This quarterly report summarizes work on the following tasks: OTEC methanol; approaches for financing OTEC proof-of-concept experimental vessels; investigation of OTEC-ammonia as an alternative fuel; review of electrolyzer development programs and requirements; hybrid geothermal-OTEC power plants: single-cycle performance; estimates; and hybrid geothermal-OTEC power plants: dual-cycle performance estimates.

A survey of general considerations relating to the use of coal in US territories and trust territories of the Pacific suggests that coal is a viable option for power generation. Future coal supplies, principally from Australia and the west coast of America, promise to be more than adequate, but large bulk carriers will probably not be able to land coal directly because of inadequate port facilities. Hence, smaller than Panamax-class vessels (60,000 dwt) or some arrangement utilizing self-loading barges or lighters would have to be used. Except for Guam, with peak power requirements on the order of 175 MW/sub e/, most territories have current, albeit inadequate, installations of 1 to 25 MW/sub e/ Turnkey, conventional-coal-fired, electrical-power generating systems are available in that size range. US environmental laws are now applicable to Guam and American Samoa; the trust territories are exempt. However, the small power requirements of many small islands will qualify for exemption from the New Source Performance Standards called for in the Clean Air Act. The principal problems with coal use in the territories, apart from the shallow draft of most harbors, are the limited amount of land available and the high capital costs associated with conversion. Ocean dumping …

There are three distinct but not mutually exclusive areas of research in this contract, studies of intrusions of the west wall of the Gulf Stream onto the outer continental shelf, studies of the flux of materials across nearshore density fronts, and advances in understanding of the planktonic food web of the continental shelf. Studies of frontal events on the outer and inner continental shelf involve distinctive physical and chemical regimes and have proven to require distinctive biological approaches. The studies of the food web run through our work on both of the frontal regimes, but certain aspects have become subjects in their own right. We have developed a simulation model of the flux of energy through the continental shelf food web which we believe to be more realistic than previous ones of its type. We have examined several of the many roles of dissolved organic compounds in sea water which originate either from release by phytoplankton, digestive processes or metabolites of zooplankton, or extracellular digestion of microorganisms. Methods have been developed under this contract to measure both the chelating capacity of naturally occurring organic materials and the copper concentration in the water. It has been possible to characterize the effects, …

Results from the pre-feasibility study of a geothermal district heating system for greater Reno and the pre-feasibility study of providing geothermal heat to casinos/hotels located in downtown Reno by connection to the proposed district heating system (DHS) are combined. Geothermal sources were selected from published data. Potential users were selected from aerial and city planning maps, and published building and demographic information. Energy consumption data from the electric and gas utility was matched with consumption information from surveys of representative buildings by category and climatic data. As an example, a written survey was mailed to the casino/hotels and two on-site visits were made. Retrofit methodology and cost were examined for the casino/hotels and representative buildings. Based on the pre-feasibility studies, a geothermal district heating system for Reno appears technically and economically feasible. Furthermore, additional economic savings are achieved when the Reno casinos/hotels are connected to the DHS. Steamboat Hot Springs and a geothermal area east of downtown are the most promising geothermal sources for the DHS. The City of Reno has a large yearly heat load with an average heating degree days per year of 6022/sup 0/F days and a heating season greater than eight months.

The Spent Fuel Test-Climax (SFT-C) is a test of the feasibility of safe and reliable short-term storage and retrieval of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. In support of operational and technical goals of the test, about 850 channels of instrumentation have been installed at the SFT-C. Failure of several near-field instruments began less than six months after emplacement of 11 canisters of spent fuel and activation of six thermally similar simulators. The failed units were linear potentiometers (used to make displacement measurements) and vibrating wire stressmeters (used to make change-in-stress measurements). This report discusses the observed problems and remedial actions taken to date.

Final results are summarized for this program with the primary emphasis on measurement of ten independent parameters for proton-proton elastic scattering at 800 MeV and four independent such parameters at 650 MeV. Inelastic proton-proton reactions have also been measured at 800 MeV. Proton-deuteron elastic scattering cross sections and polarization analyzing powers have been obtained at 800 MeV. Proton-nucleus total and total reaction cross sections were measured at 700 MeV for a number of nuclei. Major instrumentation was designed and constructed to carry out this program.

Information is presented concerning a submerged demineralizer system for contaminated water; multilevel sampling; inspection of solar crane; entry on containment building; and shipment of EPICOR 2 resin canister.

The measurements, data reduction, and analysis contained herein are for the most part preliminary. The instrumentation system for dynamic measurements was not completed and so the measurements taken were in the static mode and a limited amount of instruments was used. Most of these preliminary measurements were made to characterize the losses in the roadway and the pickup of the dynamic RPEV system. By analysis of power, voltage, current and impedance-bridge measurements (at 100 Hz and 1000 Hz), the equivalent series resistance (ESR) and equivalent parallel resistance (EPR) of the roadway and pickup inductances and capacitances were derived. Separation of the inductive and capacitive losses was difficult because of the large ratio of stored energy to power loss, that is, the Q of each of these system elements, and the separation was accomplished by modeling the system losses and making a least-squares fit to the model with the test data. The bridge data was used primarily for capacitance and inductance values and the ESR or EPR data were not analyzed.

Progress in mathematical and experimental studies aimed at modeling and measuring flows rates for the two-phase gases with dispersed particles turbulent flows in jets is reported. Exact transport equations of mass and momentum for the two phases, the carrier fluid's kinetic energy of turbulence and its dissipation rate have been derived for incompressible two-phase flows. The modeling of the various turbulence correlations has been completed. The finite-difference formulation of the equations is in progress at present. An outline of the work completed so far is described in the next section. In the area of clear air jet measurements, attempts were made to obtain two-dimensional measurements of clear air jet using a two-color, bragg cell shifted laser velocimeter. A complete data set for the streamwise component of mean velocity and turbulence intensity and some data for tangential velocity components were recorded and are included. These data were obtained using a recently modified software package for two-component data acquisition. In the process of the experiment, some software/hardware problems evolved which resulted in incorrect values for shear stress data as well as the tangential velocity samples. The hardware and the software for the coincidence requirement of the two components were modified and the …

The approach, recommended by GE-ARSD, for confirming the achievement of LMFBR reliability goals relies upon a comprehensive understanding of the physical and operational characteristics of the system and the environments to which the system will be subjected during its operational life. This kind of understanding is required for an approach based on system hardware testing or analyses, as recommended in this report. However, for a system as complex and expensive as the LMFBR, an approach which relies primarily on system hardware testing would be prohibitive both in cost and time to obtain the required system reliability test information. By using an analytical approach, results of tests (reliability and functional) at a low level within the specific system of interest, as well as results from other similar systems can be used to form the data base for confirming the achievement of the system reliability goals. This data, along with information relating to the design characteristics and operating environments of the specific system, will be used in the assessment of the system's reliability.

A number of hydrocarbon producing plants are evaluated as possible sources of rubber, liquid fuels, and industrial lubricants. The plants considered are Euphorbia lathyris or gopher plant, milkweeds, guayule, rabbit brush, jojoba, and meadow foam. (ACR)

A second measurement of the event size distribution for 20 MeV neutrons was carried out at Ohio University to determine the reproducability of results. Again a significant difference between measurement and theoretical calculations by Caswell and Coyne was found. The measured fraction of events due to alpha particles was significantly lower than that predicted by the calculation of Casell and Coyne. Furthermore, the discrepancies with the theoretical calculations made by Caswell and Coyne were confirmed by measurements made with a differently designed T-E proportional counter. A non-isolated-sensor solid polystyrene calorimeter was constructed and tested during the past year. It has the advantages of, (1) simple construction, (2) simple operation, without vacuum or feedback for temperature control, (3) the capability of obtaining simultaneous measurements at different depths and azimuthal angle, and (4) the possibility of obtaining measurements with the calorimeter directed in any orientation.

The safety-related design aspects and licensing experiences of LMFBR projects in other democratic countries have been studied and contrasted to those in the United States in order to understand the importance of different approaches to safety, and also to understand better the system of the United States. The regulatory systems and LMFBR programs of France and the United States are contrasted in detail, and that of West Germany is also studied. The programs of Japan and the United Kingdom receive considerably less attention, and that of the Soviet Union is ignored.

Efforts were directed principally to the following tasks: (1) comparisons of mixture and pure fluid cascade cycles, (2) development of guidelines for working fluid selection for single boiler cycles, (3) continued evaluation of mixtures as working fluids, (4) working fluid thermophysical property correlation and presentation of properties information, (5) support to the INEL Conversion Technology Program.

The research discussed was performed prior to December 31, 1979. The report was not released until September 30, 1981, so that pressure-enthalpy diagrams for a number of potential geothermal binary cycle working fluids could be prepared in SI units. Efforts were directed principally to working fluid thermophysical property correlation and presentation of properties information. Pressure-enthalpy diagrams are presented for propane, normal butane, isobutane, normal pentane, isopentane and propylene. Generalized correlations are presented for the thermodynamic and transport properties of hydrocarbon pure and mixture working fluids. Specific correlations are presented for the thermodynamic properties of 27 fluids and for the viscosity and thermal conductivity of hydrocarbons including isobutane and isopentane.

Compilation of monthly reports from departments in the city of San Antonio, Texas providing statistics, project updates, and other information about services and activities.

Previous studies on the competitive viability of the fuel oil heating market had addressed some of the unique problems facing minority fuel oil marketers (MFMs) within the total market sector (TMS). This study focused on identifying and developing quantitative information on MFMs in the TMS. The specific objective was to determine whether the business problems experienced by MFMs were directly related to their minority status or were characterstic of any firm in the TMS operating under comparable conditions. As an overall conclusion, thorough investigation of the MFMs considered to constitute the universe of minoriy firms within the TMS did not reveal any evidence of overt discrimination affecting the competitive viability of MFMs. Upon analysis, the problems reported by MFMs could not be reasonably ascribed to discrimination on the basis of their minority business status. The study, however, did point up problems unique to MFMs as the result of typical operational and financial characteristics. For example, MFMs, compared to the TMS norm, have not been in the market as long and are smaller in terms of total assets, number of employees, number of trucks, number of accounts and annual volume of oil delivered. Their primary customers are low-income families in urban …

The Spent Fuel Test-Climax (SFT-C) is a test of retrievable deep geologic storage of commercially generated spent nuclear reactor fuel in granitic rock. Eleven spent fuel assemblies, together with six electrical simulators and 20 guard heaters, are emplaced 420 m below the surface in the Climax granite at the US Department of Energy Nevada Test Site. On June 2, 1978 LLNL secured funding for the SFT-C, and completed spent fuel emplacement May 28, 1980. This report documents a series of thermal calculations that were performed in support of the SFT-C. Early calculations employed analytical solutions to address such design and construction issues as drift layout and emplacement hole spacings. Operational aspects of the test required more detailed numerical solutions dealing with ventilation and guard-heater power levels. The final set of calculations presented here provides temperature histories throughout the test facility for evaluation of the response of the SFT-C and for comparison of calculations with acquired data. This final set of calculations employs the as-built test geometry and best-available material properties.

The Hawthorne study area is located in Mineral County, Nevada and surrounds the municipality of the same name. It encompasses an area of approximately 310 sq. km (120 sq. mi), and most of the land belongs to the US Army Ammunition Plant. The energy needs of the military combined with those of the area population (over 5,000 residents) are substantial. The area is classified as having a high potential for direct applications using the evaluation scheme described in Trexler and others (1979). A variety of scientific techniques was employed during area-wide resource assessment. General geologic studies demonstrate the lithologic diversity in the area; these studies also indicate possible sources for dissolved fluid constituents. Geophysical investigations include aeromagnetic and gravity surveys which aid in defining the nature of regional, and to a lesser extent, local variations in subsurface configurations. Surface and near-surface structural features are determined using various types of photo imagery including low sun-angle photography. An extensive shallow depth temperature probe survey indicates two zones of elevated temperature on opposite sides of the Walker Lake basin. Temperature-depth profiles from several wells in the study area indicate significant thermal fluid-bearing aquifers. Fluid chemical studies suggest a wide spatial distribution for the …

Weekly report of the Texas Crop and Livestock Reporting Service on turkey poult numbers in Texas and compared with other states. It includes compiled statistics across six consecutive weeks during two years for turkey eggs set and poults hatched.

It is planned to install 34,440 square feet of linear parabolic trough solar collectors at a new corrugator plant for making corrugated boxes. The system is to operate in parallel with a fossil fuel boiler. An assessment is presented of the impacts of the solar energy system on the existing environment and to determine whether or not a more detailed environmental impact statement is needed. The environmental assessment is based on actual operational data obtained on the collector, fluid, and heat transport system. A description of the design of the solar energy system and its application is given. Also included is a discussion of the location of the new plant in Fort Worth, Texas, and of the surrounding environment. Environmental impacts are discussed in detail, and alternatives to the solar industrial process steam retrofit application are offered. It is concluded that the overall benefits from the solar industrial process heat system outweigh any negative environmental factors. Benefits include reduced fossil fuel demand, with attending reductions in air pollutants. The selection of a stable heat transfer fluid with low toxicity and biodegradable qualities minimizes environmental damage due to fluid spills, personal exposure, and degradation byproducts. The collector is found to be …

The CORCON-MOD1 core material-concrete interaction code, developed at the Sandia Laboratories for LWR safety analysis, was adapted for analyzing a postulated LMFBR core melt accident.

From abstract: This report is intended to supplement the brief interpretation of geochemical data presented in the "Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Detailed Geochemical Survey for the Edgemont South Dakota; Wyoming" report (Butz, et al, 1980).

"Results of a reconnaissance geochemical survey of the Broken Bow Quadrangle, Nebraska are reported. Statistical data and aerial distributions for uranium-related variables are presented for 578 groundwater and 442 stream sediment samples. Also included is a brief discussion on location and geology." (from Abstract)