This report gives the description of a new cocktail of heavy ions ranging from Z=7-36 at 16 MeV/Nucleon.

Experimental work to map the performance of the High Pressure Common Rail (HPCR) system on a locomotive is in progress. The experimental trends agree with KIVA modeling predictions. Injection optimization is in progress. Electrically-assisted turbocharger modeling was used to study passenger locomotive performance improvements. Energy storage cycling life testing began, and an improved battery state algorithm was determined. The hybrid locomotive energy storage was prepared for energy management system algorithm testing. Progress in reliable methods for computing optimal driving plans, and methods to reduce the complexity of the necessary optimization are reported.

The extensive network of high-pressure natural gas transmission pipelines covering the United States provides an important infrastructure for our energy independence. Early detection of pipeline leaks and infringements by construction equipment, resulting in corrosion fractures, presents an important aspect of our national security policy. The National Energy Technology Laboratory Strategic Center for Natural Gas (SCVG) is and has been funding research on various applicable techniques. The WVU research team has focused on monitoring pipeline background acoustic signals generated and transmitted by gas flowing through the gas inside the pipeline. In case of a pipeline infringement, any mechanical impact on the pipe wall, or escape of high-pressure gas, generates acoustic signals traveling both up and down stream through the gas. Sudden changes in flow noise are detectable with a Portable Acoustic Monitoring Package (PAMP), developed under this contract. It incorporates a pressure compensating microphone and a signal- recording device. Direct access to the gas inside the line is obtained by mounting such a PAMP, with a 1/2 inch NPT connection, to a pipeline pressure port found near most shut-off valves. An FFT of the recorded signal subtracted by that of the background noise recorded one-second earlier appears to sufficiently isolate the …

The project objective was to create the communication and control system, the process and the economic procedures that will allow owners (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial, manufacturing, etc.) of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) connected in parallel to the electric distribution to have their resources operated in a manner that protects the electric utility distribution network and personnel that may be working on the network. The Distribution Engineering Workstation (DEW) (a power flow and short circuit modeling tool) was modified to calculate the real-time characteristics of the distribution network based on the real-time electric distribution network information and provide DER operating suggestions to the Detroit Edison system operators so that regional electric stability is maintained. Part of the suggestion algorithm takes into account the operational availability of DER’s, which is known by the Energy Aggregator, DTE Energy Technologies. The availability information will be exchanged from DTE Energy Technologies to Detroit Edison. For the calculated suggestions to be used by the Detroit Edison operators, procedures were developed to allow an operator to operate a DER by requesting operation of the DER through DTE Energy Technologies. Prior to issuing control of a DER, the safety of the distribution network and personnel needs to be …

Final design of the mast was completed (Task 5). The mast is consisting of two welded plate girders, set next to each other, and spaced 14-inches apart. Fabrication of the boom will be completed in two parts solely for ease of transportation. The end pivot connection will be made through a single 2-inch diameter x 4 feet-8 inch long 316 SS bar. During installation, hard piping make-ups using Chiksan joints will connect the annular section and 4-inch return line to allow full movement of the mast from horizontal to vertical. Additionally, flexible hoses and piping will be installed to isolate both towers from piping loads and allow recycling operations respectively. Calibration of the prototype Foam Generator Cell has been completed and experiments are now being conducted. We were able to generate up to 95% quality foam. Work is currently underway to attach the Thermo-Haake RS300 viscometer and install a view port with a microscope to measure foam bubble size and bubble size distribution. Foam rheology tests (Task 13) were carried out to evaluate the rheological properties of the proposed foam formulation. After successful completion of the first foam test, two sets of rheological tests were conducted at different foam flow …

We have tested the loop elevation system. We raised the mast to approximately 25 to 30 degrees from horizontal. All went well. However, while lowering the mast, it moved laterally a couple of degrees. Upon visual inspection, severe spalling of the concrete on the face of the support pillar, and deformation of the steel support structure was observed. At this time, the facility is ready for testing in the horizontal position. A new air compressor has been received and set in place for the ACTS test loop. A new laboratory has been built near the ACTS test loop Roughened cups and rotors for the viscometer (RS300) were obtained. Rheologies of aqueous foams were measured using three different cup-rotor assemblies that have different surface roughness. The relationship between surface roughness and foam rheology was investigated. Re-calibration of nuclear densitometers has been finished. The re-calibration was also performed with 1% surfactant foam. A new cuttings injection system was installed at the bottom of the injection tower. It replaced the previous injection auger. A mechanistic model for cuttings transport with aerated mud has been developed. Cuttings transport mechanisms with aerated water at various conditions were experimentally investigated. A total of 39 tests were …

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 …

The overall objective of this project is to demonstrate that a development program based on advanced reservoir management methods can significantly improve oil recovery at the Nash Draw Pool (NDP). The plan includes developing a control area using standard reservoir management techniques and comparing its performance to an area developed using advanced reservoir management methods. Specific goals are (1) to demonstrate that an advanced development drilling and pressure maintenance program can significantly improve oil recovery compared to existing technology applications and (2) to transfer these advanced methodologies to oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin and elsewhere throughout the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the wake of September 11, 2001, Congress enacted the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Title VIII, subtitle F, section 852 of the act provided for a temporary set of emergency procurement flexibilities intended to address the immediate needs for procurement of property (other than real property) or services to be used to defend against or recover from terrorist threats, including nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks. These flexibilities, which expired on November 24, 2003, included (1) increasing the threshold for simplified acquisition procedures in support of humanitarian, peacekeeping, or contingency operations from $100,000 to $200,000 for contracts awarded and performed within the United States and, for contracts awarded and performed, or purchases to be made outside the United States, to $300,000; (2) increasing the micro-purchase threshold from $2,500 to $7,500 to allow agencies the use of purchase cards above the current limit; (3) waiving certain provisions of law and the dollar threshold related to commercial item procurements; and (4) requiring the head of an agency, when appropriate, to use streamlined acquisition authorities and procedures authorized by law for a procurement referred to in section 852. Section 852 …

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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 October 1 to December 30, 2004 time period.

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 January 1 to March 31, 2004 time period.

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Weekly newspaper from Holliday, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Conference Report on the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, directed GAO to monitor AOC's progress in implementing recommendations contained in GAO's management review of AOC's operations, issued in January 2003. This is the second status report in which GAO examines the actions taken by AOC to implement selected GAO recommendations. Additionally, the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, mandated GAO to assess AOC's Chief Operating Officer's (COO) action plan. This report provides that assessment."

The purpose of this project was to complete the architectural and engineering design, program planning, and other preliminary work necessary to construct the new Nevada Cancer Institute facility. These goals were accomplished with the construction of a new building of approximately 119,000 gross square feet. The facility houses the diagnostic and radio therapeutic treatment laboratories, radiation oncology treatment facility, physician offices, and clinical research areas.

A simple, tunable, synthetic benchmark with a performance directly related to applications would be of great benefit to the scientific computing community. In this paper, we present a novel approach to develop such a benchmark. The initial focus of this project is on data access performance of scientific applications. First a hardware independent characterization of code performance in terms of address streams is developed. The parameters chosen to characterize a single address stream are related to regularity, size, spatial, and temporal locality. These parameters are then used to implement a synthetic benchmark program that mimics the performance of a corresponding code. To test the validity of our approach we performed experiments using five test kernels on six different platforms. The performance of most of our test kernels can be approximated by a single synthetic address stream. However in some cases overlapping two address streams is necessary to achieve a good approximation.