Report summarizes results of second phase of development of Vairex air compressor/expander for automotive fuel cell power systems. Project included optimizing key system performance parameters, as well as reducing number of components and the project cost, size and weight of the air system. Objectives were attained. Advanced prototypes are in commercial test environments.

A novel steam electrolyzer has been developed. In conventional electrolyzers, oxygen produced from electrolysis is usually released in the air stream. In their novel design, natural gas is used to replace air in order to reduce the chemical potential difference across the electrolyzer, thus minimizing the electrical consumption. The oxygen from the electrolysis is consumed in either a total oxidation or a partial oxidation reaction with natural gas. Experiments performed on single cells shown a voltage reduction as much as 1 V when compared to conventional electrolyzers. Using thin film materials and high performance cathode and anode, electrolysis could be done at temperatures as low as 700 C with electrolytic current as high as 1 A/cm{sup 2} at a voltage of 0.5 V only. The 700 C operating temperature is favorable to the total oxidation of natural gas while minimizing the need for steam that is otherwise necessary to avoid carbon deposition. A novel tubular electrolyzer stack has been developed. The system was designed to produce hydrogen at high pressures, taking advantage of the simplicity and high efficiency of the electrochemical compressors. A complete fabrication process was developed for making electrolyzer tubes with thin film coatings. A 100 W stack …

The Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System is located in the Waste Handling Building (WHB), and is comprised of various process subsystems designed to support waste handling operations. This system maintains the pool water temperature within an acceptable range, maintains water quality standards that support remote underwater operations and prevent corrosion, detects leakage from the pool liner, provides the capability to remove debris from the pool, controls the pool water level, and helps limit radiological exposure to personnel. The pool structure and liner, pool lighting, and the fuel staging racks in the pool are not within the scope of the Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System. Pool water temperature control is accomplished by circulating the pool water through heat exchangers. Adequate circulation and mixing of the pool water is provided to prevent localized thermal hotspots in the pool. Treatment of the pool water is accomplished by a water treatment system that circulates the pool water through filters, and ion exchange units. These water treatment units remove radioactive and non-radioactive particulate and dissolved solids from the water, thereby providing the water clarity needed to conduct waste handling operations. The system also controls pool water chemistry to prevent advanced corrosion of the …

In 1992 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced ENERGY STAR (registered trademark), a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Since then EPA, now in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has expanded the program to cover nearly the entire buildings sector, spanning new homes, commercial buildings, residential heating and cooling equipment, major appliances, office equipment, commercial and residential lighting, and home electronics. This paper provides a snapshot of the ENERGY STAR program in the year 2000, including a general overview of the program, its accomplishments, and the possibilities for future development. First, we describe the products that are currently eligible for the ENERGY STAR label and the program mechanisms that EPA and DOE are using to promote these products. Second, we illustrate selected milestones achieved in some markets, and ways that EPA and DOE are responding to challenges or changes in certain markets. Third, we discuss the evolving ENERGY STAR brand strategy. Next, we explore ways in which ENERGY STAR interacts with and enhances other policies, such as appliance standards and regional market transformation collaboratives. We then discuss evaluation studies that EPA and DOE are undertaking …

In the US today, efforts are underway to defend against the possible terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against US cities. These efforts include the development and adaptation of technologies to support prevention and detection, to defend against a possible attack, and, if these fail, to provide both mitigation responses and attribution for a WMD incident. Technologies under development span a range of systems, from early detection and identification of an agent or explosive, to diagnostic and systems analysis tools; and to forensic analysis for law enforcement. Also, many techniques and tools that have been developed for other applications are being examined to determine whether, with some modification, they could be of use by the emergency preparedness, public health, and law enforcement communities. However, anecdotal evidence suggests the existence of a serious disconnect between the technology development communities and these user communities. This disconnect arises because funding for technology development is derived primarily from sources (principally federal agencies) distant from the emergency response communities, which are predominantly state, county, or local entities. Moreover, the first responders with whom we have worked candidly admit that their jurisdictions have been given, or have purchased for them, a variety of technological …

Under contract to the DOE Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing and evaluating pneumatic (blown) aerodynamic devices to improve the performance, economics, stability and safety of operation of Heavy Vehicles. The objective of this program is to apply the pneumatic aerodynamic aircraft technology previously developed and flight-tested by GTRI personnel to the design of an efficient blown tractor-trailer configuration. Recent experimental results obtained by GTRI using blowing have shown drag reductions of 35% on a streamlined automobile wind-tunnel model. Also measured were lift or down-load increases of 100-150% and the ability to control aerodynamic moments about all 3 axes without any moving control surfaces. Similar drag reductions yielded by blowing on bluff afterbody trailers in current US trucking fleet operations are anticipated to reduce yearly fuel consumption by more than 1.2 billion gallons, while even further reduction is possible using pneumatic lift to reduce tire rolling resistance. Conversely, increased drag and down force generated instantaneously by blowing can greatly increase braking characteristics and control in wet/icy weather due to effective ''weight'' increases on the tires. Safety is also enhanced by controlling side loads and moments caused on these Heavy Vehicles by winds, gusts …

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), with a current annual budget of $4.3 billion, is the primary agency charged with enforcing the nation's immigration law. Regulating immigration can be viewed as having two basic components: stemming illegal immigration (enforcement) and facilitating legal immigration (service). The Administration is moving forward to restructure the agency internally by separating the agency's enforcement and service functions, but maintains that the immigration function must be managed by a single executive who can integrate immigration policy, standards, and operations. There is no statutory requirement that the Administration gain Congress's formal approval of its plan to restructure INS. Congress, however, could choose to mandate legislatively that INS be dismantled or restructured differently.

In the Antiquities Act, Congress authorized the President to create National Monuments. Recently, there has been discussion of a possible monument designation involving the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Several issues surround that possibility, including the potential size of such a monument and whether provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act might preclude the designation. In addition, that Act provides for the termination of certain large withdrawals in Alaska unless they are approved by an Act of Congress within one year of notice of the withdrawal.

This is a fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new grid-tied inverter technology for alternate/renewable energy systems.

This is a fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new auxiliary power unit for use in the long-haul trucking industry.

In order to understand best-estimate calculations of the peak local fuel enthalpy during a rod ejection accident, an assessment of the uncertainty has been completed. The analysis took into account point kinetics parameters which would be available from a three-dimensional core model and engineering judgment as to the uncertainty in those parameters. Sensitivity studies to those parameters were carried out using the best-estimate code PARCS. The results showed that the uncertainty (corresponding to one standard deviation) in local fuel enthalpy would be determined primarily by the uncertainty in ejected rod worth and delayed neutron fraction. For an uncertainty in the former of 8% and the latter of 5%, the uncertainty in fuel enthalpy varied from 51% to 69% for control rod worth varying from $1.2 to $1.0. Also considered in the uncertainty were the errors introduced by uncertainties in the Doppler reactivity coefficient, the fuel pellet specific heat, and assembly and fuel pin peaking factors.

This is a fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new spray booth technology that reduces energy use and pollution during surface coating operations.

This is a brochure describing the Inventions and Innovation Program and its solicitation process.

NLO SUSY-QCD contribution to associated production of gluinos and gauginos are shown to enhance the cross sections by about 10% at the Tevatron and by as much as a factor of two at the LHC. They shift the mass determinations or discovery limits, soften the p{sub T} spectra, and stabilize the predictions against variations of the renormalization and factorization scales.

This is a fact sheet written for the NICE3 [National Industrial Competititveness through Energy, Environment, and Economics] Program on a new process for reusing hydrochloric acid from steel pickling operations.

The MPI standard provides a way to send and receive complex combinations of datatypes (e.g., integers and doubles) with a single communication operation. The MPI standard specifies that the type signature, that is, the basic datatypes (language-defined types such as int or DOUBLE PRECISION), must match in communication operations such as send/receive or broadcast. Because datatypes may be defined by the user in MPI, there is a limitless collection of possible type signatures. Detecting the programmer error of mismatched datatypes is difficult in this case; detecting all errors essentially requires sending a complete description of the type signature with a message. This paper discusses an alternative: send the value of a function of the type signature so that (a) identical type signatures always give the same function value, (b) different type signatures often give different values, and (c) common cases (e.g., predefined datatypes) are handled exactly. Thus, erroneous programs are often (but not always) detected; correct programs never are flagged as erroneous. The method described is relatively inexpensive to compute and uses a small (and fixed, independent of the complexity of the datatype) amount of space in the message envelope.

This is a fact sheet written for the Inventions and Innovation Program about a new counterflow heat exchanger that recycles hot water energy from waste hot water.

The WorldSID project is a global effort to design a new generation side impact crash test dummy under the direction of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The first WorldSID crash dummy will represent a world-harmonized mid-size adult male. This paper discusses the research and rationale undertaken to define the anthropometry of a world standard midsize male in the typical automotive seated posture. Various anthropometry databases are compared region by region and in terms of the key dimensions needed for crash dummy design. The Anthropometry for Motor Vehicle Occupants (AMVO) dataset, as established by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), is selected as the basis for the WorldSID mid-size male, updated to include revisions to the pelvis bone location. The proposed mass of the dummy is 77.3kg with full arms. The rationale for the selected mass is discussed. The joint location and surface landmark database is appended to this paper.

The Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies supports research to enable high-efficiency diesel engines to meet future emissions regulations, thus clearing the way for their use in light trucks as well as continuing as the most efficient powerplant for freight-haulers. Compliance with Tier 2 rules and expected heavy duty engine standards will require effective exhaust emission controls (after-treatment) for diesels in these applications. DOE laboratories are working with industry to improve emission control technologies in projects ranging from application of new diagnostics for elucidating key mechanisms, to development and tests of prototype devices. This paper provides an overview of these R and D efforts, with examples of key findings and developments.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is being developed as a heavy vehicle fuel. The reason for developing LNG is to reduce our dependency on imported oil by eliminating technical and costs barriers associated with its usage. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has a program, currently in its third year, to develop and advance cost-effective technologies for operating and refueling natural gas-fueled heavy vehicles (Class 7-8 trucks). The objectives of the DOE Natural Gas Vehicle Systems Program are to achieve market penetration by reducing vehicle conversion and fuel costs, to increase consumer acceptance by improving the reliability and efficiency, and to improve air quality by reducing tailpipe emissions. One way to reduce fuel costs is to develop new supplies of cheap natural gas. Significant progress is being made towards developing more energy-efficient, low-cost, small-scale natural gas liquefiers for exploiting alternative sources of natural gas such as from landfill and remote gas sites. In particular, the DOE program provides funds for research and development in the areas of; natural gas clean up, LNG production, advanced vehicle onboard storage tanks, improved fuel delivery systems and LNG market strategies. In general, the program seeks to integrate the individual components being developed into complete systems, …

Better information on the comparative toxicity of airborne emissions from different types of engines is needed to guide the development of heavy vehicle engine, fuel, lubricant, and exhaust after-treatment technologies, and to place the health hazards of current heavy vehicle emissions in their proper perspective. To help fill this information gap, samples of vehicle exhaust particles and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) were collected and analyzed. The biological activity of the combined particle-SVOC samples is being tested using standardized toxicity assays. This report provides an update on the design of experiments to test the relative toxicity of engine emissions from various sources.

It is well known that hydrogen addition to spark-ignited (SI) engines can reduce exhaust emissions and increase efficiency. Micro plasmatron fuel converters can be used for onboard generation of hydrogen-rich gas by partial oxidation of a wide range of fuels. These plasma-boosted microreformers are compact, rugged, and provide rapid response. With hydrogen supplement to the main fuel, SI engines can run very lean resulting in a large reduction in nitrogen oxides (NO x ) emissions relative to stoichiometric combustion without a catalytic converter. This paper presents experimental results from a microplasmatron fuel converter operating under variable oxygen to carbon ratios. Tests have also been carried out to evaluate the effect of the addition of a microplasmatron fuel converter generated gas in a 1995 2.3-L four-cylinder SI production engine. The tests were performed with and without hydrogen-rich gas produced by the plasma boosted fuel converter with gasoline. A one hundred fold reduction in NO x due to very lean operation was obtained under certain conditions. An advantage of onboard plasma-boosted generation of hydrogen-rich gas is that it is used only when required and can be readily turned on and off. Substantial NO x reduction should also be obtainable by heavy exhaust …

The University of Minnesota Center for Diesel Research along with a research team including Caterpillar, Cummins, Carnegie Mellon University, West Virginia University (WVU), Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, and Tampere University in Finland have performed measurements of Diesel exhaust particle size distributions under real-world dilution conditions. A mobile aerosol emission laboratory (MEL) equipped to measure particle size distributions, number concentrations, surface area concentrations, particle bound PAHs, as well as CO 2 and NO x concentrations in real time was built and will be described. The MEL was used to follow two different Cummins powered tractors, one with an older engine (L10) and one with a state-of-the-art engine (ISM), on rural highways and measure particles in their exhaust plumes. This paper will describe the goals and objectives of the study and will describe representative particle size distributions observed in roadway experiments with the truck powered by the ISM engine.

This paper presents the technical approach used to design and develop the powerplant for the Honda Insight, a new motor assist hybrid vehicle with an overall development objective of just half the fuel consumption of the current Civic over a wide range of driving conditions. Fuel consumption of 35km/L (Japanese 10-15 mode), and 3.4L/100km (98/69/EC) was realized. To achieve this, a new Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid power plant system was developed, incorporating many new technologies for packaging and integrating the motor assist system and for improving engine thermal efficiency. This was developed in combination with a new lightweight aluminum body with low aerodynamic resistance. Environmental performance goals also included the simultaneous achievement of low emissions (half the Japanese year 2000 standards, and half the EU2000 standards), high efficiency, and recyclability. Full consideration was also given to key consumer attributes, including crash safety performance, handling, and driving performance.