Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes efforts directed toward (1) improving understanding of component behavior in molten carbonate fuel cells and (2) developing alternative concepts for components.

This report discusses the design, production, and evaluation of clad uranium-alloy targets that function as spallation neutron sources in the ZING-P' and IPNS-I facilities with a pulsed (10 to 30 Hz), 500-MeV proton beam. The methodology and results of theoretical nuclear-particle transport, heat transport, and stress analyses that were used in the development of a design for the targets are described. The production of a zirconium-clad uranium-alloy cylinder for ZING-P' and Zircaloy-2-clad uranium-alloy discs for IPNS-I is discussed with particular attention to the procedural details. The theoretical analyses were verified by measuring the thermal and mechanical response of the clad uranium under conditions designed to simulate the operations of the pulsed-neutron sources.

A framework for a method to predict fluid-elastic instability in heat exchanger tube bundles is presented. The method relies on a three-dimensional, cylindrical coordinate, thermal-hydraulic analysis code to obtain a representation of the three-dimensional flow distribution within the heat exchanger. With this information, local cross-flow velocities corresponding to each tube in the exchanger are obtained by interpolation and resultant cross-flow velocity distributions are computed. With a knowledge of the vibration mode shapes and frequencies, reduced effective cross-flow velocities are then computed for each tube. A comparison with experimental results shows excellent agreement: the tubes with high values of predicted reduced effective cross-flow velocity are the same tubes that first experience fluid-elastic instability in the flow tests and vibrate most violently; also, the simulation correctly predicts that the tubes directly exposed to the flow from the inlet nozzle have a low potential for fluid-elastic instability. Very good agreement is also shown in the comparison of the predicted reduced effective cross-flow velocities with the critical value obtained from a design guide. In summary, the feasibility of developing a heat exchanger tube vibration prediction method, based on a computer simulation of flow distribution, is demonstrated. Such a method would have immediate application in …

Quarterly report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding activities related to properties and handling of radioactive materials, operation of nuclear reactors, and other relevant research.

Quarterly report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding activities related to properties and handling of radioactive materials, operation of nuclear reactors, and other relevant research.

A thorough review is provided on nuclear fuels for steady-state thermal research and test reactors. The review was conducted to provide a documented data base in support of recent advances in research and test reactor fuel development, manufacture, and demonstration in response to current US policy on availability of enriched uranium. The review covers current fabrication practice, fabrication development efforts, irradiation performance, and properties affecting fuel utilization, including thermal conductivity, specific heat, density, thermal expansion, corrosion, phase stability, mechanical properties, and fission-product release. The emphasis is on US activities, but major work in Europe and elsewhere is included. The standard fuel types discussed are the U-Al alloy, UZrH/sub x/, and UO2 rod fuels. Among new fuels, those given major emphasis include H3Si-Al dispersion and UO2 caramel plate fuels.

We describe here a theorem prover constructed from the facilities provided by Logic Machine Architecture (LMA). This program is not part of LMA itself, but illustrates the level of inference-based system which can be constructed from the LMA package of tools. It is a clause-based theorem prover supporting a wide variety of techniques which have proven valuable over the years in a long-running automated deduction research project. In addition, it is designed to present a convenient, interactive interface to its user which includes a number of useful utility commands.

Logic Machine Architecture (LMA) is a package of software tools for the construction of inference-based systems. This is the reference manual for layer 2 of LMA. It contains the information necessary to write LMA-based systems at the level of layer 3. Such systems would include theorem provers, expert system reasoning components, and customized deduction components for a variety of application systems.

Rising interest in the nuclear physics community in a CW GeV electron accelerator reflects the growing importance of high-resolution short-range nuclear physics to future advances in the field. To meet this need, Argonne National Laboratory proposes to build a CW GeV Electron Microtron (GEM) laboratory as a national user facility. The microtron accelerator has been chosen as the technology to generate the electron beams required for the research discussed because of the advantages of superior beam quality, low capital and operating costs and capability of furnishing beams of several energies and intensities simultaneously. A complete technical description of the conceptual design for a six-sided CW microtron (hexatron) is presented. The hexatron and three experimental areas will be housed in a well-shielded complex of existing buildings that provide all utilities and services required for an advanced accelerator and an active research program at a savings of $30 to 40 million. Beam lines have been designed to accommodate the transport of polarized beams to each area. The total capital cost of the facility will be $78.6 million and the annual budget for accelerator operations will be $12.1 million. Design and construction of the facility will require four and one half years. Staged …

The research program in nuclear physics in the Argonne Physics Division contributes to most of the major questions in this scientific discipline. The development of the superconducting rf linac technology has led to the ATLAS project now under construction, and is the major focus of the effort in heavy-ion research. The investigation of pion interactions in nuclei using the LAMPF facility helps delineate the dominant aspects of pion propagation and interactions in nuclei. Experiments on the weak interaction in nuclei and on other fundamental symmetries are being carried out with a number of tools. The theoretical effort in nuclear structure, nuclear matter and dynamics, and reaction theory is closely coupled to many aspects of the experimental programs.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to molecular physics and chemistry. This report discusses areas in the physics and chemistry of atoms and molecules related to their interactions with photons, electrons, and other external agents such as energetic ions.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to the Center for Human Radiobiology. This report discusses studies on the health effects of radium.

This report discuses results of an experimental program to characterize the fragments generated when brittle glasses and cermaics are impacted.

A procedure is described for randomly generating positive definite quadratic programming test problems. The test problems are constructed in the form of linear least squares problems subject to linear constraints. The probability measure for the problems so generated is invariant under orthogonal transformations. The procedure allows the user to specify the size of the least squares problem (number of unknown parameters, number of observations, and number of constraints); the relative magnitude of the residuals; the condition number of the Hessian matrix of the objective function; and the structure of the feasible region (number of equality constraints and the number of inequalities which will be active at the feasible starting point and at the optimal solution). An example is given illustrating how these problems can be used to evaluate the performance of a software package.

A mathematical model for the instability of tube rows subjected to crossflow is examined. The theoretical model, based on the fluid-force data for a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.33, provides additional insight into the instability phenomenon. Tests are also conducted for three sets of tube rows. The effects of mass ratio, tube pitch, damping, detuning and finned tubes are investigated. Theoretical results and experimental data are in good agreement.

A finite element computer code for the transient analysis of prestressed concrete reactor vessels (PCRVs) for LMFBR containment is described. The method assumes rotational symmetry of the structure. Time integration is by an explicit method. The quasistatic prestressing operation of the PCRV model is performed by a dynamic relaxation technique. The material model accounts for the crushing and tensile cracking in arbitrary direction in concrete and the elastic-plastic behavior of reinforcing steel. The variation of the concrete tensile cracking and compressive crushing limits with strain rate is taken into account. Relative slip is permitted between the concrete and tendons. Several example solutions are presented and compared with experimental results. These sample problems range from simply supported beams to small scale models of PCRV's. It is shown that the analytical methods correlate quite well with experimental results, although in the vicinity of the failure load the response of the models tend to be quite sensitive to input parameters.

Nuclear and non-nuclear applications of cineradiography are reviewed, with emphasis on diagnostic instrumentation for in-pile transient-reactor safety testing of nuclear fuel motion. The primary instrument for this purpose has been the fast-neutron hodoscope, which has achieved quantitative monitoring of time, location, mass, and velocity of fuel movement under the difficult conditions associated with transient-reactor experiments. Alternative diagnostic devices that have been developed have not matched the capabilities of the hodoscope. Other applications for the fuel-motion diagnostic apparatus are also evolving, including time-integrated radiography and direct time- and space-resolved fuel-pin power monitoring. Although only two reactors are now actively equipped with high-resolution fuel-motion diagnostic systems, studies and tests have been carried out in and for many other reactors.

This report presents the results of the analytical and experimental work of the application of heat pipes to the production of winter ice for seasonal cooling applications. This program consisted of two major subtasks. The first subtask was to develop theoretical models of heat-pipe and system performance. The second subtask was to perform laboratory experiments on full-scale units to measure performance as functions of ambient conditions, and to make design variations in response to experimental observations. The results of these efforts are presented and recommendations made as to future research efforts.

This assessment seeks (1) to determine the most probable chemical compounds formed between fission products and actinides in urania fuels under normal and accident conditions and (2) to identify gaps in knowledge of these fission-product compounds. The ultimate goal of this effort is to develop predictive capability about the behavior of fission products under normal and accident conditions. The relevant thermochemical data have been organized by compound type, the chemical stability of resultant compounds determined, and data uncertainty evaluated. The assessment focused on fission-product and actinide oxides, halides, tellurides, and hydroxides. Free energy equations are given for those compounds for which data were available.

The use of radiotracer spiking as a method of measuring the leaching from simulated nuclear-waste glass is shown to give results comparable with other analytical detection methods. The leaching behavior of strontium-85, ruthenium-106, barium-133, cesium-137, cerium-141, europium-152, and other isotopes is measured for several defense waste glasses. These tests show that radiotracer spiking is a sensitive, multi-element technique that can provide leaching data, for actual waste elements, that are difficult to obtain by other methods. Additionally, a detailed procedure is described that allows spiked glass to be prepared with a suitable distribution of radionuclides.

This sixth symposium covers process control processes and issues involved in the conversion of fossil fuels into synthetic fuels.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to atmospheric physics. This report discusses the section's participation in the Atmospheric Studies in COmplex Terrain (ASCOT) experiment.

A preliminary analysis is presented for a seasonal storage solar heating system for the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts. The area occupies a prominent location in the Boston Harbor and is being redeveloped for residential and commercial use. The system makes use of two large, buried concrete storage tanks totaling 5700 cubic meters as a water heat store. Other storage facilities, including a dry dock, offer additional solar opportunities for the navy Yard as the redevelopment progresses. The analysis makes extensive use of MINSUN, a computer performance and economic simulation routine written specifically for solar seasonal storage systems. The system performance and economics are analyzed for different collector types and areas, component costs, exogenous economic conditions, and optional inclusion of a heat pump. System cost-effectiveness is defined in relation to an economic break-even situation with respect to a conventional system, and is presented in terms of a solar premium, which is the incremental cost for the solar system per MWH of conventional fuel displaced. The additional analysis and design considerations necessary before an implementation phase are outlined. System implementation is discussed in terms of the roles of the various parties involved and funding/financing possibilities.

This report provides background and procedural information for the use of a general-purpose Stirling-engine analysis code developed at Argonne National Laboratory and available through the National Energy Software Center. Different engine configurations are easily specified, or the user may make use of provided data for existing engines, both kinematic and free piston. The code models heat transfer and fluid mechanics throughout the engine and accounts for system energy flows and losses. Good agreement is shown between code predictions and experimental measurements. The present analysis method was chosen for fast execution and useful information on energy flows in the system. A description is provided of the code structure that is intended to accept different analysis modules that can provide improved system modeling or optimization capability.