None

This report presents the results of research and development work performed in two ANL divisions which are chemical engineering and material science.

This report contains the conclusions that were drawn by nine panels of scientists in the fields of Biology; Chemical Spectroscopy; Chemical Structures of Crystalline Solids; Chemical Structures of Disordered Solids and Inhomogeneous Systems; Dynamics of Solids, Liquids, Glasses, and Gases; Magnetism; Neutron Sources; and Radiation Effects. The nine panel reports describe the applications found in these scientific areas, accompanying them with conceptual instruments designed for the measurements and with calculations to establish feasibility.

Papers presented at the third Post-Accident Heat Removal Information Exchange concerning heat distribution and criticality considerations, particulate-bed phenomena, pool heat transfer and melt-front phenomena, behavior of heated concrete and sodium-concrete interactions, design-related studies, gas bubbling and boiling effects, and materials interactions at high temperatures and experimental methods.

Quarterly report describing the research and management effort of Argonne National Laboratory's program on lithium/metal sulfide batteries during the period January-March 1976. These batteries are being developed for energy storage on utility networks and for electric-vehicle propulsion. The present cells are vertically oriented, piismatic cells with a central positive electrode of FeS or FeS; and two facing negative electrodes of lithium-aluminum alloy, and an electrolyte of molten LiCl-KC1. The cell operating temperature is 400-450C.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Land Reclamation Program outlining the activities and research conducted during the year, various assessments and discussion, and related documentation.

This work is being done in support of the development of processes for converting coal to liquid fuel of low sulfur content, suitable for use in power production. Most of the effort is intended to produce information applicable to the SYNTHOIL Process. In the SYNTHOIL Process for converting coal to a low-sulfur fuel oil, coal is liquefied and hydro-desulfurized in a turbulent-flow, catalytic packed-bed reactor. A slurry of coal in recycled oil is reacted with hydrogen at 450 degrees C and 2,000 to 4,000 psi in the presence of Co-MoSiO2-Al2O3 catalyst. The turbulent flow of fluid prevents the coal's mineral matter from settling and plugging the reactor. The gross liquid products are centrifuged to remove the unreacted solids. The centrifuged liquid product is a low-S, low-ash fuel. The following four tasks are included: (1) heat of reaction of hydrogen with coal slurries; (2) heat transfer coefficient; (3) additives to facilitate separation of solids from liquids; and (4) catalyst testing. These are now in the planning stage of development.

This effort is being directed toward support studies for the national endeavor on in situ coal gasification. This task involves the investigation of reaction-controlling variables and product distributions for the gasification of both coals and chars utilizing steam and oxygen. Included in this task is the investigation of the effects of using brackish water as the water supply. The high-pressure char gasification system has been received from the manufacturer and is currently undergoing testing. The types of experiments that would be most useful in their studies have been discussed with two of the three laboratories carrying out field tests of in-situ gasification.

This effort is being directed toward support studies for the national endeavor on in situ coal gasification. This task involves the investigation of reaction-controlling variables and product distributions for the gasification of both coals and chars utilizing steam and oxygen. Included in this task is the investigation of the effects of using brackish water as the water supply. The high-pressure char gasification system has been received from the manufacturer and is currently undergoing testing. The types of experiments that would be most useful in their studies have been discussed with two of the three laboratories carrying out field tests of in-situ gasification.

This work is being done in support of the development of processes for converting coal to liquid fuel of low sulfur content, suitable for use in power production. Most of the effort is intended to produce information applicable to the SYNTHOIL Process. In the SYNTHOIL Process for converting coal to a low-sulfur fuel oil, coal is liquefied and hydro-desulfurized in a turbulent-flow, catalytic packed-bed reactor. A slurry of coal in recycled oil is reacted with hydrogen at 450 degrees C and 2,000 to 4,000 psi in the presence of Co-MoSiO2-Al2O3 catalyst. The turbulent flow of fluid prevents the coal's mineral matter from settling and plugging the reactor. The gross liquid products are centrifuged to remove the unreacted solids. The centrifuged liquid product is a low-S, low-ash fuel. The following four tasks are included: (1) heat of reaction of hydrogen with coal slurries; (2) heat transfer coefficient; (3) additives to facilitate separation of solids from liquids; and (4) catalyst testing. These are now in the planning stage of development.

This report describes a quasi-Eulerian method which has been incorporated into the ICECO code to study slug impact and coolant spillage problems in a fast-reactor accident. The quasi-Eulerian cells used in this method are located on the tops of the regular cells. The axial size of the quasi-Eulerian cells varies according to the gap generated at the reactor head-wall junction. Penetration holes on the cover head are modeled on the top center of the quasi-Eulerian cells. Fluid variables in these quasi-Eulerian cells also satisfy all the conservation equations. Since the boundary pressures above the quasi-Eulerian cells are determined by the movement of the moving grid, the velocity of the cover head is also included in the pressure iteration. Several examples are given to compare the results obtained by this quasi-Eulerian method with the existing experimental excursion data, as well as with the analytical and the other code solutions.

This report discusses the development of ultrasonic testing, acoustic microscopy, dye-enhanced radiography, holographic interferometry, and infrared scanning techniques for flaw detection in silicon carbide (SiC) heat-exchanger tubing. Both preservice and in-service testing requirements are discussed. An ultrasonic boreside probe and an acoustic microscope stage have been designed for continuous monitoring of SiC tubing. Preliminary results with these acoustic systems are presented. In addition, a novel technique for detecting small surface flaws using holographic interferometry is discussed. Fracture mechanics analysis suggests that detection of flaws on the order of 100 um is necessary to assure good reliability of ceramic heat exchangers. The acoustic and holographic techniques have been shown to be capable of detecting flaws of this size. However, the sensitivity of ultrasonic flaw detection in SiC is affected by the microstructure of the component. The practical considerations involved in the use of these techniques are discussed.

The calorimetric instrumentation developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) for making nondestructive measurements of the plutonium content of fuel rods is discussed. Measurements with these instruments are relatively fast (i.e., 15 to 20 minutes) when compared to the several hours usually required with more conventional calorimeters and for this reason are called ''fast-response.'' Most of the discussion concerns the One-Meter and the Four-Meter Fuel-Rod Calorimeters and the Analytical Small-Sample Calorimeter. However, to provide some background and continuity where needed, a small amount of discussion is devoted to the three earlier calorimeters which have been described previously in the literature. A brief review is presented of the literature on plutonium holdup measurements. The use of gamma-ray techniques for holdup measurements is discussed and results are given for the determination of sample thickness using the ratio of intensities of high- and low-energy gamma rays. The measurements cover the plutonium metal thickness range from 0.001 to 0.120 inches. The design of a gamma-ray collimator with 37 parallel holes is also discussed. Neutron-counting experiments using BF3 proportional counters embedded in two polyethylene slabs are described. This detector configuration is characterized for its sensitivity to sample and background plutonium, counting both coincidence (fission) and total …

Quarterly report on batteries being developed for electric-vehicle propulsion and for stationary energy storage applications.

This report discusses the adequacy of several nondestructive evaluation techniques for the detection of flaws in silicon carbide heat-exchanger tubing. Experimental results have been obtained for conventional ultrasonic testing, acoustic microscopy, conventional and dye-enhanced radiography, holographic interferometry, infrared scanning and internal-friction measurements.

The hydrogen permeabilities of selected metals, alloys, and multiplex preparations that are of interest to fusion reactor technology are being characterized. A high-vacuum hydrogen-permeation apparatus has been constructed for this purpose. A program of studies has been initiated to develop design details for the tritium-handling systems of near-term fusion reactors. This program has resulted in a better definition of reactor-fuel-cycle and enrichment requirements and has helped to identify major research and development problems in the tritium-handling area. The design and construction of a 50-gallon lithium-processing test loop (LPTL) is well under way. Studies in support of this project are providing important guidance in the selection of hardware for the LPTL and in the design of a molten-salt processing test section.

This work, which is part of the ANL energy program for ERDA, is directed toward studies for the national endeavor on in situ coal gasification. The objective of this work is to determine the reaction-controlling variables and reaction kinetics for gasification of chars resulting when coal is pyrolyzed in underground gasification. The reactions to be studied include steam-char, carbon dioxide-char, hydrogen-char, and water gas shift reaction. Discussed in this report are the effects on the reactivity of chars of pyrolysis in simulated gasification product gas rather than pure nitrogen. In addition, further investigations of the water gas shift reaction and methanation reaction are discussed.

Quarterly report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding activities related to properties and handling of radioactive materials, operation of nuclear reactors, and other relevant research. This report includes fuel cycle studies in advanced solvent extraction techniques focused on development of centrifugal contactors for use in Purex processes and dispersion of liquids by explosions.

This revised proposal for the construction of the Argonne Tandem-Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) is in all essentials the same as the proposal originally presented to NUSAC in March 1978. The only differences worth mentioning are the plan to expand the experimental area somewhat more than was originally proposed and an increased cost, brought about principally by inflation. The outline presented is the same (with minor change in wording) as in the original document, reproduced here for the convenience of the reader.

Plane-strain stress intensity factors for a pressurized hexagonal subassembly duct with a crack in a corner or midflat are presented in convenient graphical form for representative LMFBR hexcan dimensions. Corner-crack calibrations based on several different models of the round hexcan corner are determined first in order to bound the stress intensity factor. A subsequent finite-element analysis of a uniformly pressurized hexcan with a corner crack gives accurate data for the stress intensity factor from which a weight function for this geometry may be constructed. The effects of different numbers of cracks, different locations for cracks, and different loading modes are discussed briefly, and some comments are made on the application of linear elastic fracture mechanics to cracked hexagonal ducts that have suffered a high degree of irradiation embrittlement.

This effort is being directed toward support studies for the national endeavor on in situ coal gasification. This task involves the investigation of reaction-controlling variables and product distributions for the gasification of both coals and chars utilizing steam and oxygen. Included in this task is the investigation of the effects of using brackish water as the water supply. The high-pressure char gasification system has been received from the manufacturer and is currently undergoing testing. The types of experiments that would be most useful in their studies have been discussed with two of the three laboratories carrying out field tests of in-situ gasification.

Quarterly report describing the research and management efforts of the program at ANL on lithium-aluminum/metal sulfide batteries. These batteries are being developed for electric-vehicle propulsion and for stationary energy storage applications.

A report of the work on Reactor Safety and Physical Property Studies performed in the Chemical Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory is given for the period July 1975-June 1976.

Various aspects of physical inorganic chemistry were investigated and are summarized in this report.