The goal of this research is to develop catalysts that directly convert methane and light hydrocarbons to intermediates that later can be converted to either liquid fuels or value-added chemicals, as economics dictate. In this reporting period, we have utilized samples of magnesia differing in their pretreatment temperature. Both the hydrido-ruthenium complex H{sub 4}Ru{sub 4}(CO){sub 12} and its reaction product with triethyl aluminum were reacted with these samples. The two ruthenium clusters are expected to react with the magnesia surface in different ways: by deprotonation of the hydride through an acid-base reaction with the basic surface, or by hydrolysis of the aluminum-carbon bond of the triethyl aluminum adduct. The concentration of hydroxyl groups on the magnesia surface able to hydrolyze the aluminum-carbon bond for immobilation should vary depending on the temperature of the pretreatment; the concentration of basic sites which can deprotonate the cluster should also vary with temperature. These differences were borne out by the experiment. We also compared the activity of two batches of AlRu{sub 4}/MgO which had been synthesized at different times in the project. Both batches had approximately the same activity, but the newer batch had greater selectivity for C{sub 6+} hydrocarbons.

The TNX Area post-Cretaceous hydrogeological section consists of an unconfined aquifer in recent to Pliestocene age sediments and a confined aquifer in tertiary aged sediments. The unconfined aquifer is a local water bearing reservoir and will not be correlated to a specific stratigraphic unit at this time. Depth to the water table ranges from 25 feet at the New TNX Seepage Basin to 50 feet at the Old TNX Seepage Basin. The unconfined aquifer is 45--50 feet thick and outcrops in the swamp to the west of TNX. The hydraulic gradient in the unconfined aquifer decreases westerly across the TNX Area from 0.05 to 0.01. The unconfined aquifer is separated from the underlying confined aquifer by a sandy slit aquitard (A1) which is approximately 5--10 feet thick. Researchers reported an increase in hydraulic head across this unit of approximately 8 feet which results in an upward gradient between the unconfined and confined aquifer. The confined Tertiary aquifer (C1) at TNX is 25--30 feet thick and can generally be found 60 to 90 feet below the surface. The C1 aquifer is part of the aquifer commonly referred to as the Congaree'' which occurs in the Congaree Formation. The C1 aquifer lies …

When one attempts to construct classical wormholes in Minkowski signature Lorentzian spacetimes violations of both the weak energy hypothesis and averaged weak energy hypothesis are encountered. Since the weak energy hypothesis is experimentally known to be violated quantum mechanically, this suggests that a quantum mechanical analysis of Minkowski signature wormholes is in order. In this note I perform a minisuperspace analysis of a simple class of Minkowski signature wormholes. By solving the Wheeler-de Witt equation for pure Einstein gravity on this minisuperspace the quantum mechanical wave function of the wormhole is obtained in closed form. The wormhole is shown to be quantum mechanically stabilized with an average radius of order the Planck length. 8 refs.

316L stainless steel is a candidate material for construction of equipment that will be exposed to tritium. Proper design of the equipment will require an understanding of how tritium and its decay product helium affect mechanical properties. This memorandum describes results of rapid heating tensile testing of hydrogen-charged specimens of high-energy-rate-forged (HERF) 316L stainless steel. These results provide a data base for comparison with uncharged and tritium-charged-and-aged specimens to distinguish the effects of hydrogen and helium. Details of the experimental equipment and procedures and results for uncharged specimens were reported previously. 3 refs., 10 figs.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether documents which are excepted from disclosure under the Open Records Act, article 6252-17a, V. T. C. S., might nevertheless be available under Rule 167, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, in an administrative hearing (RQ-1629)

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.