The unit to be installed at Lebanon Veteran's Affairs Medical Center will prove that circulating fluidized bed combustion can provide economically viable and efficient hospital waste destruction and steam generation. The State permitting process is proceeding. The air quality division of the Department of Environmental Resources has requested the use of anthracite coal only. Anthracite has a much lower sulfur content than bituminous coal. The use of the anthracite coal has been approved by the Department of Veteran's Affairs. The DER permit will specify the use of antrhacite coal. The State permitting approval is expected in the near future. Testing with the shredding system at the Donlee Pilot facility has been completed. The results predict the Lebanon VA facility will meet both NSPS regulations and the BAT guidelines proposed by the State of Pennsylvania. There have been no significant problems encountered to date.

The unit to be installed at Lebanon Veteran`s Affairs Medical Center will prove that circulating fluidized bed combustion can provide economically viable and efficient hospital waste destruction and steam generation. The State permitting process is proceeding. The air quality division of the Department of Environmental Resources has requested the use of anthracite coal only. Anthracite has a much lower sulfur content than bituminous coal. The use of the anthracite coal has been approved by the Department of Veteran`s Affairs. The DER permit will specify the use of antrhacite coal. The State permitting approval is expected in the near future. Testing with the shredding system at the Donlee Pilot facility has been completed. The results predict the Lebanon VA facility will meet both NSPS regulations and the BAT guidelines proposed by the State of Pennsylvania. There have been no significant problems encountered to date.

An EPR technique developed in this lab is being used to determine the pore size and number distribution changes after swelling the coal samples with various solvents. Stable nitroxide radical spin probes of different sizes, shapes and reactivity are dissolved in an appropriate solvent, the coal sample is added to the resulting solution, stirred over night at elevated temperature, filtered, washed with a nonswelling solvent to eliminate any spin probes that are not trapped in the pores and the spin concentration measured. Comparing these spin probe measurements to DRIFT data have shown that the relative number distribution of acidic functionalities can be accurately predicted by the spin probe method. The spin probe method has also been used to predict the increase in elongated voids in Pittsburgh No. 8 (APCS No. 4) upon swelling with pyridine in agreement with independent SANS data. NMR relaxation data show that it is possible to deduce the pore (accessibility) distribution as a function of size (up to 6 nm). It has also been possible by variable temperature and ENDOR measurements to determine the presence of hydrogen bonding as a function of pore shape and size. The advantage of EPR method is that it permits molecules …

An EPR technique developed in this lab is being used to determine the pore size and number distribution changes after swelling the coal samples with various solvents. Stable nitroxide radical spin probes of different sizes, shapes and reactivity are dissolved in an appropriate solvent, the coal sample is added to the resulting solution, stirred over night at elevated temperature, filtered, washed with a nonswelling solvent to eliminate any spin probes that are not trapped in the pores and the spin concentration measured. Comparing these spin probe measurements to DRIFT data have shown that the relative number distribution of acidic functionalities can be accurately predicted by the spin probe method. The spin probe method has also been used to predict the increase in elongated voids in Pittsburgh No. 8 (APCS No. 4) upon swelling with pyridine in agreement with independent SANS data. NMR relaxation data show that it is possible to deduce the pore (accessibility) distribution as a function of size (up to 6 nm). It has also been possible by variable temperature and ENDOR measurements to determine the presence of hydrogen bonding as a function of pore shape and size. The advantage of EPR method is that it permits molecules …

This report presents information on research focused on soliton propagation in optical fibers.

This report presents information on research focused on soliton propagation in optical fibers.

AH dynamical evidence points to the conclusion that the predominant form of matter in the universe is in a non-luminous form. Furthermore, large scale deviations from uniform Hubble flow, and the recent COBE reports of inhomogeneities in the cosmic microwave background strongly suggest that we live in an exactly closed universe. If this is true, then ordinary baryonic matter could only be a minority component (10% at most) of the missing mass, and that what constitutes the majority of the dark matter must involve new physics. The axion is one of very few well motivated candidates which may comprise the dark matter. Additionally it is a `cold` dark-matter candidate which is preferred by the COBE data. We propose to construct and operate an experiment to search for axions which may constitute the dark matter of our own galaxy. As proposed by Sikivie, dark-matter axions may be detected by their stimulated conversion into monochromatic microwave photons in a tunable high-Q cavity inside a strong magnetic field. Our ability to mount an experiment quickly and take data within one year is due to a confluence of three factors. The first is the availability of a compact high field superconducting magnet and a …

This report summarizes the survey approach and results of the Department of Public Service`s survey of retail fuel oil and propane prices during the 1991-92 heating season. The semi-monthly phone surveys were conducted in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Energy`s State Fuel Oil and Propane Program, which coordinated surveys of heating fuel, prices by 25 eastern and midwest states. This federal/state program serves as a method for fast collection, analysis, and dissemination of information on current residential prices. No other information source meets needs for timely retail, price information over the course of the heating season.

The Pennsylvania State University is conducting a superclean coal-water slurry (SCCWS) program for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the objective of determining the capability of effectively firing SCCWS in an industrial boiler designed for oil. Penn State has entered into a cooperative agreement with DOE to determine if SCCWS (a fuel containing coal with less than 3.0 wt.% ash and 0.9 wt.% sulfur) can effectively be burned in an oil-designed industrial boiler without adverse impact on boiler rating, maintainability, reliability, and availability. The project will provide information on the design of new systems specifically configured to fire these clean coal-based fuels.

The Pennsylvania State University is conducting a superclean coal-water slurry (SCCWS) program for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the objective of determining the capability of effectively firing SCCWS in an industrial boiler designed for oil. Penn State has entered into a cooperative agreement with DOE to determine if SCCWS (a fuel containing coal with less than 3.0 wt.% ash and 0.9 wt.% sulfur) can effectively be burned in an oil-designed industrial boiler without adverse impact on boiler rating, maintainability, reliability, and availability. The project will provide information on the design of new systems specifically configured to fire these clean coal-based fuels.

Weekly newsletter discussing natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing, and other information related to the outdoors in Texas.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

The DWPF will satisfy the product consistency specification in the Waste Acceptance Preliminary Specifications through control of the chemical composition of the glass product. This control will be achieved by ensuring that each batch of feed in the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) will produce glass which satisfies the specification. The purpose of this report is to determine what degree of uniformity can be expected of material in the SME and Metter Feed Tank (MFT). These vessels were designed based on a design development process which had proven successful for similar hard-to-mix feeds in the past. This process resulted in a design of the SME and MFT agitation systems which was intended to provide highly uniform melter feed material. Based on the results of extensive tests in protoypic equipment, the SME and MFT designs have met this design goal.

The DWPF will satisfy the product consistency specification in the Waste Acceptance Preliminary Specifications through control of the chemical composition of the glass product. This control will be achieved by ensuring that each batch of feed in the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) will produce glass which satisfies the specification. The purpose of this report is to determine what degree of uniformity can be expected of material in the SME and Metter Feed Tank (MFT). These vessels were designed based on a design development process which had proven successful for similar hard-to-mix feeds in the past. This process resulted in a design of the SME and MFT agitation systems which was intended to provide highly uniform melter feed material. Based on the results of extensive tests in protoypic equipment, the SME and MFT designs have met this design goal.