This final report for Grant #DE-FG02-06ER64241, MN Center for Renewable Energy, will address the shared institutional work done by Minnesota State University, Mankato and Minnesota West Community and Technical College during the time period of July 1, 2006 to December 30, 2008. There was a no-cost extension request approved for the purpose of finalizing some of the work. The grant objectives broadly stated were to 1) develop educational curriculum to train technicians in wind and ethanol renewable energy, 2) determine the value of cattails as a biomass crop for production of cellulosic ethanol, and 3) research in Optimization of Bio-Fuels in Internal Combustion Engines. The funding for the MN Center for Renewable Energy was spent on specific projects related to the work of the Center.

We describe a technique to optimally tune and calibrate bendable x-ray optics for sub-micron focusing. The focusing is divided between two elliptically cylindrical reflecting elements, a Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) pair. Each optic is shaped by applying unequal bending couples to each end of a flat mirror. The developed technique allowsoptimal tuning of these systems using surface slope data obtained with a slope measuring instrument, the long trace profiler (LTP). Due to the near linearity of the problem, the minimal set of data necessary for the tuning of each bender, consists of only three slope traces measured before and after a single adjustment of each bending couple. The data are analyzed with software realizing a method of regression analysis with experimentally found characteristic functions of the benders. The resulting approximation to the functional dependence of the desired shape provides nearly final settings. Moreover, the characteristic functions of the benders found in the course of tuning, can be used for retuning to a new desired shape without removal from the beamline and re-measuring. We perform a ray trace, using profiler data for the finally tuned optics, predicting the performance to be expected during use of the optics on the beamline.

This study considered assessing the feasibility of developing small scale hydro-electric power from seven major tributaries within the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation of Northern California (http://www.hoopa-nsn.gov/). This study pursued the assessment of seven major tributaries of the Reservation that flow into the Trinity River. The feasibility of hydropower on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation has real potential for development and many alternative options for project locations, designs, operations and financing. In order to realize this opportunity further will require at least 2-3 years of intense data collection focusing on stream flow measurements at multiple locations in order to quantify real power potential. This also includes on the ground stream gradient surveys, road access planning and grid connectivity to PG&E for sale of electricity. Imperative to this effort is the need for negotiations between the Hoopa Tribal Council and PG&E to take place in order to finalize the power rate the Tribe will receive through any wholesale agreement that utilizes the alternative energy generated on the Reservation.

HyS is conceptually the simplest of the thermochemical cycles and involves only sulfur chemistry. In the HyS Cycle hydrogen gas (H{sub 2}) is produced at the cathode of the electrochemical cell (or electrolyzer). Sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) is oxidized at the anode to form sulfuric acid (H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}) and protons (H{sup +}) as illustrated below. A separate high temperature reaction decomposes the sulfuric acid to water and sulfur dioxide which are recycled to the electrolyzers, and oxygen which is separated out as a secondary product. The electrolyzer includes a membrane that will allow hydrogen ions to pass through but block the flow of hydrogen gas. The membrane is also intended to prevent other chemical species from migrating between electrodes and undergoing undesired reactions that could poison the cathode or reduce overall process efficiency. In conventional water electrolysis, water is oxidized at the anode to produce protons and oxygen. The standard cell potential for conventional water electrolysis is 1.23 volts at 25 C. However, commercial electrolyzers typically require higher voltages ranging from 1.8 V to 2.6 V [Kirk-Othmer, 1991]. The oxidation of sulfur dioxide instead of water in the HyS electrolyzer occurs at a much lower potential. For example, the …

The Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) is being designed and built to pretreat and vitrify a large portion of the waste in Hanford’s 177 underground waste storage tanks. Numerous process vessels will hold waste at various stages in the WTP. Some of these vessels have mixing-system requirements to maintain conditions where the accumulation of hydrogen gas stays below acceptable limits, and the mixing within the vessels is sufficient to release hydrogen gas under normal conditions and during off-normal events. Some of the WTP process streams are slurries of solid particles suspended in Newtonian fluids that behave as non-Newtonian slurries, such as Bingham yield-stress fluids. When these slurries are contained in the process vessels, the particles can settle and become progressively more concentrated toward the bottom of the vessels, depending on the effectiveness of the mixing system. One limiting behavior is a settled layer beneath a particle-free liquid layer. The settled layer, or any region with sufficiently high solids concentration, will exhibit non-Newtonian rheology where it is possible for the settled slurry to behave as a soft solid with a yield stress. In this report, these slurries are described as settling cohesive slurries.

This Technical Review Report (TRR) documents the review, performed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Staff, at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), on the Safety Analysis Report for Packaging, Model 9975, Revision 0, dated January 2008 (S-SARP-G-00003, the SARP). The review includes an evaluation of the SARP, with respect to the requirements specified in 10 CFR 71, and in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Standards Series No. TS-R-1. The Model 9975-96 Package is a 35-gallon drum package design that has evolved from a family of packages designed by DOE contractors at the Savannah River Site. Earlier package designs, i.e., the Model 9965, the Model 9966, the Model 9967, and the Model 9968 Packagings, were originally designed and certified in the early 1980s. In the 1990s, updated package designs that incorporated design features consistent with the then newer safety requirements were proposed. The updated package designs at the time were the Model 9972, the Model 9973, the Model 9974, and the Model 9975 Packagings, respectively. The Model 9975 Package was certified by the Packaging Certification Program, under the Office of Safety Management and Operations. The safety analysis of the Model 9975-85 Packaging is documented in …

Neutron scattering is a powerful technique that is critically important for materials science and structural biology applications. The knowledge gained from past developments has resulted in far-reaching advances in engineering, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, to name a few. New facilities for neutron generation at much higher flux, such as the SNS at Oak Ridge, TN, will greatly enhance the capabilities of neutron scattering, with benefits that extend to many fields and include, for example, development of improved drug therapies and materials that are stronger, longer-lasting, and more impact-resistant. In order to fully realize this enhanced potential, however, higher neutron rates must be met with improved detection capabilities, particularly higher count rate capability in large size detectors, while maintaining practicality. We have developed a neutron detector with the technical and economic advantages to accomplish this goal. This new detector has a large sensitive area, offers 3D spatial resolution, high sensitivity and high count rate capability, and it is economical and practical to produce. The proposed detector technology is based on B-10 thin film conversion of neutrons in long straw-like gas detectors. A stack of many such detectors, each 1 meter in length, and 4 mm in diameter, has a stopping power …

Cavity and cryomodule development work for a superconducting ion linac has been underway for several years at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The original application of the work was the proposed Rare Isotope Accelerator. At present, the work is being continued for use with the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). The baseline linac for FRIB requires 4 types of superconducting cavities to cover the velocity range needed to accelerate an ion beam to #21; 200 MeV/u: 2 types of quarter-wave resonator (QWR) and 2 types of half-wave resonator (HWR). Superconducting solenoids are used for focussing. Active and passive shielding is required to ensure that the solenoids’ field does not degrade the cavity performance. First prototypes of both QWR types and one HWR type have been fabricated and tested. A prototype solenoid has been procured and tested. A test cryomodule has been fabricated and tested. The test cryomodule contains one QWR, one HWR, one solenoid, and one super-ferric quadrupole. This report covers the design, fabrication, and testing of this cryomodule

The purpose of this report is to establish radiological acceptance criteria for uranium. Other factors for acceptance not considered include criticality safety concerns, contaminants to the process stream, and impacts to the Safety Basis for the affected facilities. Three types of criteria were developed in this report. They include limits on external penetrating and non-penetrating radiation and on the internal hazard associated with inhalation of the material. These criteria are intended to alleviate the need for any special controls beyond what are normally utilized for worker protection from uranium hazards. Any proposed exceptions would require case-by-case evaluations to determine cost impacts and feasibility. Since Y-12 has set rigorous ALARA goals for worker doses, the external limits are based on assumptions of work time involved in the movement of accepted material plus the desire that external doses normally received are not exceeded, and set so that no special personnel monitoring would be required. Internal hazard controls were established so that dose contributions from non-uranium nuclides would not exceed 10% of that expected from the uranium component. This was performed using a Hazard Index (HI) previously established for work in areas contaminated with non-uranium nuclides. The radiological acceptance criteria for uranium are …

CKM mixing between third family quarks and a possible fourth family is constrained by global fits to the precision electroweak data. The dominant constraint is from nondecoupling oblique corrections rather than the vertex correction to Z {yields} {bar b}b used in previous analyses. The possibility of large mixing suggested by some recent analyses of FCNC processes is excluded, but 3-4 mixing of the same order as the Cabbibo mixing of the first two families is allowed.

We develop a multiscale simulation method for dense granular drainage, based on the recently proposed spot model, where the particle packing flows by local collective displacements in response to diffusing"spots'" of interstitial free volume. By comparing with discrete-element method (DEM) simulations of 55,000 spheres in a rectangular silo, we show that the spot simulation is able to approximately capture many features of drainage, such as packing statistics, particle mixing, and flow profiles. The spot simulation runs two to three orders of magnitude faster than DEM, making it an appropriate method for real-time control or optimization. We demonstrateextensions for modeling particle heaping and avalanching at the free surface, and for simulating the boundary layers of slower flow near walls. We show that the spot simulations are robust and flexible, by demonstrating that they can be used in both event-driven and fixed timestep approaches, and showing that the elastic relaxation step used in the model can be applied much less frequently and still create good results.

The CeTIn_5 superconductors (T=Co, Rh, or Ir) have generated great interest due to their relatively high transition temperatures, non-Fermi liquid behavior, and their proximity to antiferromagnetic order and quantum critical points. In contrast to small changes with the T-species, electron doping in CeT(In_1-x M_x)_5 with $M$=Sn and hole doping with Cd or Hg have a dramatic effect on the electronic properties at very low concentrations. The present work reports local structure measurements usingthe extended x-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) technique that address the substituent atom distribution as a function of T, M, and x, in the vicinity of the superconducting phase. Together with previous measurements for M=Sn, the proportion of the $M$ atom residing on the In(1) site, f_\textrm In(1), increases in the order M=Cd, Sn, and Hg, ranging from about 40\percent to 70percent, showing a strong preference for each of these substituents to occupy the In(1) site (random occupation = 20percent). In addition, f_In(1) ranges from 70percent to 100percent for M=Hg in the order T=Co,Rh, and Ir. These fractions track the changes in the atomic radii of the various species, and help explain the sharp dependence of $T_c$ on substituting into the In site. However, it is difficult to reconcile …

The major accomplishments of the project are the successful software implementation of the Phase I scheduling algorithms for GMPLS Label Switched Paths (LSPs) and the extension of the IETF Path Computation Element (PCE) Protocol to support scheduling extensions. In performing this work, we have demonstrated the theoretical work of Phase I, analyzed key issues, and made relevant extensions. Regarding the software implementation, we developed a proof of concept prototype as part of our Algorithm Evaluation System (AES). This implementation uses the Linux operating system to provide software portability and will be the foundation for our commercial software. To demonstrate proof of concept, we have implemented LSP scheduling algorithms to support two of the key GMPLS switching technologies (Lambda and Packet) and support both Fixed Path (FP) and Switched Path (SP) routing. We chose Lambda and Packet because we felt it was essential to include both circuit and packet switching technologies as well as to address all-optical switching in the study. As conceptualized in Phase I, the FP algorithms use a traditional approach where the LSP uses the same physical path for the entire service duration while the innovative SP algorithms allow the physical path to vary during the service duration. …

The objectives of this paper are: (1) validate H{sub 2} FC vehicles and infrastructure in parallel; (2) identify current status and evolution of the technology; (3) objectively assess progress toward technology readiness; and (4) provide feedback to H{sub 2} research and development.

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Design of Experiments (DoE) were developed and performed in an effort to discover and resolve the causes of three different manufacturing issues; large panel voids after Hot Air Solder Leveling (HASL), cable hole locations out of tolerance after lamination and delamination/solder wicking around flat flex cable circuit lands after HASL. Results from a first DoE indicated large panel voids could be eliminated by removing the pre-HASL cleaning. It also revealed eliminating the pre-HASL bake would not be detrimental when using a hard press pad lamination stackup. A second DoE indicated a reduction in hard press pad stackup lamination pressure reduced panel stretch in the y axis approximately 70%. A third DoE illustrated increasing the pre-HASL bake temperature could reduce delamination/solder wicking when using a soft press pad lamination stackup.

Ordering of Fe{sup 3+} and Fe{sup 2+} between octahedral (Oh) and tetrahedral (Td) sites in synthetic members of the magnetite (Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}) - ulvoespinel (Fe{sub 2}TiO{sub 4}) solid-solution series was determined using Fe L{sub 2,3}-edge X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) coupled with electron microprobe and chemical analysis, Ti L-edge spectroscopy, Fe K-edge EXAFS and XANES, Fe{sub 57} Moessbauer spectroscopy, and unit cell parameters. Microprobe analysis, cell edges and chemical FeO determinations showed that the bulk compositions of the samples were stoichiometric magnetite-ulvoespinel solid-solutions. Surface sensitive XMCD showed that the surfaces of these oxide minerals were more sensitive to redox conditions and some samples required re-equilibration with suitable solid-solid buffers. Detailed site-occupancy analysis of these samples gave XMCD-Fe{sup 2+}/Fe{sup 3+} ratios very close to stoichiometric values. L{sub 2,3}-edge spectroscopy showed that Ti{sup 4+} was restricted to Oh sites. XMCD results showed that significant Fe{sup 2+} only entered Td when the Ti content was > 0.40 apfu while Fe{sup 2+} in Oh increased from 1 a.p.f.u in magnetite to a maximum of {approx}1.4 apfu in USP45. As the Ti content increased from this point, the steady increase in Fe{sup 2+} in Td sites was clearly observable in the XMCD spectra, concurrent …

A number of fundamental scientific questions have arisen concerning the operation of high-energy DR and CT systems. Some of these questions include: (1) How deeply can such systems penetrate thickly shielded objects? (2) How well can such systems distinguish between dense and relatively high Z materials such as lead, tungsten and depleted uranium and lower Z materials such as steel, copper and tin? (3) How well will such systems operate for a uranium material which is an intermediate case between low density yellowcake and high density depleted uranium metal? These questions have led us to develop a set of phantoms to help answer these questions, but do not have any direct bearing on any smuggling concern. These new phantoms are designed to allow a systemic exploration of these questions by gradually varying their compositions and thicknesses. These phantoms are also good probes of the blurring behavior of radiography and tomography systems. These phantoms are composed of steel ({rho} assumed to be 7.8 g/cc), lead ({rho} assumed to be 11.4 g/cc), tungsten ({rho} assumed to be 19.25 g/cc), uranium oxide (UO{sub 3}) ({rho} assumed to be 4.6 g/cc), and depleted uranium (DU) ({rho} assumed to be 18.9 g/cc). There are five …

This dissertation discusses a data collection experiment within the Actinide Isomer Identification project (AID). The AID project is the investigation of an active interrogation technique that utilizes nuclear isomer production, with the goal of assisting in the interdiction of illicit nuclear materials. In an attempt to find and characterize isomers belonging to 235U and its fission fragments, a 232Th target was bombarded with a monoenergetic 6Li ion beam, operating at 45 MeV.

The paper examines the pressure increase resulting from injection of CO2 into a 1D radial system with closed boundaries. The finding is that unacceptably high pressures are obtained when only 1% or less of the pore volume is occupied by injected CO2. These results are used to make the general conclusion that large-scale CCS is not feasible.

We present the results of a series of experiments studying how visualization software scales to massive data sets. Although several paradigms exist for processing large data, we focus on pure parallelism, the dominant approach for production software. These experiments utilized multiple visualization algorithms and were run on multiple architectures. Two types of experiments were performed. For the first, we examined performance at massive scale: 16,000 or more cores and one trillion or more cells. For the second, we studied weak scaling performance. These experiments were performed on the largest data set sizes published to date in visualization literature, and the findings on scaling characteristics and bottlenecks contribute to understanding of how pure parallelism will perform at high levels of concurrency and with very large data sets.

This paper presents a methodology for modeling residential appliance uptake as a function of root macroeconomic drivers. The analysis concentrates on four major energy end uses in the residential sector: refrigerators, washing machines, televisions and air conditioners. The model employs linear regression analysis to parameterize appliance ownership in terms of household income, urbanization and electrification rates according to a standard binary choice (logistic) function. The underlying household appliance ownership data are gathered from a variety of sources including energy consumption and more general standard of living surveys. These data span a wide range of countries, including many developing countries for which appliance ownership is currently low, but likely to grow significantly over the next decades as a result of economic development. The result is a 'global' parameterization of appliance ownership rates as a function of widely available macroeconomic variables for the four appliances studied, which provides a reliable basis for interpolation where data are not available, and forecasting of ownership rates on a global scale. The main value of this method is to form the foundation of bottom-up energy demand forecasts, project energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and allow for the construction of detailed emissions mitigation scenarios.

We introduce a coarsening algorithm for algebraic multigrid (AMG) based on the concept of compatible relaxation (CR). The algorithm is significantly different from standard methods, most notably because it does not rely on any notion of strength of connection. We study its behavior on a number of model problems, and evaluate the performance of an AMG algorithm that incorporates the coarsening approach. Lastly, we introduce a variant of CR that provides a sharper metric of coarse-grid quality and demonstrate its potential with two simple examples.

The Weather and Research Forecast (WRF) model version 3.0.1 is used to explore California wintertime model wet bias. In this study, two wintertime storms are selected from each of four major types of large-scale conditions; Pineapple Express, El Nino, La Nina, and synoptic cyclones. We test the impacts of several model configurations on precipitation bias through comparison with three sets of gridded surface observations; one from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and two variations from the University of Washington (without and with long-term trend adjustment; UW1 and UW2, respectively). To simplify validation, California is divided into 4 regions (Coast, Central Valley, Mountains, and Southern California). Simulations are driven by North American Regional Reanalysis data to minimize large-scale forcing error. Control simulations are conducted with 12-km grid spacing (low resolution) but additional experiments are performed at 2-km (high) resolution to evaluate the robustness of microphysics and cumulus parameterizations to resolution changes. We find that the choice of validation dataset has a significant impact on the model wet bias, and the forecast skill of model precipitation depends strongly on geographic location and storm type. Simulations with right physics options agree better with UW1 observations. In 12-km resolution simulations, the Lin microphysics …