A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) electrochemical model has been created to model high-temperature electrolysis cell performance and steam electrolysis in a new novel integrated planar porous-tube supported solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC). The model is of several integrated planar cells attached to a ceramic support tube. This design is being evaluated with modeling at the Idaho National Laboratory. Mass, momentum, energy, and species conservation and transport are provided via the core features of the commercial CFD code FLUENT. A solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) model adds the electrochemical reactions and loss mechanisms and computation of the electric field throughout the cell. The FLUENT SOFC user-defined subroutine was modified for this work to allow for operation in the SOEC mode. Model results provide detailed profiles of temperature, Nernst potential, operating potential, activation over-potential, anode-side gas composition, cathode-side gas composition, current density and hydrogen production over a range of stack operating conditions. Mean per-cell area-specific-resistance (ASR) values decrease with increasing current density. Predicted mean outlet hydrogen and steam concentrations vary linearly with current density, as expected. Effects of variations in operating temperature, gas flow rate, cathode and anode exchange current density, and contact resistance from the base case are presented. Contour plots …

PEM fuel cells are excellent candidates for transportation applications due to their high efficiencies. PEM fuel cell Balance of Plant (BOP) components, such as air, thermal, and water management sub-systems, can have a significant effect on the overall system performance, but have traditionally not been addressed in research and development efforts. Recognizing this, the U.S. Department of Energy and Honeywell International Inc. are funding an effort that emphasizes the integration and optimization of air, thermal and water management sub-systems. This effort is one of the major elements to assist the fuel cell system developers and original equipment manufacturers to achieve the goal of an affordable and efficient power system for transportation applications. Past work consisted of: (1) Analysis, design, and fabrication of a motor driven turbocompressor. (2) A systematic trade study to select the most promising water and thermal management systems from five different concepts (absorbent wheel humidifier, gas to gas membrane humidifier, porous metal foam humidifier, cathode recycle compressor, and water injection pump.) This presentation will discuss progress made in the research and development of air, water and thermal management sub-systems for PEM fuel cell systems in transportation applications. More specifically, the presentation will discuss: (1) Progress of the …

Are the carbon dioxide (CO2) sensors in your demand controlled ventilation systems sufficiently accurate? The data from these sensors are used to automatically modulate minimum rates of outdoor air ventilation. The goal is to keep ventilation rates at or above design requirements while adjusting the ventilation rate with changes in occupancy in order to save energy. Studies of energy savings from demand controlled ventilation and of the relationship of indoor CO2 concentrations with health and work performance provide a strong rationale for use of indoor CO2 data to control minimum ventilation rates1-7. However, this strategy will only be effective if, in practice, the CO2 sensors have a reasonable accuracy. The objective of this study was; therefore, to determine if CO2 sensor performance, in practice, is generally acceptable or problematic. This article provides a summary of study methods and findings ? additional details are available in a paper in the proceedings of the ASHRAE IAQ?2007 Conference8.

The Thick-Restart Lanczos (TRLan) method is an effective method for solving large-scale Hermitian eigenvalue problems. However, its performance strongly depends on the dimension of the projection subspace. In this paper, we propose an objective function to quantify the effectiveness of a chosen subspace dimension, and then introduce an adaptive scheme to dynamically adjust the dimension at each restart. An open-source software package, nu-TRLan, which implements the TRLan method with this adaptive projection subspace dimension is available in the public domain. The numerical results of synthetic eigenvalue problems are presented to demonstrate that nu-TRLan achieves speedups of between 0.9 and 5.1 over the static method using a default subspace dimension. To demonstrate the effectiveness of nu-TRLan in a real application, we apply it to the electronic structure calculations of quantum dots. We show that nu-TRLan can achieve speedups of greater than 1.69 over the state-of-the-art eigensolver for this application, which is based on the Conjugate Gradient method with a powerful preconditioner.

This report has a detailed study of the fuel cells.

Document discussing the management of different properties of the PEM fuel cells.

This report has the study of fuel cells and their parts.

Mars appears to have experienced little compositional differentiation of primitive lithosphere, and thus much of the surface of Mars is covered by mafic lavas. On Earth, mafic and ultramafic rocks present in ophiolites, oceanic crust and upper mantle that have been obducted onto land, are therefore good analogs for Mars. The characteristic mineralogy, aqueous geochemistry, and microbial communities of cold-water alkaline springs associated with these mafic and ultramafic rocks represent a particularly compelling analog for potential life-bearing systems. Serpentinization, the reaction of water with mafic minerals such as olivine and pyroxene, yields fluids with unusual chemistry (Mg-OH and Ca-OH waters with pH values up to {approx}12), as well as heat and hydrogen gas that can sustain subsurface, chemosynthetic ecosystems. The recent observation of seeps from pole-facing crater and canyon walls in the higher Martian latitudes supports the hypothesis that even present conditions might allow for a rockhosted chemosynthetic biosphere in near-surface regions of the Martian crust. The generation of methane within a zone of active serpentinization, through either abiogenic or biogenic processes, could account for the presence of methane detected in the Martian atmosphere. For all of these reasons, studies of terrestrial alkaline springs associated with mafic and ultramafic rocks …

Plant photosynthate fuels carbon-limited microbial growth and activity, resulting in increased rhizosphere nitrogen (N)-mineralization. Most soil organic N is macromolecular (chitin, protein, nucleotides); enzymatic depolymerization is likely rate-limiting for plant N accumulation. Analyzing Avena (wild oat) planted in microcosms containing sieved field soil, we observed increased rhizosphere chitinase and protease specific activities, bacterial cell densities, and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) compared to bulk soil. Low-molecular weight DON (<3000 Da) was undetectable in bulk soil but comprised 15% of rhizosphere DON. Extracellular enzyme production in many bacteria requires quorum sensing (QS), cell-density dependent group behavior. Because proteobacteria are considered major rhizosphere colonizers, we assayed the proteobacterial QS signals acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), which were significantly increased in the rhizosphere. To investigate the linkage between soil signaling and N cycling, we characterized 533 bacterial isolates from Avena rhizosphere: 24% had chitinase or protease activity and AHL production; disruption of QS in 7 of 8 eight isolates disrupted enzyme activity. Many {alpha}-Proteobacteria were newly found with QS-controlled extracellular enzyme activity. Enhanced specific activities of N-cycling enzymes accompanied by bacterial density-dependent behaviors in rhizosphere soil gives rise to the hypothesis that QS could be a control point in the complex process of rhizosphere N-mineralization.

This paper describes current knowledge about the nature of and potential for thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical modelling of the Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) around the excavations for an underground radioactive waste repository. In the first part of the paper, the disturbances associated with excavation are explained, together with reviews of Workshops that have been held on the subject. In the second part of the paper, the results of a DECOVALEX research programme on modelling the EDZ are presented. Four research teams used four different models to simulate the complete stress-strain curve for Avro granite from the Swedish Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory. Subsequent research extended the work to computer simulation of the evolution of the repository using a 'wall block model' and a 'near-field model'. This included assessing the evolution of stress, failure and permeability and time dependent effects during repository evolution. As discussed, all the computer models are well suited to sensitivity studies for evaluating the influence of their respective supporting parameters on the complete stress-strain curve for rock and for modelling the EDZ.

We present CDF results on the branching fractions and time-integrated direct CP asymmetries for Bd, Bs and Lb decay modes into pairs of charmless charged hadrons (pions, kaons and protons). The data-set for these measurements amounts to 1fb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collisions at a center of mass energy 1.96TeV. We report on the first observation of the Bs->Kpi, Lb-ppi and Lb->pK decay modes and on the measurement of their branching fractions and direct CP asymmetries.

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is a high power and high neutron flux research reactor operating in the United States. Powered with highly enriched uranium (HEU), the ATR has a maximum thermal power rating of 250 MWth. Because of the high total core power and high neutron flux, the ATR is an ideal candidate for assessing the feasibility of converting an HEU driven reactor to a low-enriched core. An optimized low-enriched uranium (LEU) (U-10Mo) core conversion case, which can meet the project requirements, has been selected. However, LEU contains a significant quantity of high density U-238 (80.3 wt.%), which will harden the neutron spectrum in the core region. Based on the reference ATR HEU and the optimized LEU full core plate-by-plate (PBP) models, the present work investigates and compares the neutron spectra differences in the fuel element (FE), Northeast flux trap (NEFT), Southeast flux trap (SEFT), and East flux trap (EFT) positions. A detailed PBP MCNP ATR core model was developed and validated for fuel cycle burnup comparison analysis. The current ATR core with HEU U 235 enrichment of 93.0wt.% was used as the reference model. Each HEU fuel element contains 19 fuel plates with a fuel meat thickness of …

This report talks about the complete genome sequence of Staphylothermus marinus reveals differences in sulfur metabolism among heterotrophic Crenarchaeota

The objective of this project was to perform stress analysis for graphite support structures of the General Atomics’ 600 MWth GT-MHR prismatic core design using ABAQUS ® (ver. 6.75) to assess their structural integrity in air-ingress accident conditions where the structure weakens over time due to oxidation damages. The graphite support structures of prismatic type GT-MHR was analyzed based on the change of temperature, burn-off and corrosion depth during the accident period predicted by GAMMA, a multi-dimensional gas multi-component mixture analysis code developed in the Republic of Korea (ROK)/United States (US) International –Nuclear Engineering Research Initiative (I-NERI) project. Both the loading and thermal stresses were analyzed, but the thermal stress was not significant, leaving the loading stress to be the major factor. The mechanical strengths are exceeded between 11 to 11.5 days after loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA), corresponding to 5.5 to 6 days after the start of natural convection.

Exclusive Higgs production, in which the event consists of nothing but the leading protons and a Higgs boson, has been proposed as a channel in which to study the properties of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Although we do not expect to observe exclusive Higgs-boson production at the Tevatron, we can observe similar processes which provide a calibration for theoretical predictions of exclusive Higgs production at the LHC. The CDF measurements of exclusive dijet and diphoton production, examples of such processes, are presented in Sec. 2. Single diffraction has been studied extensively at the Tevatron in Run I, including diffractive dijet and W/Z-boson production. New results with extended kinematical reach allowed by the larger Run II dataset are presented in Sec. 3. CDF II includes forward detectors designed for studying diffractive physics. The MiniPlug calorimeters cover the pseudorapidity region 3.5<|{eta}|<5.1. Beam Shower Counters (BSC) surrounding the beampipe in several locations detect particles in the forward region 5.4<|{eta}|<7.4. A spectrometer consisting of three Roman-pot detectors preceded by Tevatron dipoles is used to track diffractive antiprotons which have lost a fraction 0.03<{zeta}<0.10 of the beam momentum.

There is growing interest in the development of new monitoring strategies for obtaining spatially extensive data diagnostic of microbial processes occurring in the earth. Open-circuit potentials arising from variable redox conditions in the fluid local-to-electrode surfaces (electrodic potentials) were recorded for a pair of silver-silver chloride electrodes in a column experiment, whereby a natural wetland soil containing a known community of sulfate reducers was continuously fed with a sulfate-rich nutrient medium. Measurements were made between five electrodes equally spaced along the column and a reference electrode placed on the column inflow. The presence of a sulfate reducing microbial population, coupled with observations of decreasing sulfate levels, formation of black precipitate (likely iron sulfide),elevated solid phase sulfide, and a characteristic sulfurous smell, suggest microbial-driven sulfate reduction (sulfide generation) in our column. Based on the known sensitivity of a silver electrode to dissolved sulfide concentration, we interpret the electrodic potentials approaching 700 mV recorded in this experiment as an indicator of the bisulfide (HS-) concentration gradients in the column. The measurement of the spatial and temporal variation in these electrodic potentials provides a simple and rapid method for monitoring patterns of relative HS- concentration that are indicative of the activity of sulfate-reducing …

The purpose of the MIPP experiment is to study the inclusive production of photons, pions, kaons, and nucleons in {pi}, K, and p interactions on various targets using beams from the Main Injector at Fermilab. The function of the calorimeters is to measure the production of forward-going neutrons and photons. The electromagnetic calorimeter consists of 10 lead plates interspersed with proportional chambers. It was followed by the hadron calorimeter with 64 steel plates interspersed with scintillator. The data presented were collected with a variety of targets and beam momenta from 5 to 120 GeV/c. The energy calibration of both calorimeters with electrons, pions, kaons, and protons is discussed. The resolution for electrons was found to be 0.27/{radical}E, and for hadrons the resolution was 0.554/{radical}E with a constant term of 2.6%. The performance of the calorimeters was tested on a neutron sample.

Cyclic amines can be encapsulated in a water-soluble self-assembled supramolecular host upon protonation. The hydrogen bonding ability of the cyclic amines, as well as the reduced degrees of rotational freedom, allows for the formation of proton-bound homodimers inside of the assembly which are otherwise not observable in aqueous solution. The generality of homodimer formation was explored with small N-alkyl aziridines, azetidines, pyrrolidines and piperidines. Proton-bound homodimer formation is observed for N-alkylaziridines (R = methyl, isopropyl, tert-butyl), N-alkylazetidines (R = isopropyl, tertbutyl), and N-methylpyrrolidine. At high concentration, formation of a proton-bound homotrimer is observed in the case of N-methylaziridine. The homodimers stay intact inside the assembly over a large concentration range, thereby suggesting cooperative encapsulation. Both G3(MP2)B3 and G3B3 calculations of the proton-bound homodimers were used to investigate the enthalpy of the hydrogen bond in the proton-bound homodimers and suggest that the enthalpic gain upon formation of the proton-bound homodimers may drive guest encapsulation.

Eddy covariance flux towers provide continuous measurements of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) for a wide range of climate and biome types. However, these measurements only represent the carbon fluxes at the scale of the tower footprint. To quantify the net exchange of carbon dioxide between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere for regions or continents, flux tower measurements need to be extrapolated to these large areas. Here we used remotely sensed data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) instrument on board the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Terra satellite to scale up AmeriFlux NEE measurements to the continental scale. We first combined MODIS and AmeriFlux data for representative U.S. ecosystems to develop a predictive NEE model using a modified regression tree approach. The predictive model was trained and validated using eddy flux NEE data over the periods 2000-2004 and 2005-2006, respectively. We found that the model predicted NEE well (r = 0.73, p < 0.001). We then applied the model to the continental scale and estimated NEE for each 1 km x 1 km cell across the conterminous U.S. for each 8-day interval in 2005 using spatially explicit MODIS data. The model generally captured the expected spatial …

We present the first evidence of WW+WZ production with lepton+jets final states at a hadron collider. The data correspond to 1.07 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider in proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV. The observed cross section for WW+WZ production is 20.2 +/- 4.5 pb, consistent with the SM prediction of 16.1 +/- 0.9 pb. The probability for background fluctuations to produce an excess equal to or larger than that observed is estimated to be 5.4e-6, corresponding to a significance of 4.4 standard deviations.

A fast chopper capable of kicking single 2.5 MeV H-bunches spaced at 325 MHz, at rates greater than 50 MHz is needed for the Fermilab High Intensity Neutrino Source (HINS) [1]. Four 1.2 kV fast pulsers, designed and manufactured by Kentech Instruments Ltd., will drive a 0.5 m long meander made from a copper plated ceramic composite. Test results showing pulses from the first 1.2 kV pulser and meander results will be presented.

Finding and identifying Cryptography is a growing concern in the malware analysis community. In this paper, a heuristic method for determining the likelihood that a given function contains a cryptographic algorithm is discussed and the results of applying this method in various environments is shown. The algorithm is based on frequency analysis of opcodes that make up each function within a binary.

The pair distribution function (PDF) method is a powerful approach for the analysis of the structure of nanoparticles. An important approximation used in nanoparticle PDF simulations is the incorporation of a form factor describing nanoparticle size and shape. The precise effect of the form factor on the PDF is determined by both particle shape and structure if these characteristics are both anisotropic and correlated. The correct incorporation of finite size effects is important for distinguishing and quantifying the structural consequences of small particle size in nanomaterials.

The low energy part of a linac for the High Intensity Neutrino Source (HINS) project at Fermilab will use superconducting solenoids as beam focusing elements (lenses). While the lenses for the conventional DTL-type accelerating section of the front end require individual cryostats, in the superconducting accelerating sections solenoids will be installed inside RF cryomodules. Some of the lenses in the conventional and in the superconducting sections are equipped with horizontal and vertical steering dipoles. Lenses for the DTL section are in the stage of production with certification activities ongoing at Fermilab. For the superconducting sections of the linac, a prototype lens has been built and tested. Each lens will be installed in the transport channel of the accelerator so that its magnetic axis is on the beamline. Corresponding technique has been developed at Fermilab and is used during the certification process. This report summarizes design features, parameters, and test results of the focusing lenses.