A method and apparatus for achieving nitrogen fixation includes a volumetric electric discharge chamber. The volumetric discharge chamber provides an even distribution of an electron beam, and enables the chamber to be maintained at a controlled energy to pressure (E/p) ratio. An E/p ratio of from 5 to 15 kV/atm of O/sub 2//cm promotes the formation of vibrationally excited N/sub 2/. Atomic oxygen interacts with vibrationally excited N/sub 2/ at a much quicker rate than unexcited N/sub 2/, greatly improving the rate at which NO is formed.

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is a single purpose laboratory operated by Stanford University for the Department of Energy. Its mission is to do research in High Energy (particle) physics. This research involves the use of large and complex electronic detectors. Each of these detectors is a multi-million dollar device. A part of each detector is a computer for process control and data logging. Most detectors at SLAC now use VAX 11/780s for this purpose. Most detectors record digital data via this process control computer. Consequently, physics today is not bounded by the cost of analog to digital conversion as it was in the past, and the physicist is able to run larger experiments than were feasible a decade ago. Today a medium sized experiment will produce several hundred full reels of 6250 BPI tape whereas a large experiment is a couple of thousand reels. The raw data must first be transformed into physics events using data transformation programs. The physicists then use subsets of the data to understand what went on. The subset may be anywhere from a few megabytes to 5 or 6 gigabytes of data (30 or 40 full reels of tape). This searching would be best …

The goals of the project are: to develop an economical and practical composite flywheel having an energy density of 88 Wh/kg at failure, an operational energy density of 44 to 55 Wh/kg, and an energy storage capacity of approximately 1 kWh; to determine the suitability of various manufacturing processes for low-cost rotor fabrication; to investigate flywheel and flywheel-systems dynamics; to test and evaluate prototype rotors for use in transportation and stationary applications; and to develop a fail-safe, lightweight, and low-cost flywheel containment. The following tasks have been accomplished: evaluation and selection of 1-kWh, first-generation, advanced flywheel rotor designs for subsequent development towards the DOE-established energy density goal of 88 Wh/kg at burst; completion of an advanced design concept for a flywheel primary containment structure, capable of containing the failure of a 1-kWh flywheel rotor and targeted for vehicular applications; non-destructive inspection and burst testing of approximately twenty (20) prototype rotors, and initiation of cyclic testing; completion of various activities in the areas of rotor manufacturing processes, dynamic analyses and composite materials design data generation; and initiation of an economic feasibility study to establish a rational costing methodology for composite rotors and containment.