This quarterly report includes summaries of the following tasks: (1) OTEC pilot plant conceptual design review; (2) OTEC methanol; (3) management decision requirements for OTEC construction; (4) hybrid geothermal - OTEC (GEOTEC) power plant performance estimates; and (5) supervision of testing of pneumatic wave energy conversion system.

This quarterly report summarizes work of the following tasks as of March 31, 1982: OTEC pilot plant conceptual design review; OTEC methanol; review of electrolyzer development programs and requirements; financial and legal considerations in OTEC implementation; potential Navy sites for GEOTEC systems; hybrid geothermal-OTEC power plants: single-cycle performance estimates; and supervision of testing of pneumatic wave energy conversion system.

The potential for solr process heat applications for federal buildings in Texas is assessed. The three sites considered are Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock; Fort Bliss, El Paso; and Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene. The application at Lubbock is an electroplating and descaling facility for aircraft maintenance. The one at El Paso is a laundry facility. The Abilene system would use solar heat to preheat boiler feedwater makeup for the base hospital boiler plant. The Lubbock site is found to be the most appropriate one for a demonstration plant, with the Abilene site as an alternate. The processes at each site are described. A preliminary evaluation of the potential contribution by solar energy to the electroplating facility at Reese AFB is included. (LEW)

Progress is reported on the development of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) systems that will provide synthetic fuels (e.g., methanol), energy-intensive products such as ammonia (for fertilizers and chemicals), and aluminum. The work also includes assessment and design concepts for hybrid plants, such as geothermal-OTEC (GEOTEC) plants. Another effort that began in the spring of 1982 is a technical advisory role to DOE with respect to their management of the conceptual and preliminary design activity of industry teams that are designing a shelf-mounted offshore OTEC pilot plant that could deliver power to Oahu, Hawaii. In addition, a program is underway to evaluate and test the Pneumatic Wave-Energy Conversion System (PWECS), an ocean-energy device consisting of a turbine that is air-driven as a result of wave action in a chamber. This Quarterly Report summarizes the work on the various tasks as of 31 March 1983.

This document reports the results of groundwater monitoring in September 2005 and March 2006 at the grain storage facility formerly operated at Morrill, Kansas, by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA). These activities were the first and second twice yearly sampling events of the two-year monitoring program approved by the CCC/USDA and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) project managers. The monitoring network sampled in September 2005 consisted of 9 monitoring wells (MW1S-MW5S and MW1D [installed in the mid 1990s] and MW6S-MW8S [installed in 2004]), plus 3 private wells (Isch, Rillinger, and Stone). The groundwater samples collected in this first event were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), dissolved hydrogen, and additional groundwater parameters to aid in evaluating the potential for reductive dechlorination processes. After the monitoring in September 2005, Argonne recommended expansion of the initial monitoring network. Previous sampling (August 2004) had already suggested that the initial network was inadequate to delineate the extent of the carbon tetrachloride plume. With the approval of the CCC/USDA and KDHE project managers, the monitoring network was expanded in January 2006 through the installation of 3 additional monitoring wells (MW9S-MW11S). Details of the monitoring well installations are …

On September 8-9, 2005, representatives of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA), and Argonne National Laboratory met at the KDHE's offices in Topeka to review the status of the CCC/USDA's environmental activities in Kansas. As a result of this meeting, the KDHE recommended several additional activities to augment the CCC/USDA's investigations at Everest, Kansas, and assist in the selection of remedial approaches to be evaluated as part of a Corrective Action Study (CAS) for this site. The requested actions included the following: (1) Construction of several additional interpretive cross sections illustrating the hydrogeologic setting along the apparent main plume migration pathway to the north-northwest of the former CCC/USDA facility, as well as in the vicinity of the Nigh property. (2) Installation of additional permanent monitoring wells, to better constrain the apparent western, northern, and northwestern margins of the existing groundwater plume. (3) Development of technical recommendations for a phased pumping study of the Everest aquifer unit in the area near and to the north of the Nigh property.

This quarterly report summarizes work on the following tasks: OTEC methanol; approaches for financing OTEC proof-of-concept experimental vessels; investigation of OTEC-ammonia as an alternative fuel; review of electrolyzer development programs and requirements; hybrid geothermal-OTEC power plants: single-cycle performance; estimates; and hybrid geothermal-OTEC power plants: dual-cycle performance estimates.

A phase II study has been initiated to investigate surfactant-assisted coal liquefaction, with the objective of quantifying the enhancement in liquid yields and product quality. This publication covers the first quarter of work. The major accomplishments were: (1) the refurbishment of the high-pressure, high-temperature reactor autoclave, (2) the completion of four coal liquefaction runs with Pittsburgh [number sign]8 coal, two each with and without sodium lignosulfonate surfactant, and (3) the development of an analysis scheme for the product liquid filtrate and filter cake. Initial results at low reactor temperatures show that the addition of the surfactant produces an improvement in conversion yields and an increase in lighter boiling point fractions for the filtrate.

A phase II study has been initiated to investigate surfactant-assisted coal liquefaction, with the objective of quantifying the enhancement in liquid yields and product quality. This publication covers the first quarter of work. The major accomplishments were: (1) the refurbishment of the high-pressure, high-temperature reactor autoclave, (2) the completion of four coal liquefaction runs with Pittsburgh {number_sign}8 coal, two each with and without sodium lignosulfonate surfactant, and (3) the development of an analysis scheme for the product liquid filtrate and filter cake. Initial results at low reactor temperatures show that the addition of the surfactant produces an improvement in conversion yields and an increase in lighter boiling point fractions for the filtrate.

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This report describes the results of the one-year project entitled ''Improved Approaches to Design of Polymer Gel Treatments in Mature Oil Fields: Field Demonstration in Dickman Field, Ness County, Kansas''. The project was a 12-month collaboration of Grand Mesa Operating Company (a small independent), TIORCO Inc. (a company focused on improved recovery technology) and the University of Kansas. The study undertook tasks to determine an optimum polymer gel treatment design in Mississippian reservoirs, demonstrate application, and evaluate the success of the program. The project investigated geologic and engineering parameters and cost-effective technologies required for design and implementation of effective polymer gel treatment programs in the Mississippian reservoir in the Midcontinent. The majority of Mississippian production in Kansas occurs at or near the top of the Mississippian section just below the regional sub-Pennsylvanian unconformity and karst surface. Dickman Field with the extremely high water cuts and low recovery factors is typical of Mississippian reservoirs. Producibility problems in these reservoirs include inadequate reservoir characterization, drilling and completion design problems, and most significantly extremely high water cuts and low recovery factors that place continued operations at or near their economic limits. Geologic, geophysical and engineering data were integrated to provide a technical foundation …

This research grant supported the creation and initial development of a new kind of chemical detector; one that can detect species at part per trillion levels because it does not rely on the direct measurement of a species presence; rather, it uses an indirect measurement of the effect of the trace species on the condensation nucleation of a supersaturated vapor. Since this nucleation process is extremely sensitive to the concentrations of certain types of impurities, this nucleation-based detection can be made more sensitive than any current spectroscopic detector.

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This quarterly report summarizes work on the following tasks as of September 30, 1982: (1) OTEC pilot plant conceptual design review; (2) OTEC methanol; (3) financial and legal considerations in OTEC implementation; (4) GEOTEC resource exploration at Adak, Alaska, and Lualualei, Hawaii; (5) preliminary GEOTEC plant cost estimates; and (6) supervision of testing of pneumatic wave energy conversion system.

This project addressed two main goals and one much smaller one. The main goals were (1) to improve the significance, reliability and information content in high-resolution NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) characterization of coal samples and (2) to develop chemically informative NMR imaging techniques for coal. The minor goal was to explore advanced features of dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) as a technique for coal characterization; this included the development of two DNP probes and the examination of DNP characteristics of various carbonaceous samples, including coals. {sup 13}C NMR advances for coal depended on large-sample MAS devices, employing either cross-polarization (CP) or direct polarization (DP) approaches. CP and DP spin dynamics and their relationships to quantitation and spin counting were elucidated. {sup 1}H NMR studies, based on CRAMPS, dipolar dephasing and saturation with perdeuteropyridine, led to a {sup 1}H NMR-based elucidation of chemical functionality in coal. {sup 1}H and {sup 13}C NMR imaging techniques, based on magic-angle spinning and rotating magnetic field gradients, were developed for introducing chemical shift information (hence, chemical detail) into the spatial imaging of coal. The TREV multiple-pulse sequence was found to be useful in the {sup 1}H CRAMPS imaging of samples like coal.

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Tundra lakes on the North Slope, Alaska, are an important resource for energy development and petroleum field operations. A majority of exploration activities, pipeline maintenance, and restoration activities take place on winter ice roads that depend on water availability at key times of the winter operating season. These same lakes provide important fisheries and ecosystem functions. In particular, overwintering habitat for fish is one important management concern. This study focused on the evaluation of winter water use in the current field operating areas to provide a better understanding of the current water use practices. It found that under the current water use practices, there were no measurable negative effects of winter pumping on the lakes studied and current water use management practices were appropriately conservative. The study did find many areas where improvements in the understanding of tundra lake hydrology and water usage would benefit industry, management agencies, and the protection of fisheries and ecosystems.

Monthly newsletter discussing news and activities related to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, articles about weather and atmospheric phenomena, and other related topics.

Monthly newsletter discussing news and activities related to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, articles about weather and atmospheric phenomena, and other related topics.

The main objectives of the proposed study are as follows: (1) To understand and evaluate an unusual primary oil production mechanism which results in decreasing (retrograde) oil cut (ROC) behavior as reservoir pressure declines. (2) To improve calculations of initial oil in place so as to determine the economic feasibility of completing and producing a well. (3) To optimize the location of new wells based on understanding of geological and petrophysical properties heterogeneities. (4) To evaluate various secondary recovery techniques for oil reservoirs producing from fractured formations. (5) To enhance the productivity of producing wells by using new completion techniques. These objectives are important for optimizing field performance from West Carney Field located in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. The field, which was discovered in 1980, produces from Hunton Formation in a shallow-shelf carbonate reservoir. The early development in the field was sporadic. Many of the initial wells were abandoned due to high water production and constraints in surface facilities for disposing excess produced water. The field development began in earnest in 1995 by Altex Resources. They had recognized that production from this field was only possible if large volumes of water can be disposed. Being able to dispose large amounts of …

In an effort to expand the energy savings programs within the State, the Wisconsin Division of Energy obtained funding through the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), with additional funding assistance through the Rebuild America Program (RBA) to install the Whole Building Diagnostician (WBD) software program as a test bed project in two of the State’s facilities in Wisconsin. This report discusses the results of this effort.