Experiments on the flow loop are continuing. Improvements to the software for data acquisition are being made as additional experience with three-phase flow is gained. Modifications are being made to the Cuttings Injection System in order to improve control and the precision of cuttings injection. The design details for a drill-pipe Rotation System have been completed. A US Patent was filed on October 28, 2002 for a new design for an instrument that can generate a variety of foams under elevated pressures and temperatures and then transfer the test foam to a viscometer for measurements of viscosity. Theoretical analyses of cuttings transport phenomena based on a layered model is under development. Calibrations of two nuclear densitometers have been completed. Baseline tests have been run to determine wall roughness in the 4 different tests sections (i.e. 2-in, 3-in, 4-in pipes and 5.76-in by 3.5-in annulus) of the flow loop. Tests have also been conducted with aerated fluids at EPET conditions. Preliminary experiments on the two candidate aqueous foam formulations were conducted which included rheological tests of the base fluid and foam stability reports. These were conducted after acceptance of the proposal on the Study of Cuttings Transport with Foam Under Elevated …

Eltron Research Inc. and team members CoorsTek, Sued Chemie, and Argonne National Laboratory are developing an environmentally benign, inexpensive, and efficient method for separating hydrogen from gas mixtures produced during industrial processes, such as coal gasification. This project was motivated by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Vision 21 initiative, which seeks to economically eliminate environmental concerns associated with the use of fossil fuels. Currently, this project is focusing on four basic categories of dense membranes: (i) mixed conducting ceramic/ceramic composites, (ii) mixed conducting ceramic/metal (cermet) composites, (iii) cermets with hydrogen permeable metals, and (iv) hydrogen permeable alloys. Ultimately, these materials must enable hydrogen separation at practical rates under ambient and high-pressure conditions, without deactivation in the presence of feedstream components such as carbon dioxide, water, and sulfur. This report describes resent results for long-term hydrogen permeation and chemical stability measurements, new mixed conducting cermets, progress in cermet, thin film, and thin-walled tube fabrication, hydrogen absorption measurements for selected compositions, and membrane facilitated alkane to olefin conversion.

Despite a number of published studies on the effectiveness of lighting controls in buildings, only one US study examines the occupancy patterns of building occupants. Occupancy profiles allow one to determine, for example, the probability that an office is occupied for each hour of the workday. Occupancy profiles are useful for many purposes including: (1) predicting the effectiveness of occupancy sensors for reducing peak demand, (2) evaluating the impact of human activity on building lighting and other electric loads and (3) providing lighting equipment manufacturers with detailed lighting operation data to help evaluate the impact of advanced lighting controls on equipment life. In this paper, we examine the occupancy profiles for 35 single person offices at a large office building in San Francisco and analyze the data to obtain average occupancy as a function of time of day. In addition, we analyzed the data to identify how the use of occupancy sensors may affect switching cycles and lamp life.

This paper presents preliminary findings from DOEs pilot program. The results show how a web-based monitoring system can form the basis for aggregation of data and correlation and benchmarking across broad geographical lines. A longer report describes additional findings from the pilot, including impacts of power quality and reliability on customers operations [Divan, Brumsickle, Eto 2003].

Throughout the utility industry, there is high interest in subsurface imaging of plastic, ceramic, and metallic objects because of the cost, reliability, and safety benefits available in avoiding impacts with the existing infrastructure and in reducing inappropriate excavations. Industry interest in locating plastic pipe has resulted in funding available for the development of technologies that enable this imaging. Gas Technology Institute (GTI) proposes to develop a compact and inexpensive capacitive tomography imaging sensor that takes the form of a flat plate or flexible mat that can be placed on the ground to image objects embedded in the soil. A compact, low-cost sensor that can image objects through soil could be applied to multiple operations and will produce a number of cost savings for the gas industry. In a stand-alone mode, it could be used to survey an area prior to excavation. The technology would improve the accuracy and reliability of any operation that involves excavation by locating or avoiding buried objects. An accurate subsurface image of an area will enable less costly keyhole excavations and other cost-saving techniques. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been applied to this area with limited success. Radar requires a high-frequency carrier to be injected into …

The primary objective of this study was to measure the effect of adding triethanolamine (TEA) to caustic leaching solutions to improve the solubility of aluminum in actual tank-waste sludge. High-level radioactive waste sludge that had a high aluminum assay was used for the tests. This waste, which originated with the processing of aluminum-clad/aluminum-alloy fuels, generates high levels of heat because of the high {sup 90}Sr concentration and contains hard-to-dissolve boehmite phases. In concept, a chelating agent, such as TEA, can both improve the dissolution rate and increase the concentration in the liquid phase. For this reason, TEA could also increase the solubility of other sludge components that are potentially problematic to downstream processing. Tests were conducted to determine if this were the case. Because of its relatively high vapor pressure, process design should include methods to minimize losses of the TEA. Sludge was retrieved from tank 12H at the Savannah River Site by on-site personnel, and then shipped to Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the study. The sludge contained a small quantity of rocky debris. One slate-like flat piece, which had approximate dimensions of 1 1/4 x 1/2 x 1/8 in., was recovered. Additional gravel-like fragments with approximate diameters ranging …

The objectives of the first year of phase 2 of the program are to construct and operate an engineering pilot reactor for OTM oxygen. Work to support this objective is being undertaken in the following areas in this quarter: Element reliability; Element fabrication; Systems technology; Power recovery; and IGCC process analysis and economics. The major accomplishments this quarter were Preferred OTM architectures have been identified through stress analysis; and The 01 reactor was operated at target flux and target purity for 1000 hours.

The purpose of this document is to provide the technical requirements for preparation for use, operation, inspection, and maintenance of a Transuranic Package Transporter Model II (TRUPACT-II), a HalfPACT shipping package, and directly related components. This document complies with the minimum requirements as specified in the TRUPACT-II Safety Analysis Report for Packaging (SARP), HalfPACT SARP, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Certificates of Compliance (C of C) 9218 and 9279, respectively. In the event of a conflict between this document and the SARP or C of C, the C of C shall govern. The C of Cs state: ''each package must be prepared for shipment and operated in accordance with the procedures described in Chapter 7.0, Operating Procedures, of the application.'' They further state: ''each package must be tested and maintained in accordance with the procedures described in Chapter 8.0, Acceptance Tests and Maintenance Program of the Application.'' Chapter 9.0 of the SARP charges the WIPP management and operating (M&O) contractor with assuring packaging is used in accordance with the requirements of the C of C. Because the packaging is NRC-approved, users need to be familiar with 10 CFR 71.11. Any time a user suspects or has indications that the conditions …

Advanced Technology Systems, Inc. (ATS), with Desert Research Institute (DRI) and Ohio University as subcontractors, was contracted by the NETL in September 1998 to manage the Upper Ohio River Valley Project (UORVP), with a goal of characterizing the ambient fine particulate in this region, including examination of urban/rural variations, correlations between PM{sub 2.5} and gaseous pollutants, and influences of artifacts on PM{sub 2.5} measurements in this region. Two urban and two rural monitoring sites were included in the UORVP. The four sites selected were all part of existing local and/or state air quality programs. One urban site was located in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at an air quality monitoring station operated by the Allegheny County Health Department. A second urban site was collocated at a West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) monitoring station at the airport in Morgantown, West Virginia. One rural site was collocated with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) at a former NARSTO-Northeast site near Holbrook, Greene County, Pennsylvania. The other rural site was collocated at a site operated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OHEPA) and managed by the Ohio State Forestry Division in Gifford State Forest near Athens, Ohio. Analysis of …

This is the first Semiannual Technical Report for DOE Cooperative Agreement No: DE-FC26-02NT41580. The goal of this project is to systematically assess the sensitivity of furnace operational conditions to burner air and fuel flows in coal fired utility boilers. Our approach is to utilize existing baseline furnace models that have been constructed using Reaction Engineering International's (REI) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. Using CFD analyses provides the ability to carry out a carefully controlled virtual experiment to characterize the sensitivity of NOx emissions, unburned carbon (UBC), furnace exit CO (FECO), furnace exit temperature (FEGT), and waterwall deposition to burner flow controls. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is providing co-funding for this program, and instrument and controls experts from EPRI's Instrument and Controls (I&C) Center are active participants in this project. This program contains multiple tasks and good progress is being made on all fronts. A project kickoff meeting was held in conjunction with NETL's 2002 Sensors and Control Program Portfolio Review and Roadmapping Workshop, in Pittsburgh, PA during October 15-16, 2002. Dr. Marc Cremer, REI, and Dr. Paul Wolff, EPRI I&C, both attended and met with the project COR, Susan Maley. Following the review of REI's database of wall-fired …

The Cyclic Material Properties Test was structured to obtain and provide experimental data for determining cyclic hardening/softening characteristics of HY-80 steel. The inelastic strain history data generated by this test program and the resulting cyclic stress-strain curve will be used to enhance material models in the finite element codes used to perform nonlinear elastic-plastic analysis.

During the period January 1, 2003--March 31, 2003, Allegheny Energy Supply Co., LLC (Allegheny) proceeded with improvements to both the Willow Island and Albright Generating Station cofiring systems. These improvements were designed to increase the resource base for the projects, and to address issues that came up during the first year of operations. This report summarizes the activities associated with the Designer Opportunity Fuel program, and demonstrations at Willow Island and Albright Generating Stations.

This final report describes the progress during the contract period March 1, 1998 through April 30, 2003, on the design, development, and testing of a novel mixed-refrigerant-based 1000 gal/day natural gas liquefier, together with the associated gas cleanup equipment. Based on the work, it is concluded that a cost-effective 1000 gal/day liquefaction system is technically and economically feasible. A unit based on the same developed technology, with 5000 gal/day capacity, would have much improved economics.

In full-scale boilers, the effect of biomass cofiring on NO{sub x} and unburned carbon (UBC) emissions has been found to be site-specific. Few sets of field data are comparable and no consistent database of information exists upon which cofiring fuel choice or injection system design can be based to assure that NOX emissions will be minimized and UBC be reduced. This report presents the results of a comprehensive project that generated an extensive set of pilot-scale test data that were used to validate a new predictive model for the cofiring of biomass and coal. All testing was performed at the 3.6 MMBtu/hr (1.75 MW{sub t}) Southern Company Services/Southern Research Institute Combustion Research Facility where a variety of burner configurations, coals, biomasses, and biomass injection schemes were utilized to generate a database of consistent, scalable, experimental results (422 separate test conditions). This database was then used to validate a new model for predicting NO{sub x} and UBC emissions from the cofiring of biomass and coal. This model is based on an Advanced Post-Processing (APP) technique that generates an equivalent network of idealized reactor elements from a conventional CFD simulation. The APP reactor network is a computational environment that allows for the …

This is the tenth Quarterly Technical Report for DOE Cooperative Agreement No: DE-FC26-00NT40954. The goal of the project is to develop and demonstrate a software framework to enable virtual simulation of Vision 21 plants. During the last quarter much progress was made in software development. The CO wrapper template was developed for the integration of Alstom Power proprietary code INDVU. The session management tasks were completed. The multithreading capability was made functional so that user of the integrated simulation may directly interact with the CFD software. The V21-Controller and the Fluent CO wrapper were upgraded to CO v.1.0. The testing and debugging of the upgraded software is ongoing. Testing of the integrated software was continued. A list of suggested GUI enhancements was made. Remote simulation capability was successfully tested using two networked Windows machines. Work on preparing the release version progressed: CFD database was enhanced, a convergence detection capability was implemented, a Configuration Wizard for low-order models was developed, and the Configuration Wizard for Fluent was enhanced. During the last quarter good progress was made in software demonstration. Various simplified versions of Demo Case 1 were used to debug Configuration Wizard and V21-Controller. The heat exchanger model in FLUENT was …

This progress report covers continuing work to develop a temperature probe for a coal gasifier. A workable probe design requires finding answers to crucial questions involving the probe materials. We report on attempts to answer those questions. We designed, assembled, and tested a portable test fixture that can give relative quantitative data on the condition of phosphors. It needs a more-sensitive detector for optimum performance. We ordered an appropriate detector. A second experimental test of the survivability of thermographic phosphor in a high-pressure, high-temperature reducing environment showed no substantial deterioration of the phosphor. This very important result further confirmed the results reported last time. We arranged for one more test as evidence that there is no effect or, if there is, then the data will give us a deterioration rate. That third test is underway at the time of this report. We aligned and tested the prototype probe. It works as expected. The DOE/NETL arranged for a test bed to test the probe and the measurement system in a real environment. We visited the facility to learn what will be required to do the field test.

Novel furnace designs based on Dilute Oxygen Combustion (DOC) technology were developed under subcontract by Techint Technologies, Coraopolis, PA, to fully exploit the energy and environmental capabilities of DOC technology and to provide a competitive offering for new furnace construction opportunities. Capital cost, fuel, oxygen and utility costs, NOx emissions, oxide scaling performance, and maintenance requirements were compared for five DOC-based designs and three conventional air5-fired designs using a 10-year net present value calculation. A furnace direct completely with DOC burners offers low capital cost, low fuel rate, and minimal NOx emissions. However, these benefits do not offset the cost of oxygen and a full DOC-fired furnace is projected to cost $1.30 per ton more to operate than a conventional air-fired furnace. The incremental cost of the improved NOx performance is roughly $6/lb NOx, compared with an estimated $3/lb. NOx for equ8pping a conventional furnace with selective catalytic reduction (SCCR) technology. A furnace fired with DOC burners in the heating zone and ambient temperature (cold) air-fired burners in the soak zone offers low capital cost with less oxygen consumption. However, the improvement in fuel rate is not as great as the full DOC-fired design, and the DOC-cold soak design is …

The resolution achieved in low-dose electron microscopy of biological macromolecules is significantly worse than what can be obtained on the same microscopes with more robust specimens. When two-dimensional crystals are used, it is also apparent that the high-resolution image contrast is much less than what it could be if the images were perfect. Since specimen charging is one factor that might limit the contrast and resolution achieved with biological specimens, we have investigated the use of holey support films that have been coated with a metallic film before depositing specimens onto a thin carbon film that is suspended over the holes. Monolayer crystals of paraffin (C44H90) are used as a test specimen for this work because of the relative ease in imaging Bragg spacings at {approx}0.4 nm resolution, the relative ease of measuring the contrast in these images, and the similar degree of radiation sensitivity of these crystals when compared to biological macromolecules. A metallic coating on the surrounding support film does, indeed, produce a significant improvement in the high-resolution contrast for a small fraction of the images. The majority of images show little obvious improvement, however, and even the coated area of the support film continues to show a …

In May 2002, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) signed Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC09-02CH11109 with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to support the Environmental Biosciences Program (EBP). This funding instrument replaces DOE Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC02-98CH10902. EBP is an integrated, multidisciplinary scientific program, employing a range of research initiatives to identify, study and resolve environmental health risk issues. These initiatives are consistent with the Medical University's role as a comprehensive state-supported health sciences institution and the nation's need for new and better approaches to the solution of a complex and expansive array of environment-related health problems. The intrinsic capabilities of a comprehensive health sciences institution enable the Medical University to be a national resource for the scientific investigation of environmental health issues. EBP's success in convening worldwide scientific expertise is due in part to the inherent credibility the Medical University brings to the process of addressing these complex issues.

Part of the urban heat island effect can be attributed to dark pavements that are commonly used on streets and parking lots. In this paper we consider two light colored, hence cooler, alternative paving materials that are in actual use in cities today. These are Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements and chip seals. We report measurements of the albedos of some PCC and chip sealed pavements in the San Francisco Bay Area. The albedos of the PCC pavements ranged from about 0.18 to 0.35. The temperatures of some PCC pavements are also measured and calculated. We then consider how the albedos of the constituent materials of the PCC (stone, sand and cement) contribute to the albedos of the resulting finished concrete. The albedos of a set of chip sealed pavements in San Jose, CA, were measured and correlated with the times of their placement. It is found that the albedos decrease with age (and use) but remain higher than that of standard asphalt concrete (AC) for about five years. After t hat, the albedos of the chip seals are about 0.12, similar to aged AC. The fact that many PCC pavements have albedos at least twice as high as aged …

The Final Technical Report summarizes research accomplishments and Publications in the period of 5/1/99 to 4/30/03 done on the grant. Extensive progress was made in the period covered by this report in the areas of chemical kinetics of non-linear systems; spatial structures, reaction - diffusion systems, and thermodynamic and stochastic theory of electrochemical and general systems.

Ab initio Quantum mechanics calculations of the equation of states for BaZrO{sub 3} have been performed and the bulk modulus has been obtained. The value of the modulus is in good agreement with reported experimental values. Equilibrium proton positions in Y-doped BaZrO{sub 3} with dopant concentrations from 12.5 to 50% were investigated. Initial rough estimates of the transition barriers have been made. Our results suggest that the proton migration pathway may involve secondary minima with two maxima (symmetric with respect to the center of the path). In the next phase of this project the results of our quantum mechanical calculations will be used to develop a new Reactive Force Field (ReaxFF) based on first principles. This Reactive Force Field will be used for much molecular dynamics simulations or much larger systems to investigate proton migration in bulk and surface regions of fuel cells.

This project was designed to comprehensively investigate the effects of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth variations upon tensile-strained films. Using two dimensional (2-D) structures, such as quantum wells of variable configurations, we worked to observe the electro-optical response of polarization independence. The latter had been studied for compressively strained systems. However, the proof of principle for the feasibility of tensile-strained single and double quantum wells, particularly in the GaAs as opposed to the InP material system, had been much less investigated by comparison. The significance of this project, from a Basic Energy Sciences perspective, has been in its contribution to the understanding of how MBE parameters and sample design effect the physics of strained materials which themselves have been tailored to react with polarization insensitivity. Fundamental issues of materials structure control, growth parameter modifications, and characterization methods were investigated. Both single and double quantum well systems were used with both symmetric and asymmetric well widths for the latter. In this work, we essentially investigated both the growth of and potential applications for quantum based structures that use tensile strain to induce polarization independence.

DOE prepared an environmental assessment (EA)for wildland fire management activities on the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) (DOE/EA-1372). The EA was developed to evaluate wildland fire management options for pre-fire, fire suppression, and post fire activities. Those activities have an important role in minimizing the conversion of the native sagebrush steppe ecosystem found on the INEEL to non-native weeds. Four alternative management approaches were analyzed: Alternative 1 - maximum fire protection; Alternative 2 - balanced fire protection; Alternative 2 - balanced fire protection; Alternative 3 - protect infrastructure and personnel; and Alternative 4 - no action/traditional fire protection.