The Advanced Cuttings Transport Study (ACTS) was a 5-year JIP project undertaken at the University of Tulsa (TU). The project was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and JIP member companies. The objectives of the project were: (1) to develop and construct a new research facility that would allow three-phase (gas, liquid and cuttings) flow experiments under ambient and EPET (elevated pressure and temperature) conditions, and at different angle of inclinations and drill pipe rotation speeds; (2) to conduct experiments and develop a data base for the industry and academia; and (3) to develop mechanistic models for optimization of drilling hydraulics and cuttings transport. This project consisted of research studies, flow loop construction and instrumentation development. Following a one-year period for basic flow loop construction, a proposal was submitted by TU to the DOE for a five-year project that was organized in such a manner as to provide a logical progression of research experiments as well as additions to the basic flow loop. The flow loop additions and improvements included: (1) elevated temperature capability; (2) two-phase (gas and liquid, foam etc.) capability; (3) cuttings injection and removal system; (4) drill pipe rotation system; and (5) drilling section elevation …

Power generators are concerned with the maintenance costs associated with the advanced turbines that they are purchasing. Since these machines do not have fully established operation and maintenance (O&M) track records, power generators face financial risk due to uncertain future maintenance costs. This risk is of particular concern, as the electricity industry transitions to a competitive business environment in which unexpected O&M costs cannot be passed through to consumers. These concerns have accelerated the need for intelligent software-based diagnostic systems that can monitor the health of a combustion turbine in real time and provide valuable information on the machine's performance to its owner/operators. EPRI, Impact Technologies, Boyce Engineering, and Progress Energy have teamed to develop a suite of intelligent software tools integrated with a diagnostic monitoring platform that will, in real time, interpret data to assess the ''total health'' of combustion turbines. The Combustion Turbine Health Management System (CTHM) will consist of a series of dynamic link library (DLL) programs residing on a diagnostic monitoring platform that accepts turbine health data from existing monitoring instrumentation. The CTHM system will be a significant improvement over currently available techniques for turbine monitoring and diagnostics. CTHM will interpret sensor and instrument outputs, correlate …

High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) experiments play an important role in corroborating the improved physics codes that underlie LLNL's Stockpile Stewardship mission. Conducting these experiments, whether on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) or another national facility such as Omega, will require not only improvement in the diagnostics for measuring the experiment, but also detailed knowledge of the as-built target components and assemblies themselves. To assist in this effort, a defined set of well-known reference standards designed to represent a range of HEDP targets have been built and are being used to quantify the performance of different characterization techniques [Hibbard, et al. 2004]. Without the critical step of using reference standards for qualifying characterization tools there can be no verification of either commercial or internally-developed characterization techniques and thus an uncertainty in the input to the physics code models would exist.

Research is being conducted under United States Department of Energy (DOE) Contract DEFC26-03NT41865 to develop a new technology to achieve very low levels of NOx emissions from pulverized coal fired boiler systems by employing a novel system level integration between the PC combustion process and the catalytic NOx reduction with CO present in the combustion flue gas. The combustor design and operating conditions will be optimized to achieve atypical flue gas conditions. This approach will not only suppress NOx generation during combustion but also further reduce NOx over a downstream catalytic reactor that does not require addition of an external reductant, such as ammonia. This report describes the work performed during the July 1 to September 30, 2004 time period.

ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001 Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (hereafter referred to as ASHRAE 90.1-2001 or 90.1-2001) was developed in an effort to set minimum requirements for the energy efficient design and construction of new commercial buildings. The State of Tennessee is considering adopting ASHRAE 90.1-2001 as its commercial building energy code. In an effort to evaluate whether or not this is an appropriate code for the state, the potential benefits and costs of adopting this standard are considered in this report. Both qualitative and quantitative benefits and costs are assessed. Energy and economic impacts are estimated using the Building Loads Analysis and System Thermodynamics (BLAST) simulations combined with a Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) approach to assess corresponding economic costs and benefits. Tennessee currently has ASHRAE Standard 90A-1980 as the statewide voluntary/recommended commercial energy standard; however, it is up to the local jurisdiction to adopt this code. Because 90A-1980 is the recommended standard, many of the requirements of ASHRAE 90A-1980 were used as a baseline for simulations.

The report provides estimates of the potential volume of ''free riders'', in terms of both eligible square footage and associated available tax deductions, in a proposed commercial building lighting tax amendment to the 2003 Energy Bill. Determination of the actual tax rate for businesses and how the amendment may impact tax revenue collected by the treasury is beyond the scope of this effort. Others, such as the Treasury itself, are best equipped to make their own estimates of the eventual impact based on the total deductions available to taxable entities.

This calculation determines the release of residual radioactivity (including H-3, C-14, Co-60, Ni-63, Sr-90, and Cs-137), from subsurface structures filled with concrete debris at the Yankee Nuclear Power Station. Analyses were performed to assess the rate of release from the source of contamination and the resulting dose in the groundwater pathway. Two mechanisms were considered, diffusive release from the concrete structures (walls and floors) that remain intact and sorption onto concrete backfill placed within these structures. RESRAD was used to calculate the predicted maximum dose assuming a unit loading of 1 pCi/g on the intact structures. To the extent possible, the same assumptions in the soil DCGL calculations performed for Yankee Atomic were used in the calculation. However, modifications to some input parameter values were needed to represent the geometry of the subsurface facilities, flow through these facilities, and releases from the backfill and intact structures. Input parameters specific to these calculations included the leach rate, disposal geometry, pumping rate, porosity and bulk density. The dose results for a unit loading of 1 pCi/g on intact structures showed that Sr-90 had the highest dose (3.67E-02 mrem/yr).

Description. Individual raw data streams from instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Climate Research Facility (ACRF) fixed and mobile sites are collected and sent to the Data Management Facility (DMF) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for processing in near real time. Raw and processed data are then sent daily to the ACRF Archive, where they are made available to users. For each instrument, we calculate the ratio of the actual number of data records received daily at the Archive to the expected number of data records. The results are tabulated by (1) individual data stream, site, and month for the current year and (2) site and fiscal year (FY) dating back to 1998. The United States Department of Energy requires national user facilities to report time-based operating data. The requirements concern the actual hours of operation (ACTUAL); the estimated maximum operation or uptime goal (OPSMAX), which accounts for planned downtime; and the VARIANCE [1 – (ACTUAL/OPSMAX)], which accounts for unplanned downtime. The annual OPSMAX time for the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site is 8,322 hours per year (0.95 × 8,760, the number hours in a year, not including leap year). The annual OPSMAX for the North Slope Alaska …

Heavy ground vehicles, especially those involved in long-haul freight transportation, consume a significant part of our nation's energy supply. it is therefore of utmost importance to improve their efficiency, both to reduce emissions and to decrease reliance on imported oil. At highway speeds, more than half of the power consumed by a typical semi truck goes into overcoming aerodynamic drag, a fraction which increases with speed and crosswind. Thanks to better tools and increased awareness, recent years have seen substantial aerodynamic improvements by the truck industry, such as tractor/trailer height matching, radiator area reduction, and swept fairings. However, there remains substantial room for improvement as understanding of turbulent fluid dynamics grows. The group's research effort focused on vortex particle methods, a novel approach for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Where common CFD methods solve or model the Navier-Stokes equations on a grid which stretches from the truck surface outward, vortex particle methods solve the vorticity equation on a Lagrangian basis of smooth particles and do not require a grid. They worked to advance the state of the art in vortex particle methods, improving their ability to handle the complicated, high Reynolds number flow around heavy vehicles. Specific challenges that they have …

The Consortium for Fossil Fuel Science (CFFS) is a research consortium with participants from the University of Kentucky, University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia University, University of Utah, and Auburn University. The CFFS is conducting a research program to develop C1 chemistry technology for the production of clean transportation fuel from resources such as coal and natural gas, which are more plentiful domestically than petroleum. The processes under development will convert feedstocks containing one carbon atom per molecular unit into ultra clean liquid transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel) and hydrogen, which many believe will be the transportation fuel of the future. Feedstocks include synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen produced by coal gasification, coalbed methane, light products produced by Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, methanol, and natural gas.

This report describes carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) capture options from large stationary emission sources in the Illinois Basin, primarily focusing on coal-fired utility power plants. The CO{sub 2} emissions data were collected for utility power plants and industrial facilities over most of Illinois, southwestern Indiana, and western Kentucky. Coal-fired power plants are by far the largest CO{sub 2} emission sources in the Illinois Basin. The data revealed that sources within the Illinois Basin emit about 276 million tonnes of CO2 annually from 122 utility power plants and industrial facilities. Industrial facilities include 48 emission sources and contribute about 10% of total emissions. A process analysis study was conducted to review the suitability of various CO{sub 2} capture technologies for large stationary sources. The advantages and disadvantages of each class of technology were investigated. Based on these analyses, a suitable CO{sub 2} capture technology was assigned to each type of emission source in the Illinois Basin. Techno-economic studies were then conducted to evaluate the energy and economic performances of three coal-based power generation plants with CO{sub 2} capture facilities. The three plants considered were (1) pulverized coal (PC) + post combustion chemical absorption (monoethanolamine, or MEA), (2) integrated gasification combined cycle …

Laboratory studies were conducted to investigate dry, regenerable, alkali carbonate-based sorbents for the capture of CO{sub 2} from power plant flue gas. Electrobalance, fixed-bed and fluid-bed reactors were used to examine both the CO{sub 2} capture and sorbent regeneration phases of the process. Sodium carbonate-based sorbents (calcined sodium bicarbonate and calcined trona) were the primary focus of the testing. Supported sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate sorbents were also tested. Sodium carbonate reacts with CO{sub 2} and water vapor contained in flue gas at temperatures between 60 and 80 C to form sodium bicarbonate, or an intermediate salt (Wegscheider's salt). Thermal regeneration of this sorbent produces an off-gas containing equal molar quantities of CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O. The low temperature range in which the carbonation reaction takes place is suited to treatment of coal-derived flue gases following wet flue gas desulfurization processes, but limits the concentration of water vapor which is an essential reactant in the carbonation reaction. Sorbent regeneration in an atmosphere of CO{sub 2} and water vapor can be carried out at a temperature of 160 C or higher. Pure CO{sub 2} suitable for use or sequestration is available after condensation of the H{sub 2}O. Flue gas contaminants …

A new process called phase enhanced gas-liquid absorption has been developed in its early stage. It was found that adding another phase into the absorption system of gas/aqueous phase could enhance the absorption rate. A system with three phases was studied. In the system, gas phase was carbon dioxide. Two liquid phases were used. One was organic phase. Another was aqueous phase. By addition of organic phase into the absorption system of CO{sub 2}-aqueous phase, the absorption rate of CO{sub 2} was increased significantly. CO{sub 2} finally accumulated into aqueous phase. The experimental results proved that (1) Absorption rate of carbon dioxide was enhanced by adding organic phase into gas aqueous phase system; (2) Organic phase played the role of transportation of gas solute (CO{sub 2}). Carbon dioxide finally accumulated into aqueous phase.

This is quarterly report on the coal combustion products

The integrity of coatings used in hot section components of combustion turbines is crucial to the reliability of the buckets. This project was initiated in recognition of the need for predicting the life of coatings analytically, and non-destructively; correspondingly, four principal tasks were established. Task 1, with the objective of analytically developing stress, strain and temperature distributions in the bucket and thereby predicting thermal fatigue (TMF) damage for various operating conditions; Task 2 with the objective of developing eddy current techniques to measure both TMF damage and general degradation of coatings and, Task 3 with the objective of developing mechanism based algorithms. Task 4 is aimed at verifying analytical predictions from Task 1 and the NDE predictions from Task 3 against field observations.

This report describes work performed during the third and final year of the project, ''Conformance Improvement Using Gels.'' Corefloods revealed throughput dependencies of permeability reduction by polymers and gels that were much more prolonged during oil flow than water flow. This behavior was explained using simple mobility ratio arguments. A model was developed that quantitatively fits the results and predicts ''clean up'' times for oil productivity when production wells are returned to service after application of a polymer or gel treatment. X-ray computed microtomography studies of gels in strongly water-wet Berea sandstone and strongly oil-wet porous polyethylene suggested that oil penetration through gel-filled pores occurs by a gel-dehydration mechanism, rather than gel-ripping or gel-displacement mechanisms. In contrast, analysis of data from the University of Kansas suggests that the gel-ripping or displacement mechanisms are more important in more permeable, strongly water-wet sandpacks. These findings help to explain why aqueous gels can reduce permeability to water more than to oil under different conditions. Since cement is the most commonly used material for water shutoff, we considered when gels are preferred over cements. Our analysis and experimental results indicated that cement cannot be expected to completely fill (top to bottom) a vertical fracture …

A report of a pedestrian archaeological survey of a proposed sewer pipeline route located west of McKinney, Texas.

The Delaware Basin Drilling Surveillance Program (DBDSP) is designed to monitor drilling activities in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This program is based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements. The EPA environmental standards for the management and disposal of transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste are codified in 40 CFR Part 191 (EPA 1993). Subparts B and C of the standard address the disposal of radioactive waste. The standard requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate the expected performance of the disposal system using a probabilistic risk assessment or performance assessment (PA). This PA must show that the expected repository performance will not release radioactive material above limits set by the EPA's standard. This assessment must include the consideration of inadvertent drilling into the repository at some future time.

This project explores the extension of previously discovered Fe-based catalysts with unprecedented Fischer-Tropsch synthesis rate, selectivity, and ability to convert hydrogen-poor synthesis gas streams typical of those produced from coal and biomass sources. Contract negotiations were completed on December 9, 2004. During the first reporting period, we certified a microreactor, installed required analytical equipment, and reproduced synthetic protocols and catalytic performance previously reported. During this second reporting period, we have prepared and tested several Fe-based compositions for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and tested the effects of product recycle under both subcritical and supercritical conditions. These studies established modest improvements in rates and selectivities with light hydrocarbon recycle without any observed deleterious effects, opening up the opportunities for using of recycle strategies to control temperature profiles in fixed-bed Fe-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reactors without any detectable kinetic detriment. In a parallel study, we examined similar effects of recycle for cobalt-based catalysts; marked selectivity improvements were observed as a result of the removal of significant transport restrictions on these catalysts. Finally, we have re-examined some previously unanalyzed data dealing with the mechanism of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, specifically kinetic isotope effects on the rate and selectivity of chain growth reactions on Fe-based catalysts.

The leading cause of incidents on transmission pipelines is damage by third-party construction equipment. A single incident can be devastating, causing death and millions of dollars of property loss. This damage would be prevented if potentially hazardous construction equipment could be detected, identified, and an alert given before the pipeline is hit. Currently there is no method for continuously monitoring a pipeline right-of-way. Instead, companies periodically walk or fly over the pipeline to find unauthorized construction activities. Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is developing a system to solve this problem by using an optical fiber buried above the pipeline as a distributed sensor. A custom optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) is used to interrogate the fiber. Key issues in the development of this technology are the ability to detect encroachment and the ability to discriminate among potentially hazardous and benign encroachments. Advantages of the reflectometry technique are the ability to accurately pinpoint the location of the construction activity and the ability to separately monitor simultaneously occurring events. The basic concept of using OTDR with an optical fiber buried above the pipeline to detect encroachment of construction equipment into the right of way works. Sufficiently rapid time response is possible; permitting discrimination …

Borehole seismology is the highest resolution geophysical imaging technique available today to the oil and gas industry for characterization and monitoring of oil and gas reservoirs. However, the industry's ability to economically do high resolution 3D imaging of deep and complex gas reservoirs using borehole seismology is currently frustrated by the lack of the acquisition technology necessary to record the large volumes of the high frequency, high signal-to-noise-ratio borehole seismic data needed to do 3D imaging. This project takes direct aim at this shortcoming by developing a 400 level 3C clamped downhole seismic receiver array, and accompanying software, for borehole seismic 3D imaging. This large borehole seismic array will remove the technical acquisition barrier for recording the necessary volumes of data to do high resolution 3D VSP or 3D cross well seismic imaging. Massive 3D VSP{reg_sign} and long range Cross-Well Seismology (CWS) are two of the borehole seismic techniques that will allow the Gas industry to take the next step in their quest for higher resolution images of the gas reservoirs for the purpose of improving the recovery of the natural gas resources. Today only a fraction of the original Oil or Gas in place is produced when reservoirs are …

In February of 1999, a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was undertaken between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Special Metals Corporation-Huntington Alloys (formerly INCO Alloys International, Inc.) to develop a modified wrought austenitic stainless alloy with considerably more strength and corrosion resistance than alloy 800H or 800HT, but with otherwise similar engineering and application characteristics. Alloy 800H and related alloys have extensive use in coal flue gas environments, as well as for tubing or structural components in chemical and petrochemical applications. The main concept of the project was make small, deliberate elemental microalloying additions to this Fe-based alloy to produce, with proper processing, fine stable carbide dispersions for enhanced high temperature creep-strength and rupture resistance, with similar or better oxidation/corrosion resistance. The project began with alloy 803, a Fe-25Cr-35NiTi,Nb alloy recently developed by INCO, as the base alloy for modification. Smaller commercial developmental alloy heats were produced by Special Metals. At the end of the project, three rounds of alloy development had produced a modified 803 alloy with significantly better creep resistance above 815EC (1500EC) than standard alloy 803 in the solution-annealed (SA) condition. The new upgraded 803 alloy also had the potential for a processing boost in …

An all-solid-state continuous-wave (cw) laser system for ultraviolet absorption measurements of the nitric oxide (NO) molecule has been developed and demonstrated. For the NO sensor, 250 nW of tunable cw ultraviolet radiation is produced by sum-frequency-mixing of 532-nm radiation from a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser and tunable 395-nm radiation from an external cavity diode laser (ECDL). The sum-frequency-mixing process occurs in a beta-barium borate crystal. The nitric oxide absorption measurements are performed by tuning the ECDL and scanning the sum-frequency-mixed radiation over strong nitric oxide absorption lines near 226 nm. In Year 1 of the research, the nitric oxide sensor was used for measurements in the exhaust of a coal-fired laboratory combustion facility. The Texas A&M University boiler burner facility is a 30 kW (100,000 Btu/hr) downward-fired furnace with a steel shell encasing ceramic insulation. Measurements of nitric oxide concentration in the exhaust stream were performed after modification of the facility for laser based NOx diagnostics. The diode-laser-based ultraviolet absorption measurements were successful even when the beam was severely attenuated by particulate in the exhaust stream and window fouling. Single-laser-sweep measurements were demonstrated with an effective time resolution of 100 msec, limited at this time by the scan rate of our …

The report presents a comprehensive summary of the project status related to the development of a permanent mechanical repair fitting intended to be installed on damaged PE mains under blowing gas conditions. Specifically, the product definition has been developed taking into account relevant codes and standards and industry input. A conceptual design for the mechanical repair sleeve has been developed which meets the product definition.