Venoco Inc, intends to re-develop the Monterey Formation, a Class III basin reservoir, at South Ellwood Field, Offshore Santa Barbara, California. Well productivity in this field varies significantly. Cumulative Monterey production for individual wells has ranged from 260 STB to 8,700,000 STB. Productivity is primarily affected by how well the well path connects with the local fracture system and the degree of aquifer support. Cumulative oil recovery to date is a small percentage of the original oil in place. To embark upon successful re-development and to optimize reservoir management, Venoco intends to investigate, map and characterize field fracture patterns and the reservoir conduit system. State of the art borehole imaging technologies including FMI, dipole sonic and cross-well seismic, interference tests and production logs will be employed to characterize fractures and micro faults. These data along with the existing database will be used for construction of a novel geologic model of the fracture network. Development of an innovative fracture network reservoir simulator is proposed to monitor and manage the aquifer's role in pressure maintenance and water production. The new fracture simulation model will be used for both planning optimal paths for new wells and improving ultimate recovery. In the second phase …

Cummins Westport Incorporated (CWI) has designed and developed a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicle fuel system that includes a reciprocating pump with the cold end submerged in LNG contained in a vacuum-jacketed tank. This system was tested and analyzed under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced LNG Onboard Storage System (ALOSS) program. The pumped LNG fuel system developed by CWI and tested under the ALOSS program is a high-pressure system designed for application on Class 8 trucks powered by CWI's ISX G engine, which employs high-pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology. A general ALOSS program objective was to demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of a pumped LNG fuel system relative to on-vehicle fuel systems that require the LNG to be ''conditioned'' to saturation pressures that exceeds the engine fuel pressure requirements. These advantages include the capability to store more fuel mass in given-size vehicle and station tanks, and simpler lower-cost LNG refueling stations that do not require conditioning equipment. Pumped LNG vehicle fuel systems are an alternative to conditioned LNG systems for spark-ignition natural gas and port-injection dual-fuel engines (which typically require about 100 psi), and they are required for HPDI engines (which require over 3,000 psi). The ALOSS program …

The overall objective of this project is to demonstrate that a development program based on advanced reservoir management methods can significantly improve oil recovery at the Nash Draw Pool (NDP). The plan includes developing a control area using standard reservoir management techniques and comparing its performance to an area developed using advanced reservoir management methods. Specific goals are (1) to demonstrate that an advanced development drilling and pressure maintenance program can significantly improve oil recovery compared to existing technology applications and (2) to transfer these advanced methodologies to oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin and elsewhere throughout the U.S. oil and gas industry.

As part of its overall trade strategy, the Bush Administration over the last year began negotiating bilateral free trade area (FTA) agreements with four regional blocs or countries. Negotiations on a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) involving Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua began in late January 2003 and are currently scheduled to conclude this December. While negotiators have reportedly made progress in a number of areas, efforts to formulate a framework for handling agricultural trade have been slow.

As part of its overall trade strategy, the Bush Administration over the last year began negotiating bilateral free trade area (FTA) agreements with four regional blocs or countries. Negotiations on a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) involving Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua began in late January 2003 and are currently scheduled to conclude this December. While negotiators have reportedly made progress in a number of areas, efforts to formulate a framework for handling agricultural trade have been slow.

Leaders of Western Hemisphere countries have agreed to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement by 2005. FTAA’s objective is to promote economic growth and democracy by eliminating barriers to trade in all goods (including agricultural and food products) and services, and to facilitate investment. If diplomats reach agreement, free trade in the hemisphere could occur by 2020. Negotiations on FTAA’s agriculture component have become contentious. This report discusses the controversial aspects of FTAA, describes the advantages and disadvantages of FTAA, and discusses FTAA in relation to the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

This report discusses the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations for FY2004.

The state of Iowa currently requires that new buildings comply with the Council of American Building Officials? (CABO) 1992 Model Energy Code (MEC) (CABO 1992). CABO has been transformed into the International Code Council (ICC) and the MEC has been renamed the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The most recent edition of the code is the 2003 IECC (ICC 2003). Iowa?s Department of Natural Resources requested that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) compare the 1992 MEC with the 2003 IECC to estimate impacts from updating Iowa?s residential energy code to comply with the new code. Under DOE's direction, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) completed an assessment of the impacts from this potential code upgrade, including impacts on construction and energy consumption costs. This report is an update to a similar report completed by PNNL in 2002 (Lucas 2002) that compared the 1992 MEC to the 2000 IECC.

The objective of this work is to improve the process for CO{sub 2} capture by alkanolamine absorption/stripping by developing an alternative solvent, aqueous K{sub 2}CO{sub 3} promoted by piperazine. A rigorous thermodynamic model has been further developed with a standalone FORTRAN code to represent the CO{sub 2} vapor pressure and speciation of the new solvent. The welding work has initiated and will be completed for a revised startup of the pilot plant in February 2004.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has previously reviewed facets of Treasury's Financial Management Service's (FMS) cross-servicing efforts. These reviews did not include FMS's handling of nontax debts that were returned to FMS uncollected by its private collection agency (PCA) contractors because FMS officials did not consider the cross-servicing program to be fully mature. During fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002, FMS's PCA contractors returned about $3.9 billion of uncollected debts to FMS. This report focuses primarily on (1) actions taken by FMS on uncollected nontax debts returned from its PCA contractors and (2) actions taken, if any, by FMS and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure that federal agencies are reporting their eligible uncollectible nontax debts to IRS as income to debtors."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1996, the Department of Defense (DOD) initiated the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) to provide greater long-range ballistic missile detection capabilities than its current system. The initial SBIRS architecture included "High" and "Low" orbiting space-based components and ground processing segments. SBIRS has been technically challenging, and in October 2001, SBIRS Low was transferred from the Air Force to the Missile Defense Agency. The Air Force expected to field SBIRS High by 2004, but numerous problems have led to schedule overruns. In the fall of 2001, DOD identified potential cost growth of $2 billion. To determine the causes of the significant cost growth, DOD convened an Independent Review Team. In August 2002, the Air Force restructured the program to address the findings of the team's assessment. Our report (1) describes the key elements of the restructured program and (2) identifies problems and potential risks still facing the program."

Working within the context of the Southern States Biobased Alliance (SSBA) and with officials in each state, the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) is identifying bioenergy-related policies and programs within each state to determine their impact on the development, deployment or use of bioenergy. In addition, SSEB will determine which policies have impacted industry's efforts to develop, deploy or use biobased technologies or products. As a result, SSEB will work with the Southern States Biobased Alliance to determine how policy changes might address any negative impacts or enhance positive impacts.

In the fourth quarter of the project, we fixed the interference problem of linear CCD array when collecting elastic scattering signal from laser sources. We collected scattering signal of standard samples and also on a wax formation liquid. The results are compared to theoretical results and demonstrate the clear advantages of such technique vs. traditional scattering instrument with enclosures or just transmission type of spectrometers.

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "After the events of September 11, 2001, Congress appropriated over $100 million to help drinking water systems assess their vulnerabilities to terrorist threats and develop response plans. As the Environmental Protection Agency has suggested, however, significant additional funds may be needed to support the implementation of security upgrades. Therefore, GAO sought experts' views on (1) the key security-related vulnerabilities of drinking water systems; (2) the criteria for determining how federal funds should be allocated among drinking water systems to improve their security, and the methods for distributing those funds; and (3) specific activities the federal government should support to improve drinking water security. GAO conducted a systematic Webbased survey of 43 nationally recognized experts to seek consensus on these key drinking water security issues."

This report includes information regarding the debate over energy policy. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, electricity restructuring, and nuclear energy are among items discussed in this report.

This is an update of a report (Andrews and Modera 1991) that quantified the amounts of energy that could be saved through better thermal distribution systems in residential and small commercial buildings. Thermal distribution systems are the ductwork, piping, or other means used to transport heat or cooling from the space-conditioning equipment to the conditioned space. This update involves no basic change in methodology relative to the 1991 report, but rather a review of the additional information available in 2003 on the energy-use patterns in residential and small commercial buildings.

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. The technical approach for this quarter includes the application of the method of fractionation of the extracts by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); determination of antimicrobial activities of the new extracts and fractions using a growth inhibition assay, and evaluation of the extracts' ability to inhibit biofilm formation. We initiated the delivery system for these new biocides in the test cell and in mixtures of foam components and biocides/anti-biofilms. A total of 51 fractions collected by HPLC from crude extracts that were obtained from three varieties of Capsicum sp. (Serrano, Habanero, Chile de Arbol) were subjected to growth inhibition tests against two SRB strains, D. vulgaris and D. desulfuricans. Five fractions showed growth inhibition against both strains while seven inhibited D. desulfuricans only. The crude extracts did not show growth inhibition on both strains but …

With the Nation's coal-burning utilities facing the possibility of tighter controls on mercury pollutants, the U.S. Department of Energy is funding projects that could offer power plant operators better ways to reduce these emissions at much lower costs. Sorbent injection technology represents one of the simplest and most mature approaches to controlling mercury emissions from coal-fired boilers. It involves injecting a solid material such as powdered activated carbon into the flue gas. The gas-phase mercury in the flue gas contacts the sorbent and attaches to its surface. The sorbent with the mercury attached is then collected by the existing particle control device along with the other solid material, primarily fly ash. During 2001, ADA Environmental Solutions (ADA-ES) conducted a full-scale demonstration of sorbent-based mercury control technology at the Alabama Power E.C. Gaston Station (Wilsonville, AL). This unit burns a low-sulfur bituminous coal and uses a hot-side electrostatic precipitator (ESP) in combination with a Compact Hybrid Particulate Collector (COHPAC{trademark}) baghouse to collect fly ash. The majority of the fly ash is collected in the ESP with the residual being collected in the COHPAC baghouse. Activated carbon was injected between the ESP and COHPAC units to collect the mercury. Short-term mercury removal …

This report details development paths for advanced versions of ASHRAE Standard 152, Method of Test for Determining the Design and Seasonal Efficiencies of Residential Thermal Distribution Efficiency. During the course of conversations within the ASHRAE committee responsible for developing the standard (SPC152P), three areas of development for Standard 152 were proposed: (1) extend the scope of the standard to include thermal comfort variables; (2) extend the scope of the standard to include small commercial buildings; and (3) improve the existing standard with respect to accuracy and economy of effort. Research needs associated with each of the three options are identified.

Combinatorial algorithms have long played an important role in many applications of scientific computing such as sparse matrix computations and parallel computing. The growing importance of combinatorial algorithms in emerging applications like computational biology and scientific data mining calls for development of a high performance library for combinatorial algorithms. Building such a library requires a new structure for combinatorial algorithms research that enables fast implementation of new algorithms. We propose a structure for combinatorial algorithms research that mimics the research structure of numerical algorithms. Numerical algorithms research is nicely complemented with high performance libraries, and this can be attributed to the fact that there are only a small number of fundamental problems that underlie numerical solvers. Furthermore there are only a handful of kernels that enable implementation of algorithms for these fundamental problems. Building a similar structure for combinatorial algorithms will enable efficient implementations for existing algorithms and fast implementation of new algorithms. Our results will promote utilization of combinatorial techniques and will impact research in many scientific computing applications, some of which are listed.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has been developing a standard test method for evaluating the efficiency of ducts and other types of thermal distribution systems in single-family residential buildings. This report presents an overview of the structure, function, and historical development of this test method.

The second annual report of ''Improving CO{sub 2} Efficiency for Recovery Oil in Heterogeneous Reservoirs'' presents results of laboratory studies with related analytical models for improved oil recovery. All studies have been undertaken with the intention to optimize utilization and extend the practice of CO{sub 2} flooding to a wider range of reservoirs. Many items presented in this report are applicable to other interest areas: e.g. gas injection and production, greenhouse gas sequestration, chemical flooding, reservoir damage, etc. Major areas of studies include reduction of CO{sub 2} mobility to improve conformance, determining and understanding injectivity changes in particular injectivity loses, and modeling process mechanisms determined in the first two areas. Interfacial tension (IFT) between a high-pressure, high-temperature CO{sub 2} and brine/surfactant and foam stability are used to assess and screen surfactant systems. In this work the effects of salinity, pressure, temperature, surfactant concentration, and the presence of oil on IFT and CO{sub 2} foam stability were determined on the surfactant (CD1045{trademark}). Temperature, pressure, and surfactant concentration effected both IFT and foam stability while oil destabilized the foam, but did not destroy it. Calcium lignosulfonate (CLS) can be used as a sacrificial and an enhancing agent. This work indicates that on …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The rapidly rising costs of health care, along with an increasing concern for the quality of care and the safety of patients, are driving health care organizations to use information technology (IT) to automate clinical care operations and their associated administrative functions. Among its other functions, IT is now being used for electronic medical records, order management and results reporting, patient care management, and Internet access for patient and provider communications. It also provides automated billing and financial management. The Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions asked GAO to identify cost savings and other benefits realized by health care organizations that have implemented IT both in providing clinical health care and in the administrative functions associated with health care delivery. GAO analyzed information from 10 private and public health care delivery organizations, 3 health care insurers, and 1 community data network."

The research focuses on the high-resolution characterization of degradation microstructures and microchemistries in specimens tested under controlled conditions for the environment and for the material where in-service complexities can be minimized. Thermodynamic and kinetic modeling of crack-tip processes is employed to analyze corrosion-induced structures and gain insights into degradation mechanisms. Novel mechanistic ''fingerprinting'' of crack-tip structures is used to isolate causes of environmental cracking in tandem with quantitative measurements of crack growth. Sample preparation methods and advanced analytical techniques are used to characterize corrosion/oxidation reactions and crack-tip structures at near atomic dimensions in order to gain insight into fundamental environmental cracking mechanisms. Reactions at buried interfaces, not accessible by conventional approaches, are being systematically interrogated. Crack-growth experiments in high-temperature water environments are evaluating and isolating the effects of material condition (matrix strength, grain boundary composition and precipitation) on stress corrosion cracking (SCC). The fundamental understanding of crack advance mechanisms will establish the basis to design new corrosion-resistant alloys for current light-water reactors and advanced reactor systems.