The vane method has been shown to be an effective tool in measuring the yield stress of both settled and mixed slurries in laboratory bench scale conditions in supporting assessments of both actual and simulant waste slurries. The vane has also been used to characterize dry powders and granular solids, the effect of non-cohesive solids with interstitial fluids and used as a guide to determine if slip is present in the geometries typically used to perform rheological flow curve measurements. The vane has been extensively characterized for measuring the shear strength in soils in both field and laboratory studies. The objectives for this task are: Fabricate vane instrument; Bench top testing to further characterize the effect of cohesive, non-cohesive, and blends of cohesive/non-cohesive simple simulants; Data from measurement of homogenized and settled bed of Kaolin sludge and assessment of the technology. In this document, the assessment using bench scale measurements of non-cohesive materials (beads) and cohesive materials (kaolin) is discussed. The non-cohesive materials include various size beads and the vane was assessed for depth and deaeration (or packing) via tapping measurements. For the cohesive (or non-Newtonian) materials, flow curves and yield stress measurements are performed using the vane and this …

Closeout report on Advanced Accelerator Physics program at UCLA Physics & Astronomy

Boulder Wind Power (“BWP”) collaborated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, to demonstrate the economics of scaling an advanced gearless drivetrain technology to 6MW (and larger) turbine applications. The project goal was to show that this advanced drivetrain technology enables a cost of energy of less than $0.10/kWH in offshore applications. This drivetrain technology achieves this Cost of Energy (“COE”) advantage via a 70% greater torque density versus current state-of-the-art drivetrain technologies. In addition, a new dynamically compliant design strategy is required to optimize turbine system-level COE. The BWP generator is uniquely suited for this new design strategy. This project developed a concept design for a 6MW drivetrain and culminated in a plan for a system-level test of this technology at 3MW scale. The project further demonstrated the advantage of the BWP drivetrain with increasing power ratings, with conceptual designs through 10 MW.

Since 1980, under the grant DEFG02-96ER40949, the Department of Energy has supported the educational and research work of the University of Maryland Dynamical Systems and Accelerator Theory (DSAT) Group. The primary focus of this educational/research group has been on the computation and analysis of charged-particle beam transport using Lie algebraic methods, and on advanced methods for the computation of electromagnetic fields and multiparticle phenomena. This Final Report summarizes the accomplishments of the DSAT Group from its inception in 1980 through its end in 2011.

This project brought large-scale, advanced methods for numerical solution of PDE to bear on the two-dimensional Riemann problem, and obtained numerical solution of problem. This numerical solution allowed us to describe key features of the solution. Analysis was combined with numerical solution to explain these numerical results. High-resolution, large-scale numerical computations show for the #12;first time that a shock forms strictly in the supersonic region. Numerical solutions appear to show the disappearance of a diffracting shock at a sonic line.

My 2.5-yr Master'™s project accomplished the objectives of estimating lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) lek density and abundance in the Texas occupied range and modeling anthropogenic and landscape features associated with lek density by flying helicopter lek surveys for 2 field seasons and employing a line-transect distance sampling method. This project was important for several reasons. Firstly, wildlife managers and biologists have traditionally monitored LPC populations with road-based surveys that may result in biased estimates and do not provide access to privately-owned or remote property. From my aerial surveys and distance sampling, I was able to provide accurate density and abundance estimates, as well as new leks and I detected LPCs outside the occupied range. Secondly, recent research has indicated that energy development has the potential to impact LPCs through avoidance of tall structures, increased mortality from raptors perching on transmission lines, disturbance to nesting hens, and habitat loss/fragmentation. Given the potential wind energy development in the Texas Panhandle, spatial models of current anthropogenic and vegetative features (such as transmission lines, roads, and percent native grassland) influencing lek density were needed. This information provided wildlife managers and wind energy developers in Texas with guidelines for how change in landscape features could impact …

Primary hyperparathyroidism characterized by one or more enlarged parathyroid glands has become one of the most common endocrine diseases in the world affecting about 1 per 1000 in the United States. Standard treatment is highly invasive exploratory neck surgery called “Parathyroidectomy”. The surgery has a notable mortality rate because of the close proximity to vital structures. The move to minimally invasive parathyroidectomy is hampered by the lack of high resolution pre-surgical imaging techniques that can accurately localize the parathyroid with respect to surrounding structures. We propose to develop a dedicated ultra-high resolution (~ 1 mm) and high sensitivity (10x conventional camera) cervical scintigraphic imaging device. It will be based on a multiple pinhole-camera SPECT system comprising a novel solid state CZT detector that offers the required performance. The overall system will be configured to fit around the neck and comfortably image a patient.

Grand Rapids, Michigan is striving to reduce it environmental footprint. The municipal government organization has established environmental sustainability policies with the goal of securing 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. This report describes the process by which the City of Grand Rapids evaluated, selected and installed solar panels on the Water/Environmental Services Building. The solar panels are the first to be placed on a municipal building. Its new power monitoring system provides output data to assess energy efficiency and utilization. It is expected to generate enough clean solar energy to power 25 percent of the building. The benefit to the public includes the economic savings from reduced operational costs for the building; an improved environmentally sustainable area in which to live and work; and increased knowledge about the use of solar energy. It will serve as a model for future energy saving applications.

The objective of this project is to develop a new generation of solid, regenerable polymeric molecular basket sorbent (MBS) for more cost-efficient capture and separation of CO{sub 2} from flue gas of coal-fired power plants. The primary goal is to develop a cost-effective MBS sorbent with better thermal stability. To improve the cost-effectiveness of MBS, we have explored commercially available and inexpensive support to replace the more expensive mesoporous molecular sieves like MCM-41 and SBA- 15. In addition, we have developed some advanced sorbent materials with 3D pore structure such as hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS) to improve the CO{sub 2} working capacity of MBS, which can also reduce the cost for the whole CO{sub 2} capture process. During the project duration, the concern regarding the desorption rate of MBS sorbents has been raised, because lower desorption rate increases the desorption time for complete regeneration of the sorbent which in turn leads to a lower working capacity if the regeneration time is limited. Thus, the improvement in the thermal stability of MBS became a vital task for later part of this project. The improvement in the thermal stability was performed via increasing the polymer density either using higher molecular weight PEI …

Beamline 6-2c at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) is capable of Transmission X-ray Microscopy (TXM) at 30 nm resolution. Raw images from the microscope must undergo extensive image processing before publication. Since typical data sets normally contain thousands of images, it is necessary to automate the image processing workflow as much as possible, particularly for the aligning and averaging of similar images. Currently we align images using the 'phase correlation' algorithm, which calculates the relative offset of two images by multiplying them in the frequency domain. For images containing high frequency noise, this algorithm will align noise with noise, resulting in a blurry average. To remedy this we multiply the images by a Gaussian function in the frequency domain, so that the algorithm ignores the high frequency noise while properly aligning the features of interest (FOI). The shape of the Gaussian is manually tuned by the user until the resulting average image is sharpest. To automatically optimize this process, it is necessary for the computer to evaluate the quality of the average image by quantifying its sharpness. In our research we explored two image sharpness metrics, the variance method and the frequency threshold method. The variance method uses the variance …

Air Products set out to investigate the impact of additives on the deposition rate of both µCSi and αSi-H films. One criterion for additives was that they could be used in conventional PECVD processing, which would require sufficient vapor pressure to deliver material to the process chamber at the required flow rates. The flow rate required would depend on the size of the substrate onto which silicon films were being deposited, potentially ranging from 200 mm diameter wafers to the 5.7 m2 glass substrates used in GEN 8.5 flat-panel display tools. In choosing higher-order silanes, both disilane and trisilane had sufficient vapor pressure to withdraw gas at the required flow rates of up to 120 sccm. This report presents results obtained from testing at Air Products’ electronic technology laboratories, located in Allentown, PA, which focused on developing processes on a commercial IC reactor using silane and mixtures of silane plus additives. These processes were deployed to compare deposition rates and film properties with and without additives, with a goal of maximizing the deposition rate while maintaining or improving film properties.

This report is the summary of research and a written report conducted by Energy Northwest with consultant Rhyno Stinchfield.

In earlier work, a study done at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory examined a NERC proposed standard specifying clearances between vegetation and power lines. The method proposed for calculating the clearances was based on the results of testing for high-voltage line designs. An equation developed to relate the results of testing with rod-plane gaps to proposed tower window sizes was incorporated into the calculations. The equation in question, sometimes called the “Gallet equation,” describes the insulation performance of the atmosphere for air gaps of a few meters. The equation was described in the PNNL study as a good and simple-to-use way to solve a problem made difficult by the nonlinear interactions of the variables. For calculations based on this equation, a certain set of assumptions must be made. In particular, a value for a quantity called the “gap factor” is needed. This is the amount by which the gap to be modeled by the equation is stronger than the reference gap that was used in developing the Gallet equation. That reference gap is the gap between a rod and a plane. This follow-on report examines the effect on flashover probabilities of assuming an incorrect value for the gap factor. In …

This report provides some preliminary data for the consolidation of chalcogen-based aerogels. The chalcogels tested to date at PNNL show great promise as iodine sorbents and preliminary consolidation research shows that they can be melted into a phase-pure glass at moderate temperatures. The preliminary consolidation experiments show that these materials might attack fused quartz so an alternative crucible material will likely need to be used to prevent this. The next steps will be to • Consider melting other chalcogel chemistries, e.g., Sn-Sb-S, Ge-Sn-S chalcogels • Consider melting chalcogels with adsorbed iodine to monitor iodine loss during melting • Optimize the consolidation temperatures to minimize the iodine loss and volatilization

SPIRES, an aging high-energy physics publication data base, is in the process of being replaced by INSPIRE. In order to ease the transition from SPIRES to INSPIRE it is important to understand user behavior and the drivers for adoption. The goal of this project was to address some questions in regards to the presumed two-thirds of the users still using SPIRES. These questions are answered through analysis of the log files from both websites. A series of scripts were developed to collect and interpret the data contained in the log files. The common search patterns and usage comparisons are made between INSPIRE and SPIRES, and a method for detecting user frustration is presented. The analysis reveals a more even split than originally thought as well as the expected trend of user transition to INSPIRE.

The magnetorotational instability is a fluid instability that causes the onset of turbulence in discs with poloidal magnetic fields. It is believed to be an important mechanism in the physics of accretion discs, namely in its ability to transport angular momentum outward. A similar instability arising in systems with a helical magnetic field may be easier to produce in laboratory experiments using liquid sodium, but the applicability of this phenomenon to astrophysical discs is unclear. To explore and compare the properties of these standard and helical magnetorotational instabilities (MRI and HRMI, respectively), magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) capabilities were added to Dedalus, an open-source hydrodynamics simulator. Dedalus is a Python-based pseudospectral code that uses external libraries and parallelization with the goal of achieving speeds competitive with codes implemented in lower-level languages. This paper will outline the MHD equations as implemented in Dedalus, the steps taken to improve the performance of the code, and the status of MRI investigations using Dedalus.

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The efficiency comparison for measured and simulated responses of a 10B-lined proportional counter and a 3He proportional counter in a close, symmetrical geometry are presented. The measurement geometry was modeled in MCNPX to validate the methods used for simulating the response of both the 3He and 10B-lined tubes. The MCNPX models agree within 1% with the 3He tube measurements and within 3% for the 10B-lined tubes when a 0.75-µm boron-metal lining is used.

We present the results of a project to apply scintillator technology recently developed at Louisiana Tech University to hadronic calorimetry. In particular, we developed a prototype calorimeter module incorporating scintillator embedded with metal oxide nanoparticles as the active layers. These metal oxide nanoparticles of gadolinium oxide, have high cross-sections for interactions with slow neutrons. As a part fo this research project, we have developed a novel method for producing plastic scintillators with metal oxide nanoparticles evenly distributed through the plastic without aggregation.We will test the performance of the calorimeter module in test beam and with a neutron source, in order to measure the response to the neutron component of hadronic showers. We will supplement our detector prototyping activities with detailed studies of the effect of neutron component on the resolution of hadronic energy measurements, particular in the next generation of particle flow calorimeters.

This document is a property certificate form for the subject contract.

Phase space manipulation is a process to rearrange beam's distribution in 6-D phase space. In this paper, we give an overview of the techniques for tailoring beam distribution in 2D, 4D, and 6D phase space to meet the requirements of various applications. These techniques become a new focus of accelerator physics R&D and very likely these advanced concepts will open up new opportunities in advanced accelerators and the science enabled by them.

The Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) Program at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) was established in October 1998 pursuant to an award from the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE). The focus area of the Penn State GATE Program is advanced energy storage systems for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Numerical simulations of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in the vadose and saturated zones have been conducted using the PORFLOW code in support of an overall Performance Assessment (PA) of the H-Tank Farm. This report provides technical detail on selected aspects of PORFLOW model development and describes the structure of the associated electronic files. The PORFLOW models for the H-Tank Farm PA, Rev. 1 were updated with grout, solubility, and inventory changes. The aquifer model was refined. In addition, a set of flow sensitivity runs were performed to allow flow to be varied in the related probabilistic GoldSim models. The final PORFLOW concentration values are used as input into a GoldSim dose calculator.