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The following conclusions are made based on this analysis effort: (1) High-temperature PEM data are not available; (2) Stack development effort for Phase II is required; (3) System results are by definition preliminary, mostly due to the immaturity of the high-temperature stack; other components of the system are relatively well defined; (4) The Grotthuss conduction mechanism yields the preferred system characteristics; the Grotthuss conduction mechanism is also much less technically mature than the vehicle mechanism; (5) Fuel processor technology is available today and can be procured for Phase II (steam or ATR); (6) The immaturity of high-temperature membrane technology requires that a robust system design be developed in Phase II that is capable of operating over a wide temperature and pressure range - (a) Unpressurized or Pressurized PEM (Grotthuss mechanism) at 140 C, Highest temperature most favorable, Lowest water requirement most favorable, Pressurized recommended for base loaded operation, Unpressurized may be preferred for load following; (b) Pressurized PEM (vehicle mechanism) at about 100 C, Pressure required for saturation, Fuel cell technology currently available, stack development required. The system analysis and screening evaluation resulted in the identification of the following components for the most promising system: (1) Steam reforming fuel processor; …

Frequency modulation (FM) spectroscopy techniques show promise for active infrared remote chemical sensing. FM spectroscopy techniques have reduced sensitivity to optical and electronic noise, and are relatively immune to the effects of various electronic and mechanical drifts. FM systems are responsive to sharp spectral features and can therefore reduce the effects of spectral clutter due to interfering chemicals in the plume or in the atmosphere. The relatively high modulation frequencies used for FM also reduces the effects of albedo (reflectance) and plume variations. Conventional differential absorption lidar (DIAL) systems are performance limited by the noise induced by speckle. Analysis presented in this report shows that FM based sensors may reduce the effects of speckle by one to two orders of magnitude. This can result in reduced dwell times and faster area searches, as well as reducing various forms of spatial clutter. FM systems will require a laser system that is continuously tunable at relatively high frequencies (0.1 to 20 MHz). One promising candidate is the quantum-cascade (QC) laser [1, 2]. The QC laser is potentially capable of power levels on the order of 1 Watt and frequency tuning on the order of 3 - 6 GHz, which is the performance …

In the continuing effort to support the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), the noble metals issue is addressed. There is an additional concern about the amount of noble metals expected to be present in the future batches that will be considered for vitrification in the DWPF. Several laboratory, as well as melter-scale, studies have been completed by various organizations (mainly PNNL, SRTC, and WVDP in the USA). This letter report statuses the noble metals issue and focuses at the settling of noble metals in melters.

This Technical Quarterly Report is for the reporting period July 1, 2000 to September 30, 2000. The report provides details of the work done on the project entitled ''Enhanced Oil Recovery with Downhole Vibration Stimulation in Osage County Oklahoma''. The project is divided into nine separate tasks. Since this is the first Quarterly report, much of the work done is of a preliminary nature. Several of the tasks are being worked on simultaneously, while other tasks are dependent on earlier tasks being completed. The selection of the pilot test area has been completed. The drilling of the test well is waiting on rig availability. Phillips has begun sonic core testing of offset cores, waiting on the core from the well to be drilled. Design work is progressing for the tool, which will be built to fit the test well. Installation of monitoring equipment and the downhole vibration tool will occur after the well is drilled. Technical transfer efforts have begun with the submission of an abstract for a technical paper for the Oklahoma City Society of Petroleum Engineers meeting in March 2001.

This project is designed to develop a family of novel NO{sub x} control technologies, called Second Generation Advanced Reburning (SGAR) which has the potential to achieve 90+% NO{sub x} control in coal-fired boilers at a significantly lower cost than SCR. The twelfth reporting period in Phase II (July 3-October 15, 2000) included design validation AR-Lean tests (Task No.2.6) in the 10 x 10{sup 6} Btu/hr Tower Furnace. The objective of tests was to determine the efficiency of AR-Lean at higher than optimum OFA/N-Agent injection temperatures in large pilot-scale combustion facility. Tests demonstrated that co-injection of urea with overfire air resulted in NO{sub x} reduction. However, observed NO{sub x} reduction was smaller than that under optimum conditions.

The data covered by this qualification report have been cited in analysis/model reports (AMRs) to support the Site Recommendation in determining the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a repository for high level nuclear waste. Those analyses cited both qualified and unqualified hydrochemical data. This report evaluates unqualified precipitation chloride data based on the pedigree of the data and within the context of supporting analyses on the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). The following AMRs use the unqualified chloride data considered in this report: (1) AMR S0040, ''Geochemical and Isotopic Constraints on Groundwater Flow Directions, Mixing and Recharge at Yucca Mountain'' (ANL-NBS-HS-000021) (Kwicklis 2000)--an analysis of groundwater recharge rates, flow directions and velocities, and mixing proportions of water from different source areas based on groundwater geochemical and isotopic data. (2) AMR U0085, ''Analysis of Geochemical Data for the Unsaturated Zone'' (ANL-NBS-HS-000017) (Fabryka-Martin 2000)--identifies fluid geochemical parameters for the unsaturated zone, local precipitation, and surface water; discusses the occurrence and origins of fracture minerals; and presents a thermal history of the unsaturated zone. These data are being evaluated for inclusion in technical products to include AMRs and Process Modeling Reports (PMRs) that support the Site Recommendation and that may also be used to …

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The overall objectives of this program are to investigate potential technologies for the conversion of synthesis gas to oxygenated and hydrocarbon fuels and industrial chemicals, and to demonstrate the most promising technologies at DOE's LaPorte, Texas, Slurry Phase Alternative Fuels Development Unit (AFDU). The program will involve a continuation of the work performed under the Alternative Fuels from Coal-Derived Synthesis Gas Program and will draw upon information and technologies generated in parallel current and future DOE-funded contracts.

DuPont Lanxide Composites, Inc. undertook a sixty-month program, under DOE Contract DEAC21-94MC31214, in order to develop hot gas candle filters from a patented material technology know as PRD-66. The goal of this program was to extend the development of this material as a filter element and fully assess the capability of this technology to meet the needs of Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (PFBC) and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power generation systems at commercial scale. The principal objective of Task 3 was to build on the initial PRD-66 filter development, optimize its structure, and evaluate basic material properties relevant to the hot gas filter application. Initially, this consisted of an evaluation of an advanced filament-wound core structure that had been designed to produce an effective bulk filter underneath the barrier filter formed by the outer membrane. The basic material properties to be evaluated (as established by the DOE/METC materials working group) would include mechanical, thermal, and fracture toughness parameters for both new and used material, for the purpose of building a material database consistent with what is being done for the alternative candle filter systems. Task 3 was later expanded to include analysis of PRD-66 candle filters, which had been …

Direct catalytic oxidation of commodity aromatics to phenolic compounds was studied by a team from Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Argonne National Lab., and Northwestern University. Results did not exceed previously published performance. The object of the project was to selectively oxidize benzene to phenol using a conventional oxidant.

Due to the limited budget of waste clean-up for all DOE contamination sites, it is critical to have a sound risk analysis with strong scientific basis to set priority for waste clean-up. In the past, the priority was often determined mostly by the type and quantity of pollutants and the observation of cancer rate increase. Since human cancers can be caused by various reasons in addition to environmental contamination, a rigorous study to find the relationship between specific contaminants and cancer is critically important for setting up the priority for waste clean-up. In addition, a contaminated site usually contain many different pollutants. However, it can be only a few specific pollutants are carcinogenic chemicals which are responsible for most cancers. Clean-up of small quantity of critical pollutants instead of the entire pollutant site can save significant decontamination cost. Since a few anti-tumor genes such as p53 and ras genes are highly conserved among various animals and mutation of these genes have been associated with many human cancers, it is very valuable to find the relationship between specific contaminant and specific cancer. Since it is not possible to pursue any human on the relationship of cancer and specific pollutant under well …

The discriminate bonding of metal ions is a challenge to the synthetic chemist and a phenomenon of considerable practical importance.1 An important feature of many technical applications is the specific or preferential binding of a single metal ion in the presence of many metals. Examples range from large-volume uses (e.g. ferric EDTA as a plant food, calcium complexing agents as water softeners or anticaking formulations) to very high technology applications (technetium complexation in radiopharmaceuticals, synthetic metalloenzymes). We are interested in efficient and discriminate binding of actinides for waste stream remediation. Actinides represent a major and long-lived contaminant in nuclear waste. While the separation of actinides from other radioactive components of waste, such as Sr and Cs, is relatively well established, the separation of actinides from each other and in complex solutions (e.g. those found in tank wastes) is not as well resolved. The challenge of designing metal-specific (actinide) ligands is facilitated by examples from nature. Bacteria synthesize Fe(III)-specific ligands, called siderophores, to sequester Fe(III) from the environment and return it to the cell. The similarities between Fe(III) and Pu(IV) (their charge-to-size ratios and acidity), make the siderophores prototypical for designing actinide-specific ligands. The chelating groups present in siderophores are usually …

PCGAP is a software package, which was written to provide gamma-ray pulse height spectrum analysis on a personal computer platform using the Windows NT operating system. It is a collection of programs, which provide a wide range of operability extending from the single user environment to the general purpose counting room. Included in the package are necessary data structures and libraries used to compute quantitative radionuclide concentrations. PCGAP also contains techniques to decontaminate photopeak interferences; determine activity concentrations for radionuclides independent of their associated spectral photopeak size; and three methods to determine the energy scale of a spectrum. PCGAP performs a non-linear least squares fitting of a Gaussian function to spectral photopeaks. The fitting algorithm can fit up to five concurrent photopeaks using a common spectral background. The package includes a program that will automatically locate spectral photopeaks, fit them to a Gaussian fu nction, identify the radionuclides associated with the found photopeaks, and compute a net activity concentration, and for an 8K spectrum do it in less than 30 seconds on a reasonably configured PC. PCGAP also includes a program which allows the operator to manually (using mouse clicks) identify photopeak locations, fit limits and background positions, initiate a …

Many engineered barriers are expected to function for hundreds of years or longer. Over the course of time, it is likely that some barriers will experience infiltration to the point of breakthrough. This study compares the recovery from breakthrough of two storage- evapotranspiration type engineered barriers. Replicates of test plots comprising thick soil and capillary/biobarrier covers were wetted to breakthrough in 1997. Test plots were kept cleared of vegetation to maximize hydrologic stress during recovery. Following cessation of drainage resulting from the wetting irrigations, water storage levels in all plots were at elevated levels compared to pre-irrigation levels. As a result, infiltration of melting snow during the subsequent spring overloaded the storage capacity and produced drainage in all plots. Relatively rapid melting of accumulated snowfall produced the most significant infiltration events each year during the study. Capillary barriers yielded less total drainage than thick soil barriers. By limiting drainage, capillary barriers increased water storage in the upper portions of the test plots, which led to increased evaporation from the capillary barrier plots compared to thick soil plots. Increased evaporation in the capillary barrier plots allowed more water to infiltrate in the second season following the wetting tests without triggering drainage. …

1.1.1 To encourage energy efficient design or retrofit of commercial buildings so that they may be constructed, operated, and maintained in a manner that reduces the use of energy without constraining the building function, the comfort, health, or the productivity of the occupants and with appropriate regard for economic considerations. 1.1.2 To provide criterion and minimum standards for energy efficiency in the design or retrofit of commercial buildings and provide methods for determining compliance with them. 1.1.3 To encourage energy efficient designs that exceed these criterion and minimum standards.

The primary goal is to maintain an independent, impartial, and qualified State of Idaho INEEL Oversight Program to assess the potential impacts of present and future Department of Energy (DOE) activities in Idaho; to assure the citizens of Idaho that all present and future DOE activities in Idaho are protective of the health and safety of Idahoans and the environment; and to communicate the findings to the citizens of Idaho in a manner which provides them the opportunity to evaluate impacts of present and future DOE activities in Idaho. This will be accomplished through primary technical work activities and providing clear, factual data and other information to the public.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory investigated the profitability of operating a Navy ship's generators (in San Diego) during high electricity price periods rather than the ships hooking up to the Base electrical system for power. Profitability is predicated on the trade-off between the operating and maintenance cost incurred by the Navy for operating the ship generators and the net profit associated with the sale of the electric power on the spot market. In addition, PNNL assessed the use of the ship's generators as a means to achieve predicted load curtailments, which can then be marketed to the California Independent System Operator.

The primary work carried out under the subcontract involved the development of object-oriented application software, within the Overture framework of codes, for the numerical simulation of high speed reactive flow. The mathematical model on which the software is based is the reactive Euler equations. The implementation of this model is fairly general and allows for multiple reacting species and reaction rates and a general equation of state with the aim of being able to simulate experimentally observed phenomena in gas or solid explosives. The software is part of the OverBlown package of fluids codes, developed and maintained by Bill Henshaw and the Overture team at CASC. It uses overlapping grids in order to handle general domains and the A++/P++ array class library (developed by Dan Quinlan and the Overture team) which allows parallel processing. An implementation of a patch grid-type adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) scheme for the code was initiated, but not completed under the current subcontract. The software has been carefully tested for accuracy using existing codes written previously by the author, and it has been used to compute the evolution to detonation of reactive samples subject to various initial conditions and within various confinement geometries. Work on a …

Through this grant, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have established a working group of Assistant Attorneys General and key DOE staff to seek agreement on current regulatory and statutory enforcement and compliance issues at DOE facilities. This workgroup provides an ongoing forum for direct communication that utilizes alternative dispute resolution techniques rather than expensive litigation in hopes of resolving differing views between the Department and the States. This Workgroup facilitates cooperation as the parties work towards their common goals of ensuring the protection of human health and the environment through the clean-up and the proper management of DOE facilities and the wastes they have generated.

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This project has three main goals: Thin Films Studies, Preparation of Graded Porous Substrates and Basic Electrical Characterization and testing of Planar Single Cells. During this time period substantial progress has been made in developing low temperature deposition techniques to produce dense, nanocrystalline yttrium-stabilized zirconia films on both dense oxide and polymer substrates. Microstructural changes in unsupported nanocrystalline yttrium stabilized zirconia (ZrO{sub 2}:16%Y, or YSZ) thin films were examined as a function of temperature and annealing time in order to determine the grain growth exponent and the mechanisms of pinhole formation. Grain growth and pinhole formation were measured using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), normal imaging mode transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction, and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS). Grain growth was found to vary with a time exponent of about one half before pinhole formation and about one third after. Pinhole formation in 70 nm thick films occurred at temperatures near 600 C, corresponding to a grain size of about 15 nm, or a grain size to film thickness ration of approximately 0.25. The deposition of films on porous substrates is hampered by the penetration of the polymer precursor solution into the substrate whose pores as > 0.2 …

The dissolution of NiO cathodes during cell operation is a limiting factor to the successful commercialization of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs). Microencapsulation of the NiO cathode has been adopted as a surface modification technique to increase the stability of NiO cathodes in the carbonate melt. The material used for surface modification should possess thermodynamic stability in the molten carbonate and also should be electro catalytically active for MCFC reactions. A simple first principles model was developed to understand the influence of exchange current density and conductivity of the electrode material on the polarization of MCFC cathodes. The model predictions suggest that cobalt can be used to improve the corrosion resistance of NiO cathode without affecting its performance. Cobalt was deposited on NiO cathode by electroless deposition. The morphology and thermal oxidation behavior of Co coated NiO was studied using scanning electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis respectively. The electrochemical performance of cobalt encapsulated NiO cathodes were investigated with open circuit potential measurement and current-potential polarization studies. These results were compared to that of bare NiO. The electrochemical oxidation behavior of cobalt-coated electrodes is similar to that of the bare NiO cathode. Dissolution of nickel into the molten carbonate melt …