as being disparate in the level and type of contaminates present. The loading capacity and the rate of loading for the sorbent should be quantified in field testing situations which include unregulated and widely varying liquid flow rates. This will require significant flexibility in the initial stages of …

As part of Task 1 in Advanced Technologies for Stripper Gas Well Enhancement, Schlumberger--Holditch Reservoir Technologies (H-RT) joined with two Appalachian Basin producers, Great Lakes Energy Partners, LLC, and Belden and Blake Corporation to develop methodologies for identification and enhancement of stripper wells with economic upside potential. These industry partners previously provided us with data for more than 700 wells in northwestern Pennsylvania. Phase 1 goals of this project are to develop and validate methodologies that can quickly and cost-effectively identify wells with enhancement potential. We have enhanced and streamlined our software, and we are beta-testing the final stages of our new Microsoft{trademark} Access/Excel based software. We have processed all well information and identified potential candidate wells that can be used in Phase 2 to validate the new methodologies. In addition, the final technical report is almost finished and a draft version is being reviewed by Gary Covatch.

Quarterly update providing information on environmental regulations for small businesses and local governments in Texas.

This project deals with the modeling the Aerial Measuring System (AMS) fixed-wing and rotary-wing sensor systems, which are critical U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Consequence Management assets. The fixed-wing system is critical in detecting lost or stolen radiography or medical sources, or mixed fission products as from a commercial power plant release at high flying altitudes. The helicopter is typically used at lower altitudes to determine ground contamination, such as in measuring americium from a plutonium ground dispersal during a cleanup. Since the sensitivity of these instruments as a function of altitude is crucial in estimating detection limits of various ground contaminations and necessary count times, a characterization of their sensitivity as a function of altitude and energy is needed. Experimental data at altitude as well as laboratory benchmarks is important to insure that the strong effects of air attenuation are modeled correctly. The modeling presented here is the first attempt at such a characterization of the equipment for flying altitudes. The sodium iodide (NaI) sensors utilized with these systems were characterized using the Monte Carlo N-Particle code (MCNP) developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. For the fixed wing system, calculations modeled the spectral response for …

Calculations were performed using MOCUP, which includes the use of MCNP for neutron transport and ORIGEN for depletion. The MOCUP calculations were done using a unit cell (pin cell) model, where the ThO2 varied from 65-75wt% and the UO2 varied from 25-35wt%. The fission products and actinides being tracked in the calculations account for >97% of the parasitic captures in the fuel. The fuel pin was surrounded by four reflecting planes, where typical parameters were used for a 17x17 PWR assembly. The hydrogen to heavy metal ratio (H/HM) was varied by increasing or decreasing the water density in the cell. The results show that the drier lattices have insufficient reactivity due to the limited enrichment of the uranium. However, a slightly wetter lattice will increase the reactivity-limited burnup by 26% for the 25% UO2 – 75% ThO2, and 19% for the 35% UO2 – 65% ThO2 as compared to the standard coolant density. This is appears to be consistent with similar studies done with all-uranium lattices, where advantages are gained by hardening or further softening the neutron spectrum. Although some advantage is gained by softening the spectrum, the same can be said of all-uranium fueled cores. The spectral changes and, …

A brochure listing and describing Web sites and telephone numbers of resources for people interested in alternative fuels and related vehicles. Most are sponsored by DOE.

A fact sheet describing available alternative fuels vehicles and the fuels themselves, written primarily for individual motorists.

The BEFlux VAP directly compares data from the three Normal Incidence Perheliometers, shaded pyranometers, and shaded pyrgeometers at the SGP CF. Extensive analysis with several years of data has produced limits of typical ranges of agreement when these instruments are performing as expected. These limits are used to screen the data, and then the average is taken of the two that agree best, given that at least two instruments agree to within the established limits. This is done for the downwelling direct normal and diffuse shortwave, and the downwelling longwave. The total (global) downwelling shortwave is then the sum of the direct and diffuse components.

The goal of this project was to develop a device that uses electric fields to grasp and possibly levitate LIGA parts. This non-contact form of grasping would solve many of the problems associated with grasping parts that are only a few microns in dimensions. Scaling laws show that for parts this size, electrostatic and electromagnetic forces are dominant over gravitational forces. This is why micro-parts often stick to mechanical tweezers. If these forces can be controlled under feedback control, the parts could be levitated, possibly even rotated in air. In this project, we designed, fabricated, and tested several grippers that use electrostatic and electromagnetic fields to grasp and release metal LIGA parts. The eventual use of this tool will be to assemble metal and non-metal LIGA parts into small electromechanical systems.

Hydrogen production via thermal decomposition of methane using a solar reactor is analyzed for two different applications: (1) for a fueling station and (2) for power production. For the fueling station, the selling price of hydrogen is controlled by the high cost of hydrogen storage and compression, combined with storage limitations of the system, which prevents maximum hydrogen production. Two alternate scenarios to lower the hydrogen production cost are evaluated: (1) sending the hydrogen directly to a pipeline network and (2) adding a small electric heater, which provides heat to the solar reactor when the hydrogen supply is low. For power production, the economics of two options for the carbon produced from the solar process are evaluated: (1) selling the carbon black and (2) burning the carbon to produce more power.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to licenses and permits processed, issued, or renewed by the Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining whether state bond-issuing entities were in compliance with requirements in significant bond covenants and applicable laws and regulations, and verifying the accuracy of information reported in the bond schedules in each entity's annual financial report.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining if the procedures the Department of Health uses to establish and monitor client service contracts provide reasonable assurance that contractors provide agreed-upon services at contractually specified prices, and that contractors spend funds in accordance with state and federal requirements.

In addressing the goals of energy-efficiency and indoor air quality (IAQ) in homes, industry teams in the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program are installing mechanical ventilation systems in tight homes.

Large quantities of mixed low level waste (MLLW) that fall under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) exist and will continue to be generated during D and D operations at DOE sites across the country. The standard process for destruction of MLLW is incineration, which has an uncertain future. The extraction and destruction of PCBs from MLLW was the subject of this research Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) with carbon dioxide with 5% ethanol as cosolvent and Supercritical Waster Oxidation (SCWO) were the processes studied in depth. The solid matrix for experimental extraction studies was Toxi-dry, a commonly used absorbent made from plant material. PCB surrogates were 1.2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB) and 2-chlorobiphenyl (2CBP). Extraction pressures of 2,000 and 4,000 psi and temperatures of 40 and 80 C were studied. Higher extraction efficiencies were observed with cosolvent and at high temperature, but pressure little effect. SCWO treatment of the treatment of the PCB surrogates resulted in their destruction below detection limits.

Designs for advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power systems call for desulfurization of carbonaceous fuel-derived synthesis gas (syngas) using regenerable sorbents at high-temperature, high pressure (HTHP) conditions. Regeneration of the sulfided sorbent using an oxygen-containing gas stream or air results in a sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2})-containing offgas at HTHP conditions. The patented Direct Sulfur Recovery Process (DSRP) developed by RTI with support from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and its precursor organizations [Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC) and Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC)] efficiently converts the SO{sub 2} in this offgas to elemental sulfur. Under development since 1988, the original work was conducted in a laboratory with simulated laboratory gas mixtures. The Direct Sulfur Recovery Process is a catalytic reduction process for efficiently converting to elemental sulfur up to 98% or more of the sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) contained in the regeneration offgas streams produced in advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power systems. The DSRP reacts the regeneration offgas with a small slipstream of syngas to effect the desired reduction. In this project, the DSRP was demonstrated with actual coal-derived syngas (as opposed to the simulated laboratory mixtures used in previous projects for the original development work) …

Monthly publication documenting statistics related to economic information in the Mexico-Texas border areas including types of border crossings, employment, customs revenues, and other related data.

Lessons learned are more in vogue today than at any time in our history. You can’t tune into a news broadcast without hearing a reference to the concept – and for good reason. People are finally accepting the idea that they may be able to benefit from the experiences of others. Corporations, government departments, and even the military are actively using lessons learned information to help them to achieve their varied goals. The Department of Energy is one of the government departments that has a Lessons Learned Program and requires its contractors to develop a program of their own. Unfortunately, adequate guidance is not available to enable contractors to design a fully mature program (i.e., a program that will immediately meet their every need) and to ensure that it is implemented such that it will be deemed acceptable during subsequent assessments. The purpose of this paper is to present the reader with information that might help him or her better plan and develop a new or upgraded Lessons Learned Program. The information is based on the actual development and implementation of a “second generation” lessons learned program and is presented as a chronicle of the steps taken to build the …

The Buildings for the 21st Century newsletter is produced by the Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs and contains information on building programs, events, products, and initiatives, with a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy. The spring issue contains information on a series of high-performance building brochures, the State Energy Program, a new modular and manufactured home, a new buildings database, solid-state ceramic lighting, weatherization, simplified Web site addresses, a Colorado home builder, and upcoming events and meetings.

During 2000, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) continued to develop techniques to rear chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha to sexual maturity in captivity and to monitor their reproductive performance under natural conditions. Eyed-eggs were collected to establish captive cohorts from three study streams and included 503 eyed-eggs from East Fork Salmon River (EFSR), 250 from the Yankee Fork Salmon River, and 304 from the West Fork Yankee Fork Salmon River (WFYF). After collection, the eyed-eggs were immediately transferred to the Eagle Fish Hatchery, where they were incubated and reared by family group. Juveniles collected the previous summer were PIT and elastomer tagged and vaccinated against vibrio Vibrio spp. and bacterial kidney disease before the majority (approximately 75%) were transferred to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Manchester Marine Experimental Station for saltwater rearing through sexual maturity. Smolt transfers included 158 individuals from the Lemhi River (LEM), 193 from the WFYF, and 372 from the EFSR. Maturing fish transfers from the Manchester facility to the Eagle Fish Hatchery included 77 individuals from the LEM, 45 from the WFYF, and 11 from the EFSR. Two mature females from the WFYF were spawned in captivity with four males in 2000. Only one …