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3D CFD Model of a Multi-Cell High Temperature Electrolysis Stack (open access)

3D CFD Model of a Multi-Cell High Temperature Electrolysis Stack

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) electrochemical model has been created to model high-temperature electrolysis stack performance and steam electrolysis in the Idaho National Laboratory Integrated Lab Scale (ILS) experiment. The model is made of 60 planar cells stacked on top of each other operated as Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC). Details of the model geometry are specific to a stack that was fabricated by Ceramatec, Inc1. and tested at the Idaho National Laboratory. Inlet and outlet plenum flow and distribution are considered. Mass, momentum, energy, and species conservation and transport are provided via the core features of the commercial CFD code FLUENT2. A solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) model adds the electrochemical reactions and loss mechanisms and computation of the electric field throughout the cell. The FLUENT SOFC userdefined subroutine was modified for this work to allow for operation in the SOEC mode. Model results provide detailed profiles of temperature, Nernst potential, operating potential, activation overpotential, anode-side gas composition, cathode-side gas composition, current density and hydrogen production over a range of stack operating conditions. Variations in flow distribution, and species concentration are discussed. End effects of flow and per-cell voltage are also considered.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Hawkes, G. L.; O'Brien, J. E. & Stoots, C. M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
ADC and TDC implemented using FPGA (open access)

ADC and TDC implemented using FPGA

Several tests of FPGA devices programmed as analog waveform digitizers are discussed. The ADC uses the ramping-comparing scheme. A multi-channel ADC can be implemented with only a few resistors and capacitors as external components. A periodic logic levels are shaped by passive RC network to generate exponential ramps. The FPGA differential input buffers are used as comparators to compare the ramps with the input signals. The times at which these ramps cross the input signals are digitized by time-to-digital-converters (TDCs) implemented within the FPGA. The TDC portion of the logic alone has potentially a broad range of HEP/nuclear science applications. A 96-channel TDC card using FPGAs as TDCs being designed for the Fermilab MIPP electronics upgrade project is discussed. A deserializer circuit based on multisampling circuit used in the TDC, the 'Digital Phase Follower' (DPF) is also documented.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Wu, Jinyuan; Hansen, Sten & Shi, Zonghan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Analytic Approximation with Experimental Data of the Head-Tail Phase Difference from Continuous Transverse Excitation for Measuring Chromaticity (open access)

Analytic Approximation with Experimental Data of the Head-Tail Phase Difference from Continuous Transverse Excitation for Measuring Chromaticity

We will explore a method for measuring chromaticity by continuously kicking the beam transversely. This is called the continuous head-tail method for measuring chromaticity. The complete analytic approximation in terms of trigonometric functions is derived for zero transverse emittance beam. A simple formula for calculating chromaticity from experimental data is also shown. Finally the theory is compared with experimental data.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Tan, C. Y. & Ranjbar, V. H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Atmospheric Dispersion Model Validation in Low Wind Conditions (open access)

Atmospheric Dispersion Model Validation in Low Wind Conditions

Atmospheric plume dispersion models are used for a variety of purposes including emergency planning and response to hazardous material releases, determining force protection actions in the event of a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) attack and for locating sources of pollution. This study provides a review of previous studies that examine the accuracy of atmospheric plume dispersion models for chemical releases. It considers the principles used to derive air dispersion plume models and looks at three specific models currently in use: Aerial Location of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA), Emergency Prediction Information Code (EPIcode) and Second Order Closure Integrated Puff (SCIPUFF). Results from this study indicate over-prediction bias by the EPIcode and SCIPUFF models and under-prediction bias by the ALOHA model. The experiment parameters were for near field dispersion (less than 100 meters) in low wind speed conditions (less than 2 meters per second).
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Sawyer, Patrick
System: The UNT Digital Library
Calculation of Accurate Hexagonal Discontinuity Factors for PARCS (open access)

Calculation of Accurate Hexagonal Discontinuity Factors for PARCS

In this study we derive a methodology for calculating discontinuity factors consistent with the Triangle-based Polynomial Expansion Nodal (TPEN) method implemented in PARCS for hexagonal reactor geometries. The accuracy of coarse-mesh nodal methods is greatly enhanced by permitting flux discontinuities at node boundaries, but the practice of calculating discontinuity factors from infinite-medium (zero-current) single bundle calculations may not be sufficiently accurate for more challenging problems in which there is a large amount of internodal neutron streaming. The authors therefore derive a TPEN-based method for calculating discontinuity factors that are exact with respect to generalized equivalence theory. The method is validated by reproducing the reference solution for a small hexagonal core.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Pounders. J., Bandini, B. R. , Xu, Y, and Downar, T. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carbon Dioxide Transport and Sorption Behavior in Confined Coal Cores for Enhanced Coalbed Methane and CO2 Sequestration (open access)

Carbon Dioxide Transport and Sorption Behavior in Confined Coal Cores for Enhanced Coalbed Methane and CO2 Sequestration

Measurements of sorption isotherms and transport properties of CO2 in coal cores are important for designing enhanced coalbed methane/CO2 sequestration field projects. Sorption isotherms measured in the lab can provide the upper limit on the amount of CO2 that might be sorbed in these projects. Because sequestration sites will most likely be in unmineable coals, many of the coals will be deep and under considerable lithostatic and hydrostatic pressures. These lithostatic pressures may significantly reduce the sorption capacities and/or transport rates. Consequently, we have studied apparent sorption and diffusion in a coal core under confining pressure. A core from the important bituminous coal Pittsburgh #8 was kept under a constant, three-dimensional external stress; the sample was scanned by X-ray computer tomography (CT) before, then while it sorbed, CO2. Increases in sample density due to sorption were calculated from the CT images. Moreover, density distributions for small volume elements inside the core were calculated and analyzed. Qualitatively, the computerized tomography showed that gas sorption advanced at different rates in different regions of the core, and that diffusion and sorption progressed slowly. The amounts of CO2 sorbed were plotted vs. position (at fixed times) and vs. time (for various locations in the …
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Jikich, S.A.; McLendon, T.R.; Seshadri, K.S.; Irdi, G.A. & Smith, D.H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carbon Neutral Production Of Syngas Via High Temperature Electrolytic Reduction Of Steam And CO2 (open access)

Carbon Neutral Production Of Syngas Via High Temperature Electrolytic Reduction Of Steam And CO2

This paper presents the most recent results of experiments conducted at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) studying coelectrolysis of steam and carbon dioxide in solid-oxide electrolysis stacks. Two 10-cell planar stacks were tested under various gas compositions, operating voltages, and operating temperatures. The tests were heavily instrumented, and outlet gas compositions were monitored with a gas chromatograph. Measured outlet compositions, open cell potentials, and coelectrolysis thermal neutral voltages compared reasonably well with a coelectrolysis computer model developed at the INL. Stack ASRs did not change significantly when switching from electrolysis to coelectrolysis operation.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Stoots, C.; O'Brien, J. & Hartvigsen, J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
CDMS experiment: current status and future (open access)

CDMS experiment: current status and future

We present the current status of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS). The five tower detector array, total 30 detectors, are running stable since October 2006. We have accumulated more than 900 kg-days of low background data. We also summarize the prospect of SuperCDMS project.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Yoo, Jonghee
System: The UNT Digital Library
Charm (and Beauty) Production at the Tevatron (open access)

Charm (and Beauty) Production at the Tevatron

The authors present recent results on heavy flavor production at Tevatron Run II for typically {approx} 1 fb{sup -1} of analyzed p{bar p} data at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. This includes results on single and correlated open charm and bottom cross sections, charm pair production kinematics, J/{psi}, {psi}(2S) and {chi}{sub cJ} cross sections and polarization measurements in J/{psi}, {psi}(2S), {Upsilon}(1S), and {Upsilon}(2S).
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Rademacker, Jonas & U., /Bristol
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chromaticity and wake field effect on the transverse motion of longitudinal bunch slices in the Tevatron (open access)

Chromaticity and wake field effect on the transverse motion of longitudinal bunch slices in the Tevatron

The Transverse turn-by-turn evolution of a bunch slice after an impulse kick is examined considering chromatic and impedance effects. It is found that by fitting the envelope of the beam slice motion to simulated data is consistent with a resistive wall wake field the strength of which can be determined by fitting.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Ranjbar, V. H. & Ivanov, P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Complete Scheme of Ionization Cooling for a Muon Collider (open access)

A Complete Scheme of Ionization Cooling for a Muon Collider

The conclusions of this report are: (1) New 1.5 TeV Collider lattice has more conservative IP parameters--(a) Luminosity 1 x 10{sup 34} achieved with bunch rep rate {approx}12 Hz but requires depth {approx}135 (m) to limit neutrino radiation, (b) Collider ring must be deep (eg 135 m of ILC) to control neutrino radiation, and (c) Proton driver ({approx}4 MW) is challenging; (2) Complete cooling scheme achieves required muon parameters--All components simulated (at some level) with realistic parameters, but much work remains; (3) Possible problem with rf breakdown in specified magnetic fields--Solutions with gas in cavities appear to work, and designs with open cell rf are promising; and (4) Lower cost acceleration possible using pulsed magnets in synchrotrons--Rings fit in Tevatron tunnel, and second ring uses hybrid of fixed and pulsed magnets.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Palmer, Robert B.; Berg, J.Scott; Fernow, Richard C.; Gallardo, Juan Carlos; Kirk, Harold G.; /Brookhaven et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic objects (open access)

Correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic objects

Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrate that there is a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above {approx} 6 x 10{sup 19} eV and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within {approx} 75 Mpc. We reject the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays at over 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observe is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been significantly reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial distribution are possible sources.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Abraham, J.; Abreu, P.; Aglietta, M.; Aguirre, C.; Allard, D.; Allekotte, I. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
CP and charge asymmetries at CDF (open access)

CP and charge asymmetries at CDF

We present CDF results on the branching fractions and time-integrated direct CP asymmetries for B0 and B0s decay modes into pairs of charmless charged hadrons (pions or kaons). We report also the first observation of B0s->DsK mode and the measurement of its branching fraction.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Morello, Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of Practical Supported Ionic Liquid Membranes: A Systematic Approach (open access)

Development of Practical Supported Ionic Liquid Membranes: A Systematic Approach

Supported liquid membranes (SLMs) are a class of materials that allow the researcher to utilize the wealth of knowledge available on liquid properties to optimize membrane performance. These membranes also have the advantage of liquid phase diffusivities, which are higher than those observed in polymers and grant proportionally greater permeabilities. The primary shortcoming of the supported liquid membranes demonstrated in past research has been the lack of stability caused by volatilization of the transport liquid. Ionic liquids, which may possess high CO2 solubility relative to light gases such as H2, are excellent candidates for this type of membrane since they are stable at elevated temperatures and have negligible vapor pressure. A study has been conducted evaluating the use of a variety of ionic liquids in supported ionic liquid membranes for the capture of CO2 from streams containing H2. In a joint project, researchers at the University of Notre Dame synthesized and characterized ionic liquids, and researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory incorporated candidate ionic liquids into supports and evaluated membrane performance for the resulting materials. Several steps have been taken in the development of practical supported ionic liquid membranes. Proof-of-concept was established by showing that ionic liquids could be …
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Luebke, D. R.; Ilconich, J. B.; Myers, C. R. & Pennline, H. W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Disentangling neutrino-nucleon cross section and high energy neutrino flux with a km^3 neutrino telescope (open access)

Disentangling neutrino-nucleon cross section and high energy neutrino flux with a km^3 neutrino telescope

The energy-zenith angular event distribution in a neutrino telescope provides a unique tool to determine at the same time the neutrino-nucleon cross section at extreme kinematical regions, and the high energy neutrino flux. By using a simple parameterization for fluxes and cross sections, we present a sensitivity analysis for the case of a km{sup 3} neutrino telescope. In particular, we consider the specific case of an under-water Mediterranean telescope placed at the NEMO site, although most of our results also apply to an under-ice detector such as IceCube. We determine the sensitivity to departures from standard values of the cross sections above 1 PeV which can be probed independently from an a-priori knowledge of the normalization and energy dependence of the flux. We also stress that the capability to tag downgoing neutrino showers in the PeV range against the cosmic ray induced background of penetrating muons appears to be a crucial requirement to derive meaningful constraints on the cross section.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Borriello, E.; Cuoco, A.; Mangano, G.; Miele, G.; Pastor, S.; Pisanti, O. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dynamical tests on fiber optic data taken from the riser section of a circulating fluidized bed (open access)

Dynamical tests on fiber optic data taken from the riser section of a circulating fluidized bed

Dynamical tests have been applied to fiber optic data taken from a cold-flow circulating fluidized bed to characterize flow conditions, identify three time and/or length scales (macro, meso, and micro), and understand the contribution these scales have on the raw data. The characteristic variable analyzed is the raw voltage signal obtained from a fiber-optic probe taken at various axial and radial positions under different loading conditions so that different flow regimes could be attained. These experiments were carried out with the bed material of 812 μm cork particles. The characterization was accomplished through analysis of the distribution of the signal through the third and fourth moments of skewness and excess kurtosis. A generalization of the autocorrelation function known as the average mutual information function was analyzed by examining the function’s first minimum, identifying the point at which successive elements are no longer correlated. Further characterization was accomplished through the correlation dimension, a measure of the complexity of the attractor. Lastly, the amount of disorder of the system is described by a Kolmogorov-type entropy estimate. All six aforementioned tests were also implemented on ten levels of detail coefficients resulting from a discrete wavelet transformation of the same signal as used above. …
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Taylor, E. M.; Guenther, C. P. & Breault, R. W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Relativity Lead to"Warp Speed" Computations (open access)

Effects of Relativity Lead to"Warp Speed" Computations

A scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has discovered that a previously unnoticed consequence of Einstein's special theory of relativity can lead to speedup of computer calculations by orders of magnitude when applied to the computer modeling of a certain class of physical systems. This new finding offers the possibility of tackling some problems in a much shorter time and with far more precision than was possible before, as well as studying some configurations in every detail for the first time. The basis of Einstein's theory is the principle of relativity, which states that the laws of physics are the same for all observers, whether the 'observer' is a turtle 'racing' with a rabbit, or a beam of particles moving at near light speed. From the invariance of the laws of physics, one may be tempted to infer that the complexity of a system is independent of the motion of the observer, and consequently, a computer simulation will require the same number of mathematical operations, independently of the reference frame that is used for the calculation. Length contraction and time dilation are well known consequences of the special theory of relativity which lead to very counterintuitive effects. An alien observing …
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Vay, J. L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electronic structure characterization and bandgap engineeringofsolar hydrogen materials (open access)

Electronic structure characterization and bandgap engineeringofsolar hydrogen materials

Bandgap, band edge positions as well as the overall band structure of semiconductors are of crucial importance in photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic applications. The energy position of the band edge level can be controlled by the electronegativity of the dopants, the pH of the solution (flatband potential variation of 60 mV per pH unit), as well as by quantum confinement effects. Accordingly, band edges and bandgap can be tailored to achieve specific electronic, optical or photocatalytic properties. Synchrotron radiation with photon energy at or below 1 keV is giving new insight into such areas as condensed matter physics and extreme ultraviolet optics technology. In the soft x-ray region, the question tends to be, what are the electrons doing as they migrated between the atoms. In this paper, I will present a number of soft x-ray spectroscopic study of nanostructured 3d metal compounds Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} and ZnO.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Guo, Jinghua
System: The UNT Digital Library
Energy metabolism in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough: insights from transcriptome analysis (open access)

Energy metabolism in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough: insights from transcriptome analysis

Sulphate-reducing bacteria are important players in the global sulphur and carbon cycles, with considerable economical and ecological impact. However, the process of sulphate respiration is still incompletely understood. Several mechanisms of energy conservation have been proposed, but it is unclear how the different strategies contribute to the overall process. In order to obtain a deeper insight into the energy metabolism of sulphate-reducers whole-genome microarrays were used to compare the transcriptional response of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough grown with hydrogen/sulphate, pyruvate/sulphate, pyruvate with limiting sulphate, and lactate/thiosulphate, relative to growth in lactate/sulphate. Growth with hydrogen/sulphate showed the largest number of differentially expressed genes and the largest changes in transcript levels. In this condition the most up-regulated energy metabolism genes were those coding for the periplasmic [NiFeSe]hydrogenase, followed by the Ech hydrogenase. The results also provide evidence for the involvement of formate cycling and the recently proposed ethanol pathway during growth in hydrogen. The pathway involving CO cycling is relevant during growth on lactate and pyruvate, but not during growth in hydrogen as the most down-regulated genes were those coding for the CO-induced hydrogenase. Growth on lactate/thiosulphate reveals a down-regulation of several energymetabolism genes similar to what was observed in the presence of …
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Pereira, Patricia M.; He, Qiang; Valente, Filipa M.A.; Xavier, Antonio V.; Zhou, Jizhong; Pereira, Ines A.C. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) comparing water with CO2 as heattransmission fluids (open access)

Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) comparing water with CO2 as heattransmission fluids

This paper summarizes our research to date into operatingEGS with CO2. Our modeling studies indicate that CO2 would achieve morefavorable heat extraction than aqueous fluids. The peculiarthermophysicalproperties of CO2 give rise to unusual features in the dependence ofenergy recovery on thermodynamic conditions and time. Preliminarygeochemical studies suggest that CO2 may avoid unfavorable rock-fluidinteractions that have been encountered in water-basedsystems. To morefully evaluate the potential of EGS with CO2 will require an integratedresearch programme of model development, and laboratory and fieldstudies.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Pruess, Karsten
System: The UNT Digital Library
Extracting longitudinal shower development information from crystal calorimetry plus tracking (open access)

Extracting longitudinal shower development information from crystal calorimetry plus tracking

We present an approach to derive longitudinal shower development information from the longitudinally unsegmented BABAR electromagnetic calorimeter by using tracking information. Our algorithm takes advantage of the good three-dimensional tracking resolution of BABAR, which provides an independent geometric constraint on the shower as measured in the BABAR crystal calorimeter. We show that adding the derived longitudinal shower development information to standard particle identification algorithms significantly improves the low-momentum separation of pions from electrons and muons. We also verify that the energy dependence of the electromagnetic shower development we measure is consistent with the prediction of a standard electromagnetic shower model.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Brown, David; Brown, D.N.; Ilic, J. & Mohanty, G.B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Extracting the Gamma Ray Signal from Dark Matter Annihilation in the Galactic Center Region (open access)

Extracting the Gamma Ray Signal from Dark Matter Annihilation in the Galactic Center Region

The GLAST satellite mission will study the gamma ray sky with considerably greater exposure than its predecessor EGRET. In addition, it will be capable of measuring the arrival directions of gamma rays with much greater precision. These features each significantly enhance GLAST's potential for identifying gamma rays produced in the annihilations of dark matter particles. The combined use of spectral and angular information, however, is essential if the full sensitivity of GLAST to dark matter is to be exploited. In this paper, we discuss techniques for separating dark matter annihilation products from astrophysical backgrounds, focusing on the Galactic Center region, and perform a forecast for such an analysis. We consider both point-like and diffuse astrophysical backgrounds and model them using a realistic point-spread-function for GLAST. While the results of our study depend on the specific characteristics of the dark matter signal and astrophysical backgrounds, we find that in many scenarios it is possible to successfully identify dark matter annihilation radiation, even in the presence of significant astrophysical backgrounds.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Dodelson, Scott; Hooper, Dan & Serpico, Pasquale D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Finite Element Model of Training in the superconducting quadrupole magnet SQ02 (open access)

Finite Element Model of Training in the superconducting quadrupole magnet SQ02

This paper describes the use of 3D finite element models to study training in superconducting magnets. The simulations are used to examine coil displacements when the electromagnetic forces are cycled, and compute the frictional energy released during conductor motion with the resulting temperature rise. A computed training curve is then presented and discussed. The results from the numerical computations are compared with test results of the Nb{sub 3}Sn racetrack quadrupole magnet SQ02.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Caspi, Shlomo & Ferracin, Paolo
System: The UNT Digital Library
A First measurement of the interaction cross-section of the tau neutrino (open access)

A First measurement of the interaction cross-section of the tau neutrino

The DONuT experiment collected data in 1997 and published first results in 2000 based on four observed {nu}{sub {tau}} charged-current (CC) interactions. The final analysis of the data collected in the experiment is presented in this paper, based on 3.6 x 10{sup 17} protons on target using the 800 GeV Tevatron beam at Fermilab. The number of observed {nu}{sub {tau}} CC interactions is 9, from a total of 578 observed neutrino interactions. We calculated the energy-independent part of the tau-neutrino CC cross section ({nu} + {bar {nu}}), relative to the well-known {nu}{sub e} and {nu}{sub {mu}} cross sections. The ratio {sigma}({nu}{sub {tau}})/{sigma}({nu}{sub e,{mu}}) was found to be 1.37 {+-} 0.35 {+-} 0.77. The {nu}{sub {tau}} CC cross section was found to be 0.72 {+-} 0.24 {+-} 0.36 x 10{sup -38} cm{sup 2} GeV{sup -1}. Both results are in agreement with expectations from the Standard Model.
Date: November 1, 2007
Creator: Kodama, K.; Education, /Aichi U. of; Ushida, N.; Education, /Aichi U. of; Andreopoulos, Constantinos V.; U., /Athens et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library