The lower Frio Formation in eastern Brazoria County, upper Texas Gulf Coast, was deposited in a high constructive deltaic environment in the Houston delta system. Constructive elements of the stacked, elongate to lobate deltas that were intersected in core are storm induced delta front splays, delta front slump deposits, and distributary mouth bar, distributary channel and delta plain assemblages. Reworked and winnowed abandonment facies that are volumetrically insignificant relative to constructive elements are subdivided into a crossbedded shoreface-foreshore subfacies and a fine grained cyclic sequence of storm deposits on the lower shoreface that represent a distal abandonment subfacies. Micropaleontological evidence indicates that deposition of constructive and abandonment facies took place in water depths of less than 120 feet.

This quarterly report includes summaries of the following tasks: (1) OTEC pilot plant conceptual design review; (2) OTEC methanol; (3) management decision requirements for OTEC construction; (4) hybrid geothermal - OTEC (GEOTEC) power plant performance estimates; and (5) supervision of testing of pneumatic wave energy conversion system.

Research progress is reported on developing Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) systems that will provide synthetic fuels (e.g., methanol), energy-intensive products such as ammonia (for fertilizers and chemicals), and aluminum. The work also includes assessment and design concepts for hybrid plants, such as geothermal-OTEC (GEOTEC) plants. Another effort that began in the spring of 1982 is a technical advisory role to DOE with respect to their management of the conceptual design activity of the two industry teams that are designing offshore OTEC pilot plants that could deliver power to Oahu, Hawaii. In addition, a program is underway in which tests of a different kind of ocean-energy device, a turbine that is air-driven as a result of wave action in a chamber, are being planned. This Quarterly Report summarizes the work on the various tasks as of 31 December 1982.

This quarterly report summarizes work of the following tasks as of March 31, 1982: OTEC pilot plant conceptual design review; OTEC methanol; review of electrolyzer development programs and requirements; financial and legal considerations in OTEC implementation; potential Navy sites for GEOTEC systems; hybrid geothermal-OTEC power plants: single-cycle performance estimates; and supervision of testing of pneumatic wave energy conversion system.

A functional 1-MW geothermal electric power plant that featured a helical screw expander was produced and then tested in Utah in 1978 to 1979 with a demonstrated average performance of approximately 45% machine efficiency over a wide range of test conditions in noncondensing operation on two-phase geothermal fluids. The Project also produced a computer-equipped data system, an instrumentation and control van, and a 1000-kW variable load bank, all integrated into a test array designed for operation at a variety of remote test sites. Additional testing was performed in Mexico in 1980 under a cooperative test program using the same test array, and machine efficiency was measured at 62% maximum with the rotors partially coated with scale, compared with approximately 54% maximum in Utah with uncoated rotors, confirming the importance of scale deposits within the machine on performance. Data are presented for the Utah testing and for the noncondensing phases of the testing in Mexico. Test time logged was 437 hours during the Utah tests and 1101 hours during the Mexico tests.

Twenty-three shale samples ranging in depth from 5194 ft to 13,246 ft from Gulf Oil Corporation No. 2 Texas State Lease 53034 well and 33 shale samples ranging in depth from 2185 ft to 15,592 ft from General Crude Oil Company/Department of Energy No. 1 Pleasant Bayou well were examined by x-ray techniques to determine the mineralogy of the geopressured zone in the Brazoria Fairway. Both wells have similar weight-percent trends with depth for a portion of the mineralogy. Calcite decreases, and plagioclase, quartz and total clay increase slightly. Within the clays, illite in mixed-layer illite/smectite (I/S) increases and smectite in mixed-layer I/S decreases. Four minerals have distinctly different trends with depth for each well. In the No. 2 Texas State Lease 53034 well, potassium feldspar and mixed-layer I/S decrease, kaolinite increases, and discrete illite is constant. In the No. 1 Pleasant Bayou well, potassium feldspar and kaolinite are constant, mixed-layer I/S increases, and discrete illite decreases.

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.

Mesaverde Group sandstone units in 13 closely-spaced wells in the central and southern Piceance Basin of Colorado were correlated utilizing wireline log response quantitatively and qualitatively. Based on these correlations, the environmental subdivisions of the Mesaverde Group were characterized as follows: (1) paralic (upper mixed-marine) zone, occurring in the uppermost Mesaverde Group, includes thick sandstone units which are interpreted to be regionally continuous, (2) fluvial zone, containing point-bars 20 to 30+ ft thick, is interpreted to be correlatable to a maximum of 6800 ft, and (3) paludal zone has insufficient data to adequately characterize the sand units. However, 63 percent of the units are correlatable across at least 139 ft. An approximation of the dimensional characteristics of Mesaverde sandstone units has potential applications in designing hydraulic fracturing treatments and estimating gas reserves more accurately. 15 figures, 2 tables.

We have analyzed the Fe/H ratios in the peaks of high speed streams (HSS) during the decline of Solar Cycle 20 and the following minimum (October 1972 to December 1976). We utilized the response of the 50 to 200 keV ion channel of the APL/JHU energetic particle experiment (EPE) onIMP-7 and 8 to solar wind iron ions at high solar wind speeds (V greater than or equal to 600 km sec/sup -1/), and compared our Fe measurements with solar wind H and He parameters from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) instruments on the same spacecraft. In general, the Fe distribution parameters (bulk velocity, flow direction, temperature) are found to be similar to the LANL He parameters. Although the average Fe/H ration in many steady HSS peaks agrees within observational uncertainties with the nominal coronal ratio of 4.7 x 10/sup -5/, abundance variations of a factor of up to 6 are obtained across a given coronal-hole associated HSS. There are, as well, factor of 2 variations between stream-averaged abundances for recurent HSS emanating from different coronal holes occurring on the sun on the same solar rotation. flare-related solar wind streams sometimes show Fe/H ratios enhanced by factors of 4 to …

All interplanetary shocks observed by ISEE-3 and either ISEE-1 or ISEE-2 or both in 1978 and 1979 are examined for evidence of upstream waves. In order to characterize the properties of these shocks it is necessary to determine accurate shock normals. We invert an overdetermined set of equations to obtain shock normals, velocities and error estimates for all these shocks. Tests of the method indicate it is quite reliable. Using these normals we then calculate the Mach number and angle between the interplanetary magnetic field and the shock normal for each shock. These parameters allow us to separate the upstream waves into two classes: whistler-mode precursors which occur at low Mach numbers and upstream turbulence whose amplitude at Mach numbers greater than 1.5 is controlled by the angle of the field to the shock normal. The former waves are right-hand circularly polarized and quite monochromatic. The latter waves are more linearly polarized and have a broadband featureless spectrum.

Plasma fluid parameters calculated from solar wind and magnetic field data obtained on ISEE 3 were studied to determine the characteristic properties of driver gas following interplanetary shocks. Of 54 shocks observed from August 1978 to February 1980, 9 contained a well defined driver gas that was clearly identifiable by a discontinuous decrease in the average proton temperature across a tangential discontinuity. While helium enhancements were present in all of 9 of these events, only about half of them contained simultaneous changes in the two quantities. Often the He/H ratio changed over a period of minutes. Simultaneous with the drop in proton temperature the helium and electron temperature decreased abruptly. In some cases the proton temperature depression was accompanied by a moderate increase in magnetic field magnitude with an unusually low variance and by an increase in the ratio of parallel to perpendicular temperature. The drive gas usually displayed a bi-directional flow of suprathermal solar wind electrons at higher energies (>137 eV).

This quarterly report summarizes work on the following tasks as of September 30, 1982: (1) OTEC pilot plant conceptual design review; (2) OTEC methanol; (3) financial and legal considerations in OTEC implementation; (4) GEOTEC resource exploration at Adak, Alaska, and Lualualei, Hawaii; (5) preliminary GEOTEC plant cost estimates; and (6) supervision of testing of pneumatic wave energy conversion system.

PATHWAY simulates the transport of radionuclides from fallout through an agricultural ecosystem. The agro-ecosystem is subdivided into several land management units, each of which is used either for grazing animals, for growing hay, or for growing food crops. The model simulates the transport of radionuclides by both discrete events and continuous, time-dependent processes. The discrete events include tillage of soil, harvest and storage of crops,and deposition of fallout. The continuous processes include the transport of radionuclides due to resuspension, weathering, rain splash, percolation, leaching, adsorption and desorption of radionuclides in the soil, root uptake, foliar absorption, growth and senescence of vegetation, and the ingestion assimilation, and excretion of radionuclides by animals. Preliminary validation studies indicate that the model dynamics and simulated values of radionuclide concentrations in several agricultural products agree well with measured values when the model is driven with site specific data on deposition from world-wide fallout.

The Geothermal Resources Interactive Temporal Simulation (GRITS) model is a computer code designed to estimate the costs of geothermal energy systems. The interactive program allows the user to vary resource, demand, and financial parameters to observe their effects on delivered costs of direct-use geothermal energy. Due to the large number and interdependent nature of the variables that influence these costs, the variables can be handled practically only through computer modeling. This report documents a sensitivity analysis of the cost of direct-use geothermal energy where each major element is varied to measure the responsiveness of cost to changes in that element. It is hoped that this analysis will assist those persons interested in geothermal energy to understand the most significant cost element as well as those individuals interested in using the GRITS program in the future.

The coring, logging and testing of Bennett Ranch Unit well No. 310 was a cooperative effort between Texas Pacific, owner of the well, and Gruy Federal, Inc. The requirements of the contract, which are summarized in Enclosure 1, Appendix A, include drilling and coring activities. The pressure-coring and associated logging and testing programs in selected wells are intended to provide data on in-situ oil saturation, porosity and permeability distribution, and other data needed for resource characterization of fields and reservoirs in which CO/sub 2/ injection might have a high probability of success. This report presents detailed information on the first such project. This project demonstrates the usefulness of integrating pressure core, log and production data to realistically evaluate a reservoir for carbon dioxide flood. The engineering of tests and analysis of such experimental data requires original thinking, but the reliability of the results is higher than data derived from conventional tests.

Annual report of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Accelerator & Fusion Research Division presenting major accomplishments during fiscal year 1981.

Geothermal fluids of the Ojo Caliente area discharge from a northeast trending normal fault that juxtaposes Precambrian metarhyolite and Tertiary sediments. An electrical resistivity survey shows that the fluids emerge from the fault and flow as a plume of thermal water into cold aquifers east of the fault. Geochemistry of fluids indicates a maximum reservoir temperature at depth of 80/sup 0/C with no suggestion of high temperature isotopic exchange between water and reservoir rocks. From this data, it is believed that the Ojo Caliente system is suitable only for small-scale direct use geothermal applications.