The Competition asked student teams from several US Universities to propose business models, technological systems, and policy framework to accelerate the penetration of new vehicle and fuel technologies into the markets. In May 2009 the final selection of teams was announced and four of five finalist teams flew to Washington DC to present to the US Department of Energy. The five finalist teams were 1. Filter Sensing Technologies (FST) (MIT), 2. Flex Cathode Technology for Electric Vehicle Batteries, 3. Green Guidance (RPI), 4. Levant Power (MIT), and 5. Wind-Driven Paddlewheel Cylinder for Energy Storage in Freighter Trucks (Villanova). The five finalists’ entries are described.

The absence of high-temperature electronics is an obstacle to the development of untapped energy resources (deep oil, gas and geothermal). US natural gas consumption is projected to grow from 22 trillion cubic feet per year (tcf) in 1999 to 34 tcf in 2020. Cumulatively this is 607 tcf of consumption by 2020, while recoverable reserves using current technology are 177 tcf. A significant portion of this shortfall may be met by tapping deep gas reservoirs. Tapping these reservoirs represents a significant technical challenge. At these depths, temperatures and pressures are very high and may require penetrating very hard rock. Logistics of supporting 6.1 km (20,000 ft) drill strings and the drilling processes are complex and expensive. At these depths up to 50% of the total drilling cost may be in the last 10% of the well depth. Thus, as wells go deeper it is increasingly important that drillers are able to monitor conditions down-hole such as temperature, pressure, heading, etc. Commercial off-the-shelf electronics are not specified to meet these operating conditions. This is due to problems associated with all aspects of the electronics including the resistors and capacitors. With respect to capacitors, increasing temperature often significantly changes capacitance because of …

Methods for implementing Coulomb collisions in particle codes were studied and developed. At first, a lattice-Boltzmann method seemed promising. After considering this in more detail, it was found not to be efficient enough. A method was then sought for implementing collisional effects as changes in particle weights, instead of changes in velocities. Although this may eventually be done, it was decided that a Langevin method would be more straightforward to develop, since it was possible to build on previous work. The rest of the contract period was spent developing the Langevin method, which ultimately resulted in a published paper, in April 2008 [F.L. Hinton, Phys. Plasma 15, 042501 (2008)].

Developing safe, reliable, cost-effective, and efficient hydrogen-electricity co-generation systems is an important step in the quest for national energy security and minimized reliance on foreign oil. This project aimed to, through materials research, develop a cost-effective advanced technology cogenerating hydrogen and electricity directly from distributed natural gas and/or coal-derived fuels. This advanced technology was built upon a novel hybrid module composed of solid-oxide fuel-assisted electrolysis cells (SOFECs) and solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), both of which were in planar, anode-supported designs. A SOFEC is an electrochemical device, in which an oxidizable fuel and steam are fed to the anode and cathode, respectively. Steam on the cathode is split into oxygen ions that are transported through an oxygen ion-conducting electrolyte (i.e. YSZ) to oxidize the anode fuel. The dissociated hydrogen and residual steam are exhausted from the SOFEC cathode and then separated by condensation of the steam to produce pure hydrogen. The rationale was that in such an approach fuel provides a chemical potential replacing the external power conventionally used to drive electrolysis cells (i.e. solid oxide electrolysis cells). A SOFC is similar to the SOFEC by replacing cathode steam with air for power generation. To fulfill the cogeneration objective, a hybrid …

Thermal property of low-density neutron matter is reliably determined by a large scale computation using supercomputers. Physics of superfluid in neutron matter are clarified, as a basis of the structure of neutron-halo nuclei and of outer crust of neutron stars. In achieving these, a novel method of lattice quantum Monte Carlo technique is applied by combining with effective field theory.

This study evaluated the feasibility of using three impaired waters - secondary treated municipal wastewater, passively treated abandoned mine drainage (AMD), and effluent from ash sedimentation ponds at power plants - for use as makeup water in recirculating cooling water systems at thermoelectric power plants. The evaluation included assessment of water availability based on proximity and relevant regulations as well as feasibility of managing cooling water quality with traditional chemical management schemes. Options for chemical treatment to prevent corrosion, scaling, and biofouling were identified through review of current practices, and were tested at bench and pilot-scale. Secondary treated wastewater is the most widely available impaired water that can serve as a reliable source of cooling water makeup. There are no federal regulations specifically related to impaired water reuse but a number of states have introduced regulations with primary focus on water aerosol 'drift' emitted from cooling towers, which has the potential to contain elevated concentrations of chemicals and microorganisms and may pose health risk to the public. It was determined that corrosion, scaling, and biofouling can be controlled adequately in cooling systems using secondary treated municipal wastewater at 4-6 cycles of concentration. The high concentration of dissolved solids in treated …

The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office. From 1951 through 1992, the NTS was the continental testing location for U.S. nuclear weapons. The release of radionuclides from NTS activities has been monitored since the initiation of atmospheric testing. Limitation to under-ground detonations after 1962 greatly reduced radiation exposure to the public surrounding the NTS. After nuclear testing ended in 1992, NTS radiation monitoring focused on detecting airborne radionuclides from historically contaminated soils. These radionuclides are derived from re-suspension of soil (primarily by winds) and emission of tritium-contaminated soil moisture through evapotranspiration. Low amounts of tritium were also emitted to air at the North Las Vegas Facility (NLVF), an NTS support complex in the city of North Las Vegas. To protect the public from harmful levels of man-made radiation, the Clean Air Act, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) (Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Part 61 Subpart H) (CFR, 2008a) limits the release of radioactivity from a U.S. Department of Energy facility (e.g., the NTS) to 10 millirem per year (mrem/yr) effective dose equivalent to any member of the public. This limit does not …

Defense Waste Processing Facility - Engineering (DWPF-E) has requested the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to perform scoping evaluations of alternative flowsheets with the primary focus on alternatives to formic acid during Chemical Process Cell (CPC) processing. The reductants shown below were selected for testing during the evaluation of alternative reductants for Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) processing. The reductants fall into two general categories: reducing acids and non-acidic reducing agents. Reducing acids were selected as direct replacements for formic acid to reduce mercury in the SRAT, to acidify the sludge, and to balance the melter REDuction/OXidation potential (REDOX). Non-acidic reductants were selected as melter reductants and would not be able to reduce mercury in the SRAT. Sugar was not tested during this scoping evaluation as previous work has already been conducted on the use of sugar with DWPF feeds. Based on the testing performed, the only viable short-term path to mitigating hydrogen generation in the CPC is replacement of formic acid with a mixture of glycolic and formic acids. An experiment using glycolic acid blended with formic on an 80:20 molar basis was able to reduce mercury, while also targeting a predicted REDuction/OXidation (REDOX) of 0.2 expressed as …

Detailed activation analyses are performed for the different materials under consideration for use in the target capsules and hohlraums used during the ignition campaign on the National Ignition Facility. Results of the target material activation were additionally used to estimate the levels of contamination within the NIF target chamber and the workplace controls necessary for safe operation. The analysis examined the impact of using Be-Cu and Ge-doped CH capsules on the external dose received by workers during maintenance activities. Five days following a 20 MJ shot, dose rates inside the Target Chamber (TC) due to the two proposed capsule materials are small ({approx} 1 {micro}rem/h). Gold and depleted-uranium (DU) are considered as potential hohlraum materials. Following a shot, gold will most probably get deposited on the TC first wall. On the other hand, while noble-gas precursors from the DU are expected to stay in the TC, most of the noble gases are pumped out of the chamber and end up on the cryopumps. The dose rates inside the TC due to activated gold or DU, at 5 days following a 20 MJ shot, are about 1 mrem/h. Dose rates in the vicinity of the cryo-pumps (containing noble 'fission' gases) drop-off …

The overall objective is to apply known permeability enhancement techniques to reduce the number of wells needed and demonstrate the applicability of the techniques to other undeveloped or under-developed fields. The Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) concept presented in this project enhances energy extraction from reduced permeability zones in the super-heated, vapor-dominated Aidlin Field of the The Geysers geothermal reservoir. Numerous geothermal reservoirs worldwide, over a wide temperature range, contain zones of low permeability which limit the development potential and the efficient recovery of heat from these reservoirs. Low permeability results from poorly connected fractures or the lack of fractures. The Enhanced Geothermal System concept presented here expands these technologies by applying and evaluating them in a systematic, integrated program.

The objectives of this scoping study were to develop and test control software and wireless hardware that could enable closed-loop, zone-temperature-based demand response in buildings that have either pneumatic controls or legacy digital controls that cannot be used as part of a demand response automation system. We designed a SOAP client that is compatible with the Demand Response Automation Server (DRAS) being used by the IOUs in California for their CPP program, design the DR control software, investigated the use of cellular routers for connecting to the DRAS, and tested the wireless DR system with an emulator running a calibrated model of a working building. The results show that the wireless DR system can shed approximately 1.5 Watts per design CFM on the design day in a hot, inland climate in California while keeping temperatures within the limits of ASHRAE Standard 55: Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy.

The objective of the treatability test was to evaluate the efficacy of using polyphosphate injections to treat uranium-contaminated groundwater in situ. A test site consisting of an injection well and 15 monitoring wells was installed in the 300 Area near the process trenches that had previously received uranium-bearing effluents. This report summarizes the work on the polyphosphate injection project, including bench-scale laboratory studies, a field injection test, and the subsequent analysis and interpretation of the results. Previous laboratory tests have demonstrated that when a soluble form of polyphosphate is injected into uranium-bearing saturated porous media, immobilization of uranium occurs due to formation of an insoluble uranyl phosphate, autunite [Ca(UO2)2(PO4)2•nH2O]. These tests were conducted at conditions expected for the aquifer and used Hanford soils and groundwater containing very low concentrations of uranium (10-6 M). Because autunite sequesters uranium in the oxidized form U(VI) rather than forcing reduction to U(IV), the possibility of re-oxidation and subsequent re-mobilization is negated. Extensive testing demonstrated the very low solubility and slow dissolution kinetics of autunite. In addition to autunite, excess phosphorous may result in apatite mineral formation, which provides a long-term source of treatment capacity. Phosphate arrival response data indicate that, under site conditions, the …

If a large scale RDD event where to occur in New York City, the magnitude of the problem would likely exceed the capabilities of City and State to effectively respond to the event. New York State could request Federal Assistance if the United States President has not already made the decision to provide it. The United States Federal Government has a well developed protocol to respond to emergencies. The National Response Framework (NRF) describes the process for responding to all types of emergencies including RDD incidents. Depending on the location and type of event, the NRF involves appropriate Federal Agencies, e.g., Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States Coast Guard (USCG), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Federal response to emergencies has been refined and improved over the last thirty years and has been tested on natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes and floods), man-made disasters (oil spills), and terrorist events (9/11). However, the system has never been tested under an actual RDD event. Drills have been conducted with Federal, State, and local agencies to examine the initial (early) phases of …

Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 134 is identified in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) as “Aboveground Storage Tanks” and consists of the following four Corrective Action Sites (CASs), located in Areas 3, 15, and 29 of the Nevada Test Site: · CAS 03-01-03, Aboveground Storage Tank · CAS 03-01-04, Tank · CAS 15-01-05, Aboveground Storage Tank · CAS 29-01-01, Hydrocarbon Stain

This Remedial Action Report summarizes activities undertaken to remediate the Operable Unit 3-13, Group 7, SFE-20 Hot Waste Tank System at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. The site addressed in this report was defined in the Operable Unit 3-13 Record of Decision and subsequent implementing documents. This report concludes that remediation requirements and cleanup goals established for the site have been accomplished and is hereafter considered a No Further Action site.

The Cold Crucible Induction Melter (CCIM) technology offers the potential to increase waste loading for High Level Waste (HLW) glasses leading to significant improvements in waste throughput rates compared to the reference Joule Heated Melter (JHM). Prior to implementation of a CCIM in a production facility it is necessary to better understand processing constraints associated with the CCIM. The glass liquidus temperature requirement for processing in the CCIM is an open issue. Testing was conducted to evaluate crystal formation and crystal settling during processing in the CCIM to gain insight into the effects on processing. A high aluminum/high iron content glass composition with known crystal formation tendencies was selected for testing. A continuous melter test was conducted for approximately 51 hours. To evaluate crystal formation, glass samples were obtained from pours and from glass receipt canisters where the glass melt had varying residence time in the melter. Additionally, upon conclusion of the testing, glass samples from the bottom of the melter were obtained to assess the degree of crystal settling. Glass samples were characterized in an attempt to determine quantitative fractions of crystals in the glass matrix. Crystal identity and relative composition were determined using a combination of x-ray diffraction …

It is imperative that acetic acid is removed from a waste stream in the UREX+process so that nitric acid can be recycled and possible interference with downstreatm steps can be avoidec. Acetic acid arises from acetohydrozamic acid (AHA), and is used to suppress plutonium in the first step of the UREX+process. Later, it is hydrolyzed into hydroxyl amine nitrate and acetic acid. Many common separation technologies were examined, and solvent extraction was determined to be the best choice under process conditions. Solvents already used in the UREX+ process were then tested to determine if they would be sufficient for the removal of acetic acid. The tributyl phosphage (TBP)-dodecane diluent, used in both UREX and NPEX, was determined to be a solvent system that gave sufficient distribution coefficients for acetic acid in addition to a high separation factor from nitric acid.

A circulating fluidized bed (CFB) built at FIU was used to study particle motion in the riser in order to simulate flow regimes in a cold gasifier. High speed imaging was used in order to capture the dynamics of the particles flowing in the riser. The imaging method used here is called the shadow sizing technique which allowed the determination of particle areas and trajectories at various flow rates in the riser. The solid volume fraction and particle velocities calculated using the images acquired during the experiments can be related to granular temperature in order to detect formations of clusters in the riser section of the CFB. The shadow sizing technique was observed to be an effective method in detecting dynamics of particles in motion and formation of clusters when supported with high-speed imaging.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

This summary describes experiments to detect and identify fissionable materials using the tagged neutron technique. The objective of this work is to enhance homeland security capability to find fissionable material that may be smuggled inside shipping boxes, containers, or vehicles. The technique distinguishes depleted uranium from lead, steel, and tungsten. Future work involves optimizing the technique to increase the count rate by many orders of magnitude and to build in the additional capability to image hidden fissionable materials. The tagged neutron approach is very different to other techniques based on neutron die-away or photo-fission. This work builds on the development of the Associated Particle Imaging (API) technique at the Special Technologies Laboratory (STL) [1]. Similar investigations have been performed by teams at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Khlopin Radium Institute in Russia, and by the EURITRACK collaboration in the European Union [2,3,4].

In recognition of the increasing attention being focused on In Situ Decommissioning (ISD or entombment) as an acceptable and beneficial decommissioning end state, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) is developing guidance for the implementation of ISD of excess facilities within the DOE complex. Consistent with the overarching DOE goals for increased personnel and environmental safety, reduced technical uncertainties and risks, and overall gains in efficiencies and effectiveness, EM's Office of Deactivation and Decommissioning and Facility Engineering (EM-23) initiated efforts to identify the technical barriers and technology development needs for the optimal implementation of ISD. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), as the EM Corporate Laboratory, conducted an ISD Technology Needs Workshop to identify the technology needs at DOE sites. The overall goal of the workshop was to gain a full understanding of the specific ISD technical challenges, the technologies available, and those needing development. The ISD Workshop was held December 9-10, 2008 in Aiken, SC. Experienced decommissioning operations personnel from Richland Operations Office (RL), Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Savannah River Site (SRS) along with scientists and engineers specific expertise were assembled to identify incremental and 'game changing' solutions to ISD technology challenges. The workshop and …

As part of a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Energy (DOE) ‐‐ entitled Technology’s Impact on Production: Developing Environmental Solutions at the State and National Level ‐ ‐ the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has been tasked with assisting state governments in the effective, efficient, and environmentally sound regulation of the exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil, specifically in relation to orphaned and abandoned wells and wells nearing the end of productive life. Project goals include: Developing (a) a model framework for prioritization and ranking of orphaned or abandoned well sites; (b) a model framework for disbursement of Energy Policy Act of 2005 funding; and (c) a research study regarding the current status of orphaned wells in the nation. Researching the impact of new technologies on environmental protection from a regulatory perspective. Research will identify and document (a) state reactions to changing technology and knowledge; (b) how those reactions support state environmental conservation and public health; and (c) the impact of those reactions on oil and natural gas production. Assessing emergent technology issues associated with wells nearing the end of productive life. Including: (a) location of orphaned and abandoned well sites; (b) …

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

{sm_bullet} 55-gallon drums were overpacked into 85-gallon drums {sm_bullet} ANucFiI-007LS long-stem filter was installed- NucFiI certified the use of NucFiI-007LS filters in 8S-gallon drums as DOT 7AType A - Wood wedges were used during the tests to center and . stabilize the inner 55-gallon drums {sm_bullet} During inspection, afew filters were found to be loose, canted, and/or with RTV seals broken - No contamination or loss of container integrity {sm_bullet} Discovered in November 2008 U.