In processing radioactive material there are certain steps which have customarily required operators working at glove box enclosures. This can subject the operators to low level radiation dosages and the risk of accidental contamination, as well as generate significant radioactive waste to accommodate the human interaction. An automated system is being developed to replace the operator at the glove box and thus remove the human from these risks, and minimize waste. Although most of the processing can be automated with very little human operator interaction, there are some tasks where intelligent intervention is necessary to adapt to unexpected circumstances and events. These activities will require that the operator be able to interact with the process using a remote manipulator in a manner as natural as if the operator were actually in the work cell. This robot-based remote manipulation system, or telerobot, must provide the operator with an effective means of controlling the robot arm, gripper and tools. This paper describes the effort in progress in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to achieve this capability. 8 refs.

A model study on fractured systems was performed using aconcept that treats isotropic cracked systems as ensembles of crackedgrains by analogy to isotropic polycrystalline elastic media. Theapproach has two advantages: (a) Averaging performed is ensembleaveraging, thus avoiding the criticism legitimately leveled at mosteffective medium theories of quasistatic elastic behavior for crackedmedia based on volume concentrations of inclusions. Since crack effectsare largely independent of the volume they occupy in the composite, sucha non-volume-based method offers an appealingly simple modelingalternative. (b) The second advantage is that both polycrystals andfractured media are stiffer than might otherwise be expected, due tonatural bridging effects of the strong components. These same effectshave also often been interpreted as crack-crack screening inhigh-crack-density fractured media, but there is no inherent conflictbetween these two interpretations of this phenomenon. Results of thestudy are somewhat mixed. The spread in elastic constants observed in aset of numerical experiments is found to be very comparable to the spreadin values contained between the Reuss and Voigt bounds for thepolycrystal model. However, computed Hashin-Shtrikman bounds are much tootight to be in agreement with the numerical data, showing thatpolycrystals of cracked grains tend to violate some implicit assumptionsof the Hashin-Shtrikman bounding approach. However, the self-consistentestimates obtained for …

Industries worldwide depend upon pumping systems for theirdaily operation. These systems account for nearly 20 percent of theworld's industrial electrical energy demand and range from 25-50 percentof the energy usage in certain industrial plant operations. Purchasedecisions for a pump and its related system components are typicallybased upon a low bid, rather than the cost to operate the system over itslifetime. Additionally, plant facilities personnel are typically focussedon maintaining existing pumping system reliability rather than optimizingthe systems for best energy efficiency. To ensure the lowest energy andmaintenance costs, equipment life, and other benefits, the systemcomponents must be carefully matched to each other, and remain sothroughout their working lives. Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis is a toolthat can help companies minimize costs and maximize energy efficiency formany types of systems, including pumping systems. Increasing industryawareness of the total cost of pumping system ownership through lifecycle cost analysis is a goal of the US Department of Energy (DOE). Thispaper will discuss what DOE and its industry partners are doing to createthis awareness. A guide book, Pump Life Cycle Costs: A Guide to LCCAnalysis for Pumping Systems, developed by the Hydraulic Institute (HI)and Europump (two pump manufacturer trade associations) with DOEinvolvement, will be overviewed. …

The superconducting magnets and absorbers for MICE will be cooled using PT415 pulse tube coolers. The cooler 2nd stage will be connected to magnets and the absorbers through a helium or hydrogen re-condensing system. It was proposed that the coolers be connected to the magnets in such a way that the cooler can be easily installed and removed, which permits the magnets to be shipped without the coolers. The drop-in mode requires that the cooler 1st stage be well connected to the magnet shields and leads through a low temperature drop demountable connection. The results of the PT415 drop-in cooler tests are presented.

A pair of coupling solenoids is used in MICE experiment to generate magnetic field which keeps the muons within the iris of thin RF cavity windows. The coupling solenoids have a 1.5-meter inner diameter and will produce 7.4 T peak magnetic field. Three types of AC losses in coupling solenoid are discussed. The affect of AC losses on the temperature distribution within the cold mass during charging and rapid discharging process is analyzed also. The analysis result will be further confirmed by the experiment of the prototype solenoid for coupling solenoid, which will be designed, fabricated and tested at ICST.

We describe a neutralized-beam intense neutron source (NBINS) as a relevant application of fusion technology for the type of high-current ion sources and neutral beamlines now being developed for heating and fueling of magnetic-fusion-energy confinement systems. This near-term application would support parallel development of highly reliable steady-state higher-voltage neutral D/sup 0/ and T/sup 0/ beams and provide a relatively inexpensive source of fusion neutrons for materials testing at up to reactor-like wall conditions. Beam-target examples described incude a 50-A mixed D-T total (ions plus neutrals) space-charge-neutralized beam at 120 keV incident on a liquid Li drive-in target, or a 50-A T/sup 0/ + T/sup +/ space-charge-neutralized beam incident on either a LiD or gas D/sub 2/ target with calculated 14-MeV neutron yields of 2 x 10/sup 15//s, 7 x 10/sup 15//s, or 1.6 x 10/sup 16//s, respectively. The severe local heat loading on the target surface is expected to limit the allowed beam focus and minimum target size to greater than or equal to 25 cm/sup 2/.

An important consideration in chemical process control is to determine the precise rationing of reactant streams, particularly when a large time delay exists between the mixing of the reactants and the measurement of the product. In this paper, a method is described for incorporating chemical kinetic models into the control strategy in order to achieve optimum operating conditions. The system is first characterized by determining a reaction rate surface as a function of all input reactant concentrations over a feasible range. A nonlinear constrained optimization program is then used to determine the combination of reactants which produces the specified yield at minimum cost. This operating condition is then used to establish the nominal concentrations of the reactants. The actual operation is determined through a feedback control system employing a Smith predictor. The method is demonstrated on a laboratory bench scale enzyme reactor.

We compare inexact Newton and coordinate descent methods for optimizing the quality of a mesh by repositioning the vertices, where quality is measured by the harmonic mean of the mean-ratio metric. The effects of problem size, element size heterogeneity, and various vertex displacement schemes on the performance of these algorithms are assessed for a series of tetrahedral meshes.

We report results from the third and final year of our project (ROA0101-35) to collect seismic event and waveform data recorded in and around the Arabian Peninsula. This effort involves several elements. We are working with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to collect data from the Saudi National Seismic Network, that consists of 38 digital three-component stations (27 broadband and 11 short-period). We have an ongoing collaboration with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, which runs the eight station Kuwait National Seismic Network. We installed two temporary broadband stations in the United Arab Emirates (funded by NNSA NA-24 Office of Non-Proliferation & International Security). In this paper we present a summary of data collected under these efforts including integration of the raw data into LLNL's Seismic Research Database and preliminary analysis of souce parameters and earth structure.

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Daylight responsive dimming systems have been used in few buildings to date because they require improvements to improve reliability. The key underlying factor contributing to poor performance is the variability of the ratio of the photosensor signal to daylight workplane illuminance in accordance with sun position, sky condition, and fenestration condition. Therefore, this paper describes the integrated systems between automated roller shade systems and daylight responsive dimming systems with an improved closed-loop proportional control algorithm, and the relative performance of the integrated systems and single systems. The concept of the improved closed-loop proportional control algorithm for the integrated systems is to predict the varying correlation of photosensor signal to daylight workplane illuminance according to roller shade height and sky conditions for improvement of the system accuracy. In this study, the performance of the integrated systems with two improved closed-loop proportional control algorithms was compared with that of the current (modified) closed-loop proportional control algorithm. In the results, the average maintenance percentage and the average discrepancies of the target illuminance, as well as the average time under 90percent of target illuminance for the integrated systems significantly improved in comparison with the current closed-loop proportional control algorithm for daylight responsive dimming systems …

Crystallisation of lower-rim tetra-O-alkylated p-carboxylatocalix[4]arenes from pyridine results in the formation of both bi-layer and pillar type supramolecular motifs. Full alkylation at the calixarene lower rim has significant influence over the supramolecular self-assembly motif, including preclusion of pyridine guest molecules from the calixarene cavity in the solid state.

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The requirement for the design and construction of large superconducting magnet systems for fusion research has raised a number of new questions regarding the properties of composite superconducting conductors. One of these, the effect of mechanical stress on the current-carrying capacity of Nb/sub 3/Sn, is of major importance in determining the feasibility of constructing large magnets with this material. A typical experiment for determining such data involves the measurement of critical current versus magnetic field while the conductor is being mechanically strained to various degrees. Techniques are well developed for the current and field measurements, but much less so for the accurate measurement of strain at liquid-helium temperature in a high magnetic field. A study was made of commercial, metal-foil strain gages for use under these conditions. The information developed can also be applied to the use of strain gages as diagnostic tools in superconducting magnets.

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The Savannah River Site (SRS) has the analytical measurement capability to perform high-precision plutonium concentration measurements by controlled-potential coulometry. State-of-the-art controlled-potential coulometers were designed and fabricated by the Savannah River National Laboratory and installed in the Analytical Laboratories process control laboratory. The Analytical Laboratories uses coulometry for routine accountability measurements of and for verification of standard preparations used to calibrate other plutonium measurement systems routinely applied to process control, nuclear safety, and other accountability applications. The SRNL Coulometer has a demonstrated measurement reliability of {approx}0.05% for 10 mg samples. The system has also been applied to the characterization of neptunium standard solutions with a comparable reliability. The SRNL coulometer features: a patented current integration system; continuous electrical calibration versus Faraday's Constants and Ohm's Law; the control-potential adjustment technique for enhanced application of the Nernst Equation; a wide operating room temperature range; and a fully automated instrument control and data acquisition capability. Systems have been supplied to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Russia, Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and the New Brunswick Laboratory (NBL). The most recent vintage of electronics was based on early 1990's integrated circuits. Many of the components are no longer available. At the request of the …

Experimental results show the sensitivity of hydrodynamically generated vertical loads to changes in the drywell pressurization rate, downcomer submergence, and vent-line loss coefficient. Insignificant effects on peak vertical loads were observed when the vent-line loss was varied. Peak vertical loads can be reduced by adding initial drywell overpressure so that the downcomers are partly cleared of water. Spatial variation of pressure at about the time of vent clearing is seen in comparisons of data from locations along the axis of the toroidal wetwell.

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Simultaneous measurement [1] of junction conductance and sustained force in single molecule junctions bridging metal electrodes provides a powerful tool in the quantitative study of the character of molecule-metal bonds. In this talk I will discuss three topics. First, I will describe chemical trends in link bond strength based on experiments and Density Functional Theory based calculations. Second, I will focus on the specific case of pyridine-linked junctions. Bond rupture from the high conductance junction structure shows a requires a force that exceeds the rupture force of gold point contacts and clearly indicates the role of additional forces, beyond the specific N-Au donor acceptor bond. DFT-D2 calculations with empirical addition of dispersion interactions illustrates the interplay between the donor-acceptor bonding and the non-specific van der Waals interactions between the pyridine rings and Au asperities. Third, I will describe recent efforts to characterize the diversity of junction structures realized in break-junction experiments with suitable models for the potential surfaces that are observed. [1] Venkataraman Group, Columbia University.

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was requested to lead a Law Enforcement Working Group that was formed to collaborate on common operational needs. All agencies represented on the working group ranked their need to tag, track, and locate a witting or unwitting target as their highest priority. Specifically, they were looking for technologies more robust than Global Positioning Satellite (GPS), could communicate back to the owner, and worked where normal cell phone communications did not work or were unreliable. SRNL brought together multiple technologies in a demonstration that was held in in various Alaska venues, including metropolitan, wilderness, and at-sea that met the working group's requirements. Using prototypical technologies from Boeing, On Ramp, and Fortress, SRNL was able to demonstrate the ability to track personnel and material in all scenarios including indoors, in heavily wooden areas, canyons, and in parking garages. In all cases GPS signals were too weak to measure. Bi-directional communication was achieved in areas that Wi-Fi, cell towers, or traditional radios would not perform. The results of the exercise will be presented. These technologies are considered ideal for tracking high value material such has nuclear material with a platform that allows seamless tracking anywhere in the …

A battery pack prototype has been designed and built to evaluate various air cooling concepts for the thermal management of Li-ion batteries. The heat generation from the Li-Ion batteries was simulated with electrical heat generation devices with the same dimensions as the Li-Ion battery (200 mm x 150 mm x 12 mm). Each battery simulator generates up to 15W of heat. There are 20 temperature probes placed uniformly on the surface of the battery simulator, which can measure temperatures in the range from -40 C to +120 C. The prototype for the pack has up to 100 battery simulators and temperature probes are recorder using a PC based DAQ system. We can measure the average surface temperature of the simulator, temperature distribution on each surface and temperature distributions in the pack. The pack which holds the battery simulators is built as a crate, with adjustable gap (varies from 2mm to 5mm) between the simulators for air flow channel studies. The total system flow rate and the inlet flow temperature are controlled during the test. The cooling channel with various heat transfer enhancing devices can be installed between the simulators to investigate the cooling performance. The prototype was designed to configure …

From simulations, tracking of the impulse response is feasible. Potential to benefit other functions such as ranging between two nodes. Potential to combine the features of different protocols to create a new and more realistic clock-synchronization protocol.

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