This report describes the assessment of the physical and chemical properties of the jet fuel (180-300 C) distillation fraction of nine direct coal liquefaction products and compares those properties to the corresponding specifications for aviation turbine fuels. These crude coal liquids were compared with finished fuel specifications specifically to learn what the refining requirements for these crudes will be to make them into finished fuels. The properties of the jet fuel fractions were shown in this work to require extensive hydrotreating to meet Jet A-1 specifications. However, these materials have a number of desirable qualities as feedstocks for the production of high energy-density jet fuels.

Direct fast-neutron detection is the detection of fast neutrons before they are moderated to thermal energy. We have investigated two approaches for using proton-recoil in plastic scintillators to detect fast neutrons and distinguish them from gamma-ray interactions. Both approaches use the difference in travel speed between neutrons and gamma rays as the basis for separating the types of events. In the first method, we examined the pulses generated during scattering in a plastic scintillator to see if they provide a means for distinguishing fast-neutron events from gamma-ray events. The slower speed of neutrons compared to gamma rays results in the production of broader pulses when neutrons scatter several times within a plastic scintillator. In contrast, gamma-ray interactions should produce narrow pulses, even if multiple scattering takes place, because the time between successive scattering is small. Experiments using a fast scintillator confirmed the presence of broader pulses from neutrons than from gamma rays. However, the difference in pulse widths between neutrons and gamma rays using the best commercially available scintillators was not sufficiently large to provide a practical means for distinguishing fast neutrons and gamma rays on a pulse-by-pulse basis. A faster scintillator is needed, and that scintillator might become available …

This report presents the results of the bench-scale work, Bench Run PB-09, HTI Run Number 227-106, conducted under the DOE Proof-of-Concept Option Program indirect coal liquefaction at Hydrocarbon Technologies Inc. in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Bench Run PB-09 was conducted using two types of Chinese coal, Shenhua No.2 and Shenhua No.3, and had several goals. One goal was to study the liquefaction performance of Shenhua No.2 and Shenhua No.3 with respect to coal conversion and distillate production. Another goal of Bench Run PB-09 was to study the effect of different GelCatw formulations and loadings. At the same time, the space velocity and the temperature of the fmt reactor, K-1, were varied to optimize the liquefaction of the two Chinese coals. The promoter-modified HTI GelCat{trademark} catalyst was very effective in the direct liquefaction of coal with nearly 92% maf coal conversion with Shenhua No.3 and 93% maf coal conversion with 9 Shenhua No.2. Distillate yields (CQ-524 C)varied from 52-68% maf for Shenhua No.3 coal to 54-63% maf for Shenhua No.2 coal. The primary conclusion from Bench Run PB-09 is that Shenhua No.3 coal is superior to Shenhua No.2 coal in direct liquefaction due to its greater distillate production, although coal conversion is …

This report presents the results of the bench-scale test, PB-10, performed at HTI's facilities under DOE contract (HTI Run No. 227-109). This bench test continues the work that was started in PDU testing 260-007. Previous bench test (PB-09, HTI 227-106) was performed on different seams of Chinese coal (Shenhua Ningtiaota Coal No.2 and No.3). Since another coal, Shangwan coal was selected for the liquefaction plant, PB-10 was made as approved by DOE/COR. The objective of this test was to evaluate the liquefaction performance of Shangwan coal utilizing various backend processing and recycle schemes. Additionally, this test was to collect available process data to allow for the best scale-up process design possible from this particular unit.

A cermet anode that produces oxygen and a cathode material that is wetted by aluminum can provide a dimensionally stable inter-electrode distance in the Hall-Heroult cell. This can be used to greatly improve the energy and/or productivity efficiencies. The concept, which was developed and tested, uses a system of vertically interleaved anodes and cathodes. The major advantage of this concept is the significant increase in electrochemical surface area compared to a horizontal orientation of anode and cathode that is presently used in the Hall-Heroult process. This creates an additional advantage for energy reduction of 1.3 kWh/lb or a 20% productivity improvement. The voltages obtained in an optimized cell test met the energy objectives of the project for at least two weeks. An acceptable current efficiency was never proven, however, during either pilot scale or bench scale tests with the vertical plate configuration. This must be done before a vertical cell can be considered viab le. Anode corrosion rate must be reduced by at least a factor of three in order to produce commercial purity aluminum. It is recommended that extensive theoretical and bench scale investigations be done to improve anode materials and to demonstrate acceptable current efficiencies in a vertical …

The objectives of the CRADA are to: Confirm that fiber-resin adhesion is responsible for the observed poor shear properties; Determine the mechanism(s) responsible for poor adhesion between carbon fibers and epoxy resins after e-beam curing; Develop and evaluate resin systems and fiber treatments to improve the properties of e-beam cured, carbon-fiber-reinforced composites; and Develop refined methods for processing e-beam cured, carbon-fiber-reinforced composites.

This report discusses the legislative branch appropriations bill, which is one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress normally enacts each year for the fiscal year beginning on October 1. The report provides budget authority, which is statutory authority to spend specified amounts of money, for expenditures of the legislative branch for the fiscal year, including salaries.

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Lockheed Martin Hanford Company (LMHC) is designing and assessing the performance of disposal facilities to receive radioactive wastes that are currently stored in single- and double-shell tanks at the Hanford Site. The preferred method of disposing of the portion that is classified as immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) is to vitrify the waste and place the product in near-surface, shallow-land burial facilities. The LMHC project to assess the performance of these disposal facilities is known as the Hanford ILAW Performance Assessment (PA) Activity, hereafter called the ILAW PA project. The goal of this project is to provide a reasonable expectation that the disposal of the waste is protective of the general public, groundwater resources, air resources, surface-water resources, and inadvertent intruders. Achieving this goal will require predictions of contaminant migration from the facility. To make such predictions will require estimates of the fluxes of water moving through the sediments within the vadose zone around and beneath the disposal facility. These fluxes, loosely called recharge rates, are the primary mechanism for transporting contaminants to the groundwater. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) assists LMHC in their performance assessment activities. One of the PNNL tasks is to provide estimates of recharge rates for current …

The following conclusions were reached: (1) The concept of a coating on a magnesium particle serving as a well-supported hydrogen-permselective membrane is sound. (2) Magnesium nitride can be made to coat magnesium particles through chemical vapor deposition within a fluidized bed. (3) Magnesium nitride exhibits the properties necessary for such a coating. (4) Magnesium nitride is not chemically inert to hydrogen in the absence of ammonia at temperatures typically used to hydride/dehydride magnesium.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Railroad Commission’s regulatory definition of “unacceptable unsafe location” is inconsistent with the Texas Aggregate Quarry and Pit Act, chapter 133 of the Natural Resources Code, to the extent the rule includes any pit within 200 feet of a roadway edge, and related questions (RQ-0072-JC)

The integrated-gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) process is an emerging technology that utilizes coal for power generation and production of chemical feedstocks. However, the process generates large amounts of solid waste, consisting of vitrified ash (slag) and some unconverted carbon. In previous projects, Praxis investigated the utilization of as-generated slags for a wide variety of applications in road construction, cement and concrete production, agricultural applications, and as a landfill material. From these studies, the authors found that it would be extremely difficult for as-generated slag to find large-scale acceptance in the marketplace even at no cost because the materials it could replace were abundantly available at very low cost. It was further determined that the unconverted carbon, or char, in the slag is detrimental to its utilization as sand or fine aggregate. It became apparent that a more promising approach would be to develop a variety of value-added products from slag that meet specific industry requirements. This approach was made feasible by the discovery that slag undergoes expansion and forms a lightweight material when subjected to controlled heating in a kiln at temperatures between 1,400 and 1,700 F. These results confirmed the potential for using expanded slag as a substitute for conventional …

Report provides estimates of expected whole body and extremity radiological dose to workers conducting planned Pu stabilization and packaging operations at PFP.

The Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM)Environmental Restoration Project is currently excavating the Classified Waste Landfill in Technical Area II, a disposal area for weapon components for approximately 40 years until it closed in 1987. Many different types of classified parts were disposed in unlined trenches and pits throughout the course of the landfill's history. A percentage of the parts contain explosives and/or radioactive components or contamination. The excavation has progressed backward chronologically from the last trenches filled through to the earlier pits. Excavation commenced in March 1998, and approximately 75 percent of the site (as defined by geophysical anomalies) has been completed as of November 1999. The material excavated consists primarily of classified weapon assemblies and related components, so disposition must include demilitarization and sanitization. This has resulted in substantial waste minimization and cost avoidance for the project as upwards of 90 percent of the classified materials are being demilitarized and recycled. The project is using field screening and lab analysis in conjunction with preliminary and in-process risk assessments to characterize soil and make waste determinations in a timely a fashion as possible. Challenges in waste management have prompted the adoption of innovative solutions. The hand-picked crew (both management and …

The goal of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Clean Coal Technology (CCT) program is to furnish the energy marketplace with a number of advanced, more efficient, and environmentally responsible coal utilization technologies through demonstration projects. These projects seek to establish the commercial feasibility of the most promising advanced coal technologies that have developed beyond the proof-of-concept (POC) stage. This document serves as a DOE post-project assessment of the Confined Zone Dispersion Project in CCT Round 3. In 1990, Bechtel Corporation entered into a cooperative agreement to conduct the demonstration project. The Seward Power Station of Pennsylvania Electric Company (now GPU Genco) was the host site. DOE funded 43 percent of the total project cost of $12,173,000. The project was started in June 1990 and was scheduled to be completed in June 1993. As a result of various operating problems, the schedule was extended into 1994 without additional cost to DOE. Bechtel provided the additional financing and GPU Genco provided electricity, steam, and water to operate the unit. The independent evaluation contained herein is based primarily on information from Bechtel's final technical report (1994) as well as other references cited. Confined Zone Dispersion (CZD) is a flue gas desulfurization (FGD) …

OAK-B135 DIRECT CONVERSION FISSION REACTOR FOR THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER 1,1999 THROUGH NOVEMBER 31,1999

Design Tools use a Web-based Java interface to guide a product designer through the design-to-analysis cycle for a specific, well-constrained design problem. When these Design Tools are mapped onto a Web-based distributed architecture for high-performance computing, the result is a family of Distributed Design Tools (DDTs). The software components that enable this mapping consist of a Task Sequencer, a generic Script Execution Service, and the storage of both data and metadata in an active, object-oriented database called the Product Database Operator (PDO). The benefits of DDTs include improved security, reliability, scalability (in both problem size and computing hardware), robustness, and reusability. In addition, access to the PDO unlocks its wide range of services for distributed components, such as lookup and launch capability, persistent shared memory for communication between cooperating services, state management, event notification, and archival of design-to-analysis session data.

SiC/SiC composites were fabricated from Hi-Nicalon{trademark} fibers with carbon, porous SiC and multilayer SiC interphases. These materials were then irradiated in the High Flux Beam Reactor with fast neutrons at 260 and 900-1060 degrees C to a dose of 1.1X10{sup 25} n/m{sup 2} corresponding to 1.1 displacements per atom (dpa). Results are presented for bend strength of both non-irradiated and irradiated materials. Within the interphases studied the multilayer SiC interphase material showed the least degradation (8-20%) in ultimate bend stress, while porous SiC underwent the greatest degradation ({approximately}35%). The Fiber matrix interphases are studied with TEM for both nonirradiated and irradiated materials. While no irradiation induced microstructural evolution of the interphase was observed, debonding of the interphase from the fiber was observed for all cases. This debonding is attributed to tensile stresses developed at the interface due to densification of the Hi-Nicalon{trademark} fiber. Residual stress analysis of the fiber matrix interface indicates that the irradiation-induced densification of Hi-Nicalon{trademark} and the volumetric expansion of the CVD SiC matrix cause tensile stresses well in excess of those which can be withstood by these, or any other viable SiC composite interphase.

Utilizing the oscillatory interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Cr superlattices, we have constructed ''double superlattice'' structures where a ferromagnetic (F) and an antiferromagnetic (AF) Fe/Cr superlattice are coupled through a Cr spacer. The minor hysteresis loops in the magnetization are shifted from zero field, i.e., the F superlattice is exchange biased by the AF one. The double superlattices are sputter-deposited with (211) epitaxy and possess uniaxial in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The magnitude of the bias field is satisfactorily described by the classic formula for collinear spin structures. The coherent structure and insensitivity to atomic-scale roughness makes it possible to determine the spin distribution by polarized neutron reflectivity, which confirms that the spin structure is collinear. The magnetic reversal behavior of the double superlattices suggests that a realistic model of exchange bias needs to address the process of nucleating local reverse domains.

The feasibility of using extended energy-loss fine structure (EXELFS) obtained from {approximately}1 nm regions of metallic glasses to study their short-range order has been examined. Ionization edges of the metallic glasses in the electron energy-loss spectrum (EELS) have been obtained from PdNiP bulk metallic glass and Ni{sub 2}P polycrystalline powder in a transmission electron microscope. The complexity of EXELFS analysis of L- and M-ionization edges of heavy elements (Z>22, i.e. Ni and Pd) is addressed by theoretical calculations using an ab initio computer code, and its results are compared with the experimental data.

Designing and developing the 1.7 to 2.1-MJ Power Conditioning System (PCS), that will power the flashlamps of the main and power amplifiers for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) lasers, is one of several responsibilities assumed by Sandia National Labs (SNL) in support of the NIF Project. Maxwell Physics International has been a partner in this process. The NIF is currently being constructed at Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL). The test facility that has evolved over the last three years to satisfy the project requirements is called FANTM, for the First Article NIF Test Module. It was built at SNL and operated for about 17,000 shots to demonstrate component performance expectations over the lifetime of NIF. A few modules similar to the one shown in Fig. 1 will be used initially in the amplifier test phase of the project. The final full NIF system will require at least 192 of them in four capacitor bays. This paper briefly summarizes the final design of the FANTM facility and compares its performance with the predictions of circuit simulations for both normal operation and fault-mode response. Applying both the measured and modeled power pulse waveforms as input to a physics-based, semi-empirical amplifier gain code …

Structural and magnetic properties of the two-layered Ruddlesden-Popper phase SrO(La{sub 1{minus}x}Sr{sub x}MnO{sub 3}){sub 2} with x = 0.3--0.5 are highlighted. Intrinsic properties of these naturally layered manganites include a colossal magnetoresistance, a composition-dependent magnetic anisotropy, and almost no remanence. Above the Curie temperature there is a non-vanishing extrinsic magnetization attributed to intergrowths (stacking faults in the layered structure). These lattice imperfections consist of additional or missing manganite layers, as observed in transmission electron microscopy. Their role in influencing the properties of the host material is highlighted.

Simultaneous removal of SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x} using a regenerable solid sorbent will constitute an important improvement over the use of separate processes for the removal of these two pollutants from stack gases and possibly eliminate several shortcomings of the individual SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x} removal operations. The work done at PETC and the DOE-funded research of the investigators on the sulfation and regeneration of alumina-supported cerium oxide sorbents have shown that they can perform well at relatively high temperatures (823-900 K) as regenerable desulfurization sorbents. Survey of the recent literature shows that addition of copper oxide to ceria lowers the sulfation temperature of ceria down to 773 K, sulfated ceria-based sorbents can function as selective SCR catalysts even at elevated temperatures, SO{sub 2} can be directly reduced to sulfur by CO on CuO-ceria catalysts, and ceria-based catalysts may have a potential for selective catalytic reduction of NO{sub x} by methane. These observations indicate a possibility of developing a ceria-based sorbent/catalyst which can remove both SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x} from flue gases within a relatively wide temperature window, produce significant amounts of elemental sulfur during regeneration, and use methane for the selective catalytic reduction of NO{sub x}. …

Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is used to extract information on the topological arrangement of atoms around Pd in the bulk-glass-forming Pd{sub 60}Ni{sub 20}P{sub 20}. It is found that the environment around Pd in the glass is only a slight modification of the Pd crystalline structure. However, the modification is enough to allow this alloy to form a glass in bulk. In examining the differences between the structure of crystalline Pd and glassy Pd{sub 60}Ni{sub 20}P{sub 20} it is concluded that incorporation of Ni and P into the structure frustrates the structure enough that glass formation becomes easy.