Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes activities seeking alternative cathode materials to NiO for molten carbonate fuel cells.

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes studies directed toward seeking alternative cathode materials to NiO for molten carbonate fuel cells.

Quarterly report discussing fuel cell research and development work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This report describes efforts directed toward (1) developing alternative concepts for components of molten carbonate fuel cells and (2) improving understanding of component behavior.

This report describes the work done to further develop the infrared spectroscopic analytical method for the analysis of atmospheric aerosol particles, as well as some exploratory work on a new procedure for determining proton acidity in aerosol samples. Earlier work had led to the successful use of infrared (ir) spectrophotometry for the analysis of nitrate, ammonium, and neutral and acidic sulfates in aerosol samples collected by an impactor on a Mylar-film substrate. In this work, a filter-extraction method was developed to prepare filter-collected aerosol samples for ir analysis. A study was made comparing the ir analytical results on filter-collected samples with impactor-collected samples. Also, the infrared analytical technique was compared in field studies with light-scattering techniques for aerosol analysis. A highly sensitive instrument for aerosol analysis using attenuated total internal reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy was designed, built, and tested. This instrument provides a measurement sensitivity much greater (by a factor of 6 for SO4²⁻) than that obtainable using the KBr-pellet method. This instrument collects size- and time-resolved samples and is potentially capable of providing automated, near real-time aerosol analysis. Exploratory work on a novel approach to the determination of proton acidity in filter- or impactor-collected aerosol samples is also described. …

Report of activities of Argonne Chemical Engineering Division, including advanced battery project, electro-chemical project management, advanced fuel cell development, utilization of coal, magnetohydrodynamics heat and seed recovery technology, solar energy, fast reactor chemistry research, nuclear fuel cycle studies, magnetic fusion energy research, and basic energy science.

This report describes the R&D work done at Argonne National Laboratory on solar energy technologies during the period October 1, 1978, to September 30, 1979. Technical areas included in the ANL solar program are solar energy collection, heating and cooling, thermal energy storage, ocean thermal energy conversion, photovoltaics, biomass conversion, satellite power systems, and solar liquid-metal MHD power systems.

This report describes the R&D work done at Argonne National Laboratory on solar energy technologies during the period October 1, 1978, to September 30, 1979. Technical areas included in the ANL solar program are solar energy collection, heating and cooling, thermal energy storage, ocean thermal energy conversion, photovoltaics, biomass conversion, satellite power systems, and solar liquid-metal MHD power systems.

Report of activities of Argonne Chemical Engineering Division, including advanced battery project, electro-chemical project management, advanced fuel cell development, utilization of coal, magnetohydrodynamics heat and seed recovery technology, solar energy, fast reactor chemistry research, nuclear fuel cycle studies, magnetic fusion energy research, and basic energy science.

Annual report of Argonne National Laboratory's Chemical Technology (CMT) Division. In this period, CMT conducted research and development in areas that include the following: (1) high-performance batteries--mainly lithium-alloy/metal sulfide and sodium/sulfur; (2) aqueous batteries (lead-acid, nickel/iron, etc.); (3)advanced fuel cells with molten carbonate or solid oxide electrolytes; (4) coal utilization, (5) methods for recovery of energy from municipal waste; (6) methods for the electromagnetic continuous casting of steel sheet; (7) techniques for treatment of hazardous waste such as reactive metals and trichloroethylenes; (8) nuclear technology related to waste management.

The search for cost-effective lattice rules is a time-consuming and difficult process. After a brief overview of some of the lattice theory relevant to these rules, a new approach to this search is suggested. This -approach is based on a classification of lattice rules using "the upper triangular lattice form" of the reciprocal lattice generator matrix.

The formulation needed for the conductance of heat by means of explicit integration is presented. The implementation of these expressions into a transient structural code, which is also based on explicit temporal integration, is described. Comparisons of theoretical results with code predictions are given both for one-dimensional and two-dimensional problems. The coupled thermal and structural solution of a concrete crucible, when subjected to a sudden temperature increase, shows the history of cracking. The extent of cracking is compared with experimental data.

Fluid damping plays an important role for structures submerged in fluid, subjected to flow, or conveying fluid. This design guide presents a summary of calculational procedures and design data for fluid damping for circular cylinders vibrating in quiescent fluid, crossflow, and parallel flow.

This report constitutes a formulation of a new concept for improving thermal-system performance by utilizing the combined mechanisms of enhanced heat transfer, transport, and thermal energy storage associated with a phase-change slurry as the working fluid. In addition, pertinent literature is surveyed and a quantitative scoping assessment of enhancement potential confirms concept merit. It has been determined that additional research and development is required in order to adequately understand the enhancement mechanisms to the degree that enhanced performance thermal systems using slurries can be designed. The concepts presented are identified as being new, rewarding research activities.

This report summarizes research during 1981 in the Division of Biological and Medical Research, Argonne National Laboratory. Studies in Low Level Radiation include comparison of lifetime effects in mice of low level neutron and gamma irradiation, delineation of the responses of dogs to continuous low level gamma irradiation, elucidation of mechanisms of radiation damage and repair in mammalian cells, and study of the genetic effects of high LET radiations.

This report summarizes the work completed on a project concerned with engineering models in dynamic plasticity. The concept of the endochronic theory of viscoplasticity and its subsequent improvement are discussed briefly. Applications and extensions of the theory to various dynamic problems are presented. In particular, the strain-rate effect in the improved endochronic theory and its application to wave propagation problems are discussed. Comparing the numerical results with other calculations and experimental data, it appears that endochronic theory provides a promising representation of realistic material behavior. At the same time endochronic theory is often numerically more efficient than other formulations.

Report of Argonne Environmental Research Division activities, including atmospheric physics, environmental effects research, organic geochemistry and environmental instrumentation, and fundamental molecular physics and chemistry.

Given a mapping with a sparse Jacobian matrix, the problem of minimizing the number of function evaluations needed to estimate the Jacobian matrix by differences is investigated. This problem can be attacked as a graph coloring problem and this approach leads to very efficient algorithms. The behavior of these algorithms is studied and, in particular, it is proved that two of the algorithms are optimal for band graphs. Numerical evidence is presented which indicates that these two algorithms are nearly optimal on practical problems.

This report provides a preliminary assessment of some magnetic heat pump (MHP)/refrigeration concepts for cryogen liquefaction and other industrial applications. The study was performed by Astronautics Corporation of America for Argonne National Laboratory under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Cold-trap regeneration may be very important in future LMFBRs because of the expected high hydrogen source from the steam generators. This hydrogen precipitates as NaH in the cold trap and may fill the trap within one year of operation. Several methods of cold-trap regeneration were considered, but the simplest and least expensive appears to be decomposition of NaH under vacuum at elevated temperatures. Experiments were done to assess the feasibility of this method for cold-trap regeneration. Small-scale simulated cold traps (SCT) were loaded with NaH and NaH plus Na2O, and were heated both under vacuum and under a sweep gas at 100 kPa. The evolved hydrogen was converted to water by a CuO bed and collected in a weighing tube.

This report summarizes the flow-induced vibration of circular cylinders in quiescent fluid, axial flow, and crossflow, and applications of the analytical methods and experimental data in design evaluation of various system components consisting of circular cylinders.

Fluid excitation forces are measured in a water loop for two circular cylinders arranged in tandem and normal to flow. The Strouhal number and fluctuating drag and lift coefficients for both cylinders are presented for various spacings and incoming flow conditions. Results show the effects of Reynolds number, pitch ratio, and upstream turbulence on the fluid excitation forces.

A mathematical model is presented for fluidelastic instabilities in tube bundles exposed to nonuniform crossflow to develop an equivalent flow velocity. The model incorporates all motion-dependent fluid forces based on the unsteady flow theory. Published fluid-force coefficients are compiled and examined; all fluid-force coefficients are approximately independent of the reduced flow velocity when it is large but are strongly dependent on reduced flow velocity when it is lower. The unsteady flow model is used to show that the mode-weighted averaging method is valid for large reduced flow velocity, but that it is incorrect at lower reduced flow velocity. In the lower reduced flow velocity range, an iterative procedure is needed to establish the critical flow velocity. The results from the unsteady flow model are compared with those of other mathematical models. A general procedure is recommended to predict the equivalent flow velocity under different situations.

Quarterly report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding activities related to properties and handling of radioactive materials, operation of nuclear reactors, and other relevant research.

Report of an exploratory study undertaken to investigate potential improvements in the electrolytic reduction of uranium oxide to the metal.