Energy Retrofit Field Study and Best Practices in a Hot-Humid Climate (open access)

Energy Retrofit Field Study and Best Practices in a Hot-Humid Climate

Energy efficiency improvement as a component of comprehensive renovation was investigated under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding of the Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction (BA-PIRC). Researchers at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) worked with affordable housing partners renovating foreclosed homes built from the 1950's through the 2000's in the hot-humid climate (within the Southern census region), primarily in Florida. Researchers targeted a 30% improvement in whole-house energy efficiency along with the health and safety, durability, and comfort guidelines outlined in DOE's Builders Challenge Program (Version 1) Quality Criteria.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: McIvaine, J.; Sutherland, K. & Martin, E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
New Constraints on Isospin-Violating Dark Matter (open access)

New Constraints on Isospin-Violating Dark Matter

None
Date: March 20, 2013
Creator: Kumar, Jason; U., /Hawaii; Sanford, David; /UC, Irvine; Strigari, Louis E. & /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tritium Formation and Mitigation in High-Temperature Reactor Systems (open access)

Tritium Formation and Mitigation in High-Temperature Reactor Systems

Tritium is a radiologically active isotope of hydrogen. It is formed in nuclear reactors by neutron absorption and ternary fission events and can subsequently escape into the environment. To prevent the tritium contamination of proposed reactor buildings and surrounding sites, this study examines the root causes and potential mitigation strategies for permeation of tritium (such as: materials selection, inert gas sparging, etc...). A model is presented that can be used to predict permeation rates of hydrogen through metallic alloys at temperatures from 450–750 degrees C. Results of the diffusion model are presented for a steady production of tritium
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Sabharwall, Piyush; Stoots, Carl & Schmutz, Hans A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
FOURTH STATUS REPORT: TESTING OF AGED SOFTWOOD FIBERBOARD MATERIAL FOR THE 9975 SHIPPING PACKAGE (open access)

FOURTH STATUS REPORT: TESTING OF AGED SOFTWOOD FIBERBOARD MATERIAL FOR THE 9975 SHIPPING PACKAGE

Samples have been prepared from a 9975 lower fiberboard subassembly fabricated from softwood fiberboard. Physical, mechanical and thermal properties have been measured following varying periods of conditioning in each of several environments. These tests have been conducted in the same manner as previous testing on cane fiberboard samples. Overall, similar aging trends are observed for softwood and cane fiberboard samples, with a few differences. Some softwood fiberboard properties tend to degrade faster in elevated humidity environments, while some cane fiberboard properties degrade faster in the hotter dry environments. As a result, it is premature to assume both materials will age at the same rates, and the preliminary aging models developed for cane fiberboard might not apply to softwood fiberboard. However, it is expected that both cane and softwood fiberboard assemblies will perform satisfactorily in conforming packages stored in a typical KAMS environment for up to 15 years. Aging and testing of softwood fiberboard will continue and additional data will be collected. Post-conditioning data have been measured on samples from a single softwood fiberboard assembly, and baseline data are also available from a limited number of vendor-provided samples. This provides minimal information on the possible sample-to-sample variation exhibited by softwood fiberboard. …
Date: March 5, 2013
Creator: Daugherty, W.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ultra-Efficient and Power Dense Electric Motors for U. S. Industry (open access)

Ultra-Efficient and Power Dense Electric Motors for U. S. Industry

The primary purpose of this project was to combine the ease-of-installation and ease-of-use attributes of industrial induction motors with the low-loss and small size and weight advantages of PM motors to create an ultra-efficient, high power density industrial motor that can be started across-the-line or operated from a standard, Volts/Hertz drive without the need for a rotor position feedback device. PM motor products that are currently available are largely variable speed motors that require a special adjustable speed drive with rotor position feedback. The reduced size and weight helps to offset the magnet cost in order make these motors commercially viable. The scope of this project covers horsepower ratings from 20 ? 500. Prototypes were built and tested at ratings ranging from 30 to 250 HP. Since fans, pumps and compressors make up a large portion of industrial motor applications, the motor characteristics are tailored to those applications. Also, since there is extensive use of adjustable frequency inverters in these applications, there is the opportunity to design for an optimal pole number and operate at other than 60 Hz frequency when inverters are utilized. Designs with four and eight pole configurations were prototyped as part of this work. Four pole …
Date: March 12, 2013
Creator: Melfi, Michael J.; Schiferl, Richard F. & Umans, Stephen D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fresh-Core Reload of the Neutron Radiography (NRAD) Reactor with Uranium(20)-Erbium-Zirconium-Hydride Fuel (open access)

Fresh-Core Reload of the Neutron Radiography (NRAD) Reactor with Uranium(20)-Erbium-Zirconium-Hydride Fuel

The neutron radiography (NRAD) reactor is a 250 kW TRIGA® (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) Mark II , tank-type research reactor currently located in the basement, below the main hot cell, of the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). It is equipped with two beam tubes with separate radiography stations for the performance of neutron radiography irradiation on small test components. The initial critical configuration developed during the fuel loading process, which contains only 56 fuel elements, has been evaluated as an acceptable benchmark experiment. The 60-fuel-element operational core configuration of the NRAD LEU TRIGA reactor has also been evaluated as an acceptable benchmark experiment. Calculated eigenvalues differ significantly (~±1%) from the benchmark eigenvalue and have demonstrated sensitivity to the thermal scattering treatment of hydrogen in the U-Er-Zr-H fuel.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Bess, John D.; Maddock, Thomas L.; Marshall, Margaret A. & Montierth, Leland M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
ARM Lead Mentor Selection Process (open access)

ARM Lead Mentor Selection Process

The ARM Climate Research Facility currently operates more than 300 instrument systems that provide ground-based observations of the atmospheric column. To keep ARM at the forefront of climate observations, the ARM infrastructure depends heavily on instrument scientists and engineers, also known as Instrument Mentors. Instrument Mentors must have an excellent understanding of in situ and remote-sensing instrumentation theory and operation and have comprehensive knowledge of critical scale-dependent atmospheric processes. They also possess the technical and analytical skills to develop new data retrievals that provide innovative approaches for creating research-quality data sets.
Date: March 13, 2013
Creator: Sisterson, DL
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hydra-TH Simulation of Single-Phase Flow and Heat (open access)

Hydra-TH Simulation of Single-Phase Flow and Heat

The focus of this report is on the comparison of n
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Bui, Anh & Zhang, Hongbin
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
2013 GASEOUS IONS GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE, FEBRUARY 24 - MARCH 1, 2013 (open access)

2013 GASEOUS IONS GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE, FEBRUARY 24 - MARCH 1, 2013

The Gaseous Ions: Structures, Energetics and Reactions Gordon Research Conference will focus on ions and their interactions with molecules, surfaces, electrons, and light. The long-standing goal of our community is to develop new strategies for capturing complex molecular architectures as gas phase ions where they can be isolated, characterized and manipulated with great sensitivity. Emergent areas of interest include catalytic mechanisms, cryogenic processing of ions extracted from solution, ion fragmentation mechanisms, and new methods for ion formation and structural characterization. The conference will cover theoretical and experimental advances on systems ranging from model studies at the molecular scale to preparation of nanomaterials and characterization of large biological molecules.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Williams, Evan
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Simple intrinsic defects in InAs : numerical predictions. (open access)

Simple intrinsic defects in InAs : numerical predictions.

This Report presents numerical tables summarizing properties of intrinsic defects in indium arsenide, InAs, as computed by density functional theory using semi-local density functionals, intended for use as reference tables for a defect physics package in device models.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Schultz, Peter Andrew
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Verification Of The Defense Waste Processing Facility's (DWPF) Process Digestion Methods For The Sludge Batch 8 Qualification Sample (open access)

Verification Of The Defense Waste Processing Facility's (DWPF) Process Digestion Methods For The Sludge Batch 8 Qualification Sample

This report contains the results and comparison of data generated from inductively coupled plasma – atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analysis of Aqua Regia (AR), Sodium Peroxide/Sodium Hydroxide Fusion Dissolution (PF) and Cold Chem (CC) method digestions and Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption analysis of Hg digestions from the DWPF Hg digestion method of Sludge Batch 8 (SB8) Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) Receipt and SB8 SRAT Product samples. The SB8 SRAT Receipt and SB8 SRAT Product samples were prepared in the SRNL Shielded Cells, and the SRAT Receipt material is representative of the sludge that constitutes the SB8 Batch or qualification composition. This is the sludge in Tank 51 that is to be transferred into Tank 40, which will contain the heel of Sludge Batch 7b (SB7b), to form the SB8 Blend composition.
Date: March 18, 2013
Creator: Click, D. R.; Edwards, T. B.; Wiedenman, B. J. & Brown, L. W.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Field Testing of Low-Cost Bio-Based Phase Change Material (open access)

Field Testing of Low-Cost Bio-Based Phase Change Material

A test wall built with phase change material (PCM)-enhanced loose-fill cavity insulation was monitored for a period of about a year in the warm-humid climate of Charleston, South Carolina. The test wall was divided into various sections, one of which contained only loose-fill insulation and served as a control for comparing and evaluating the wall sections with the PCM-enhanced insulation. This report summarizes the findings of the field test.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Biswas, Kaushik; Childs, Phillip W & Atchley, Jerald Allen
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility: Addressing advanced nuclear materials research (open access)

Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility: Addressing advanced nuclear materials research

The Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF), based at the Idaho National Laboratory in the United States, is supporting Department of Energy and industry research efforts to ensure the properties of materials in light water reactors are well understood. The ATR NSUF is providing this support through three main efforts: establishing unique infrastructure necessary to conduct research on highly radioactive materials, conducting research in conjunction with industry partners on life extension relevant topics, and providing training courses to encourage more U.S. researchers to understand and address LWR materials issues. In 2010 and 2011, several advanced instruments with capability focused on resolving nuclear material performance issues through analysis on the micro (10-6 m) to atomic (10-10 m) scales were installed primarily at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) in Idaho Falls, Idaho. These instruments included a local electrode atom probe (LEAP), a field-emission gun scanning transmission electron microscope (FEG-STEM), a focused ion beam (FIB) system, a Raman spectrometer, and an nanoindentor/atomic force microscope. Ongoing capability enhancements intended to support industry efforts include completion of two shielded, irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) test loops, the first of which will come online in early calendar year 2013, a …
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Jackson, John; Allen, Todd; Marshall, Frances & Cole, Jim
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Scoping Report: Advanced Technologies for Multi-Load Washers in Hospitality and Healthcare (open access)

Scoping Report: Advanced Technologies for Multi-Load Washers in Hospitality and Healthcare

The purpose of this demonstration project is to quantify the energy savings and water efficiency potential of commercial laundry wastewater recycling systems and low-temperature detergent supply systems to help promote the adoption of these technologies in the commercial sector. This project will create a set of technical specifications for efficient multi-load laundry systems (both new and retrofit) tailored for specific applications and/or sectors (e.g., hospitality, health care). The specifications will be vetted with the appropriate Better Buildings Alliance (BBA) members (e.g., Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance, Hospital Energy Alliance), finalized, published, and disseminated to enable widespread technology transfer in the industry and specifically among BBA partners.
Date: March 27, 2013
Creator: Parker, Graham B.; Boyd, Brian K.; Petersen, Joseph M.; Goetzler, W.; Foley, K. J. & Sutherland, T. A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Argonne National Laboratory Annual Report of Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program Activities FY 2012 (open access)

Argonne National Laboratory Annual Report of Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program Activities FY 2012

None
Date: March 31, 2013
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for Low-Mass Higgs States at BaBar (open access)

Search for Low-Mass Higgs States at BaBar

None
Date: March 8, 2013
Creator: Santoro, Valentina & /INFN, Ferrara
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Guiding Center Equations of High Accuracy (open access)

Guiding Center Equations of High Accuracy

Guiding center simulations are an important means of predicting the effect of resistive and ideal magnetohydrodynamic instabilities on particle distributions in toroidal magnetically confined thermonuclear fusion research devices. Because saturated instabilities typically have amplitudes of δ#14;B/B of a few times 10-4 numerical accuracy is of concern in discovering the effect of mode particle resonances. We develop a means of following guiding center orbits which is greatly superior to the methods currently in use. In the presence of ripple or time dependent magnetic perturbations both energy and canonical momentum are conserved to better than one part in 1014, and the relation between changes in canonical momentum and energy is also conserved to very high order.
Date: March 29, 2013
Creator: R.B. White, G. Spizzo and M. Gobbin
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transportation Energy Futures Series: Potential for Energy Efficiency Improvement Beyond the Light-Duty-Vehicle Sector (open access)

Transportation Energy Futures Series: Potential for Energy Efficiency Improvement Beyond the Light-Duty-Vehicle Sector

Considerable research has focused on energy efficiency and fuel substitution options for light-duty vehicles, while much less attention has been given to medium- and heavy-duty trucks, buses, aircraft, marine vessels, trains, pipeline, and off-road equipment. This report brings together the salient findings from an extensive review of literature on future energy efficiency options for these non-light-duty modes. Projected activity increases to 2050 are combined with forecasts of overall fuel efficiency improvement potential to estimate the future total petroleum and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to current levels. This is one of a series of reports produced as a result of the Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project, a Department of Energy-sponsored multi-agency project initiated to pinpoint underexplored strategies for abating GHGs and reducing petroleum dependence related to transportation.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Vyas, A. D.; Patel, D. M. & Bertram, K. M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Developing Renewable Energy Projects Larger Than 10 MWs at Federal Facilities (Book) (open access)

Developing Renewable Energy Projects Larger Than 10 MWs at Federal Facilities (Book)

To accomplish Federal goals for renewable energy, sustainability, and energy security, large-scale renewable energy projects must be developed and constructed on Federal sites at a significant scale with significant private investment. The U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) helps Federal agencies meet these goals and assists agency personnel navigate the complexities of developing such projects and attract the necessary private capital to complete them. This guide is intended to provide a general resource that will begin to develop the Federal employee's awareness and understanding of the project developer's operating environment and the private sector's awareness and understanding of the Federal environment. Because the vast majority of the investment that is required to meet the goals for large-scale renewable energy projects will come from the private sector, this guide has been organized to match Federal processes with typical phases of commercial project development. The main purpose of this guide is to provide a project development framework to allow the Federal Government, private developers, and investors to work in a coordinated fashion on large-scale renewable energy projects. The framework includes key elements that describe a successful, financially attractive large-scale renewable energy project.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Targeted Energy Efficiency Expert Evaluation (E4) Report: Bannister Federal Complex, Kansas City, MO (open access)

Targeted Energy Efficiency Expert Evaluation (E4) Report: Bannister Federal Complex, Kansas City, MO

This is a final report summarizing the efficiency measures identified, implemented and the analysis of energy savings after implementation.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Goddard, James K.; Fernandez, Nicholas; Underhill, Ronald M. & Gowri, Krishnan
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biological Conversion of Sugars to Hydrocarbons Technology Pathway (open access)

Biological Conversion of Sugars to Hydrocarbons Technology Pathway

In support of the Bioenergy Technologies Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are undertaking studies of biomass conversion technologies to identify barriers and target research toward reducing conversion costs. Process designs and preliminary economic estimates for each of these pathway cases were developed using rigorous modeling tools (Aspen Plus and Chemcad). These analyses incorporated the best information available at the time of development, including data from recent pilot and bench-scale demonstrations, collaborative industrial and academic partners, and published literature and patents. This technology pathway case investigates the biological conversion of biomass derived sugars to hydrocarbon biofuels, utilizing data from recent literature references and information consistent with recent pilot scale demonstrations at NREL. Technical barriers and key research needs have been identified that should be pursued for the pathway to become competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline, diesel and jet range hydrocarbon blendstocks.
Date: March 31, 2013
Creator: Davis, Ryan; Biddy, Mary J.; Tan, Eric; Tao, Ling & Jones, Susanne B.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Breakeven Prices for Photovoltaics on Supermarkets in the United States (open access)

Breakeven Prices for Photovoltaics on Supermarkets in the United States

The photovoltaic (PV) breakeven price is the PV system price at which the cost of PV-generated electricity equals the cost of electricity purchased from the grid. This point is also called 'grid parity' and can be expressed as dollars per watt ($/W) of installed PV system capacity. Achieving the PV breakeven price depends on many factors, including the solar resource, local electricity prices, customer load profile, PV incentives, and financing. In the United States, where these factors vary substantially across regions, breakeven prices vary substantially across regions as well. In this study, we estimate current and future breakeven prices for PV systems installed on supermarkets in the United States. We also evaluate key drivers of current and future commercial PV breakeven prices by region. The results suggest that breakeven prices for PV systems installed on supermarkets vary significantly across the United States. Non-technical factors -- including electricity rates, rate structures, incentives, and the availability of system financing -- drive break-even prices more than technical factors like solar resource or system orientation. In 2020 (where we assume higher electricity prices and lower PV incentives), under base-case assumptions, we estimate that about 17% of supermarkets will be in utility territories where breakeven …
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Ong, S.; Clark, N.; Denholm, P. & Margolis, R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Magnetic Diagnostic Code for 3D Fusion Equilibria (open access)

A Magnetic Diagnostic Code for 3D Fusion Equilibria

A synthetic magnetic diagnostics code for fusion equilibria is presented. This code calculates the response of various magnetic diagnostics to the equilibria produced by the VMEC and PIES codes. This allows for treatment of equilibria with both good nested flux surfaces and those with stochastic regions. DIAGNO v2.0 builds upon previous codes through the implementation of a virtual casing principle. The code is validated against a vacuum shot on the Large Helical Device (LHD) where the vertical field was ramped. As an exercise of the code, the diagnostic response for various equilibria are calculated on the LHD.
Date: March 12, 2013
Creator: Lazerson, Samuel A.; Sakakibara, S. & Suzuki, Y.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Brine flow in heated geologic salt. (open access)

Brine flow in heated geologic salt.

This report is a summary of the physical processes, primary governing equations, solution approaches, and historic testing related to brine migration in geologic salt. Although most information presented in this report is not new, we synthesize a large amount of material scattered across dozens of laboratory reports, journal papers, conference proceedings, and textbooks. We present a mathematical description of the governing brine flow mechanisms in geologic salt. We outline the general coupled thermal, multi-phase hydrologic, and mechanical processes. We derive these processes' governing equations, which can be used to predict brine flow. These equations are valid under a wide variety of conditions applicable to radioactive waste disposal in rooms and boreholes excavated into geologic salt.
Date: March 1, 2013
Creator: Kuhlman, Kristopher L. & Malama, Bwalya
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library