This report presents an overview of Japan's performance in its trading relations. The report begins with a discussion of the development, size, and importance of Japan's international trading sector. It then examines the composition, institutions, and policies for trade. This is followed by a review of Japan's balance of payments, capital flows, value of the yen, and direction of trade.

An initial analysis of particulate effects on molten carbonate fuel cells has been conducted. The analysis has been applied to a conceptual fuel cell with operating parameters appropriate to use with future power generation plants. Particle transport due to several mechanisms has been considered and dominant mechanisms affecting particle delivery to anode channel surfaces and into anode pores have been identified. Thermophoresis and gas flow out from anode pores have been found to inhibit particle arrival on the anode and entry into pores so that neither anode channel blockage nor pore blockage are expected for particles with diameters smaller than about one micron. The analytical approach developed could be applied to other fuel cell types in addition to the molten carbonate fuel cells.

Objectives of this project are to evaluate benefits associated with control of the surface energetic properties of materials used in heat exchangers; and to identify preferred ranges of these surface conditions that minimize deposits of biological fouling known to deteriorate heat exchange efficiencies in cooling water systems. The technical approach employed uses special diagnostic plates in novel flow cells where fluid flow conditions can be well-controlled, modifying the surface chemistry and surface energy of the plates with very thin coatings and examining the earliest events of biofouling caused by macromolecules and microbial organisms. For the present phase of the project (Year 2), attention is focussed on biofouling in a freshwater/brackish water system.

Two-phase turbines open the possibility of new types of power cycles operating with extremely wet mixtures of steam and water, organic fluids, or immiscible liquids and gases. Possible applications are geothermal power, waste-heat recovery, refrigerant expansion, solar conversion, transportation turbine engines, and engine bottoming cycles. A theoretical model for two-phase impulse turbines was developed. Apparatus was constructed for testing one- and two-stage turbines (using speed decrease from stage to stage). Turbines were tested with water-and-nitrogen mixtures and Refrigerant 22. Nozzle efficiencies were 0.78 (measured) and 0.72 (theoretical) for water-and-nitrogen mixtures at a water/nitrogen mixture ratio of 68, by mass; and 0.89 (measured) and 0.84 (theoretical) for Refrigerant 22 expanding from 0.02 quality to 0.28 quality. Blade efficiencies (shaft power before windage and bearing loss divided by nozzle jet power) were 0.63 (measured) and 0.71 (theoretical) for water-and-nitrogen mixtures and 0.62 (measured) and 0.63 (theoretical) for Refrigerant 22 with a single-stage turbine, and 0.70 (measured) and 0.85 (theoretical) for water-and-nitrogen mixtures with a two-stage turbine.

The health and safety analysis is part of an overall effort to identify and develop innovative underground coal extraction systems. The single-entry tunnel borer system was initially considered an innovative approach to underground mining because it exhibited a means of increasing the speed and efficiency of entry development by reducing the number of entries. However, to be considered a truly advanced system, the tunnel borer had to meet distinct safety criteria as well. The objective was to examine the tunnel borer design and determine whether it offset major health hazards, and satisfied the prescribed safety levels. As a baseline for comparison, the tunnel borer was compared against the continuous mining entry driving system. The results of the health analysis indicated that while the tunnel borer design offered improvements in dust control through the use of water sprays, a higher face ventilation rate, and the application of spalling rather than the conventional grinding process, it interjected an additional mutagenic is and toxic compound into the environment through the use of shotcrete. The tunnel borer system easily conformed with the prescribed fatality limit, but exceeded the required limits for disabling and overall injuries. It also exhibited projected disabling and overall injury rates …

The Livermore Regional Air Quality Model (LIRAQ) has been updated and improved. This report describes the changes that have been made in chemistry, species treatment, and boundary conditions. The results of smog chamber simulations that were used to verify the chemistry as well as simulations of the entire air quality model for two prototype days in the Bay Area are reported. The results for the prototype day simulations are preliminary due to the need for improvement in meteorology fields, but they show the dependence and sensitivity of high hour ozone to changes in selected boundary and initial conditions.

The Brookhaven High Energy Neutral Beam Development Group is developing injector systems, particularly for the next generation of fusion mirror and tokamak experiments. These injectors are based on the acceleration and neutralization of negative deuterium ions, to utilize their high neutralization efficiency which is nearly independent of energy above 50 keV/nucleon.

The Development Program to Support Industrial Coal Gasification is on schedule. The efforts have centered on collecting background information and data, planning, and getting the experimental program underway. The three principal objectives in Task I-A were accomplished. The technical literature was reviewed, the coals and binders to be employed were selected, and tests and testing equipment to be used in evaluating agglomerates were developed. The entire Erie Mining facility design was reviewed and a large portion of the fluidized-bed coal gasification plant design was completed. Much of the work in Task I will be experimental. Wafer-briquette and roll-briquette screening tests will be performed. In Task II, work on the fluidized-bed gasification plant design will be completed and work on a plant design involving entrained-flow gasifiers will be initiated.

The Advanced Coal Extraction Project is sponsored by the Department of Energy at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to define and develop advanced underground coal extraction systems which: (1) are suitable for significant remaining resources after the year 2000, and (2) promise a significant improvement in production cost and miner safety, with no degradation in miner health, environmental quality and resource recovery. System requirements in the five performance areas have been defined by Goldsmith and Lavin (1980). Several existing computer programs for estimating life-cycle cost of mining systems have been evaluated. A commercially available program ADAM/1 was found to be satisfactory in relation to the needs of the Advanced Coal Extraction Project. Two test cases were run to confirm the ability of the program to handle non-conventional mining equipment and procedures. The results were satisfactory. The model, therefore, is recommended to the project team for evaluation of their conceptual designs. Since the model is commercially available, data preparation instructions are not reproduced in this document; instead the reader is referred to the original documents for this information.

The objective of this work was to compare the radiation sensitivity of the various parts of superconducting magnet systems. Using the radiation spectra calculated by Engholm for the Engineering Test Facility (ETF) toroidal field magnet inboard leg and available data on radiation effects, commonly used magnet components were ranked in order of radiation sensitivity. It was found that epoxy-based insulators and copper and aluminum stabilizers were the most sensitive parts of the magnets, more sensitive than the superconductors. Use of polyimide-based insulators would make the insulators less vulnerable than the stabilizers and superconductors. An experiment is planned to study the effects of various degrees of cold work on the radiation-induced magnetoresistance of copper, since this will be an important factor for fusion magnet stabilizers.

The collector efficiency study developed a solar collector rating methodology specific to Wisconsin conditions. Existing rating programs were researched and a collector methodology was developed. A computer program was written to calculate the collector ratings and 25 collector models were rated. The accuracy of the proposed rating methodology was evaluated for 16 collectors placed in 11 domestic hot water systems. One liquid space heating analysis with storage and one air space heating analysis without storage were completed. A solar assisted heat pump in which the solar collectors function as evaporators was also analyzed.