The Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program sponsored a large intensive observation period (IOP) to study aerosol during the month of May 2003 around the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Climate Research Facility (CRF) in north central Oklahoma. Redundant measurements of aerosol optical properties were made using different techniques at the surface as well as in vertical profile with sensors aboard two aircraft. One of the principal motivations for this experiment was to resolve the disagreement between models and measurements of diffuse horizontal broadband shortwave irradiance at the surface, especially for modest aerosol loading. This paper focuses on using the redundant aerosol and radiation measurements during this IOP to compare direct beam and diffuse horizontal broadband shortwave irradiance measurements and models at the surface for a wide range of aerosol cases that occurred during 30 clear-sky periods on 13 days of May 2003. Models and measurements are compared over a large range of solar-zenith angles. Six different models are used to assess the relative agreement among them and the measurements. Better agreement than previously achieved appears to be the result of better specification of input parameters and better measurements of irradiances than in prior studies. Biases between modeled and …

Control can improve wind turbine performance by enhancing energy capture and reducing dynamic loads. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we are implementing and testing state-space controls on the Controls Advanced Research Turbine (CART), a turbine specifically configured to test advanced controls. We show the design of control systems to regulate turbine speed in Region 3 using rotor collective pitch and reduce dynamic loads in Regions 2 and 3 using generator torque. These controls enhance damping in the first drive train torsion mode. We base these designs on sensors typically used in commercial turbines. We evaluate the performance of these controls by showing field test results. We also compare results from these modern controllers to results from a baseline proportional integral controller for the CART. Finally, we report conclusions to this work and outline future studies.

Bacterial ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes in DNA isolated from microorganisms in groundwater were characterized by amplification of amoA DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, and sequencing. The amoA gene is characteristic of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). The DNA extracts were acquired from an experiment where dilute molasses and urea were sequentially introduced into a well in the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer (ESRPA) in Idaho to examine whether such amendments could stimulate enhanced ureolytic activity. The hydrolysis of urea into ammonium and carbonate serves as the basis for a potential remediation technique for trace metals and radionuclide contaminants that can co-precipitate in calcite. The ammonium ion resulting from ureolysis can promote the growth of AOB. The goal of this work was to investigate the effectiveness of primers designed for quantitative PCR of environmental amoA genes and to evaluate the effect of the molasses and urea amendments upon the population diversity of groundwater AOB. PCR primers designed to target a portion of the amoA gene were used to amplify amoA gene sequences in the groundwater DNA extracts. Following PCR, amplified gene products were cloned and the clones were characterized by RFLP, a DNA restriction technique …

Global air temperatures are predicted to rise 1° to 4.5° Celsius by the year 2100. This climatic change is expected to have a great effect on the succession and migration of temperate deciduous forest species. Most physiologically based models of forest response to climatic change focus on the ecosystems as a whole instead of on individual tree species, assuming that the effects of warming on respiration are generally the same for each species, and that processes can not adjust to a changing climate. Experimental data suggest that physiological adjustments are possible, but there is a lack of data in deciduous species. In order to correctly model the effects of climate change on temperate species, species-specific respiration acclimation (adjustment) to rising temperatures is being determined in this experiment. Two temperate deciduous tree species Betula alleghaniensis (BA) and Quercus rubra (QR) were grown over a span of four years in open-top chambers and subjected to two different temperature treatments; ambient and ambient plus 4° Celsius (E4). Between 0530 hours and 1100 hours, respiration was measured over a range of leaf temperatures on several comparable, fully expanded leaves in each treatment. Circular punches were taken from the leaves and dried at 60°C to …

TK6 cells are a well-characterized human B-lymphoblast cell line derived from WIL-2 cells. A derivative of the TK6 cell line that was stably transfected to express a mutated form of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL (TK6-Bcl-xL gly-159- ala clone #38) is compared with the parent cell line. Four parameters were evaluated for each cell line: growth under normal conditions, plating efficiency, and frequency of spontaneous mutation to 6‑thioguanine resistance (hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase locus) or trifluorothymidine resistance (thymidine kinase locus). We conclude that the mutated Bcl-xL protein did not affect growth under normal conditions, plating efficiency or spontaneous mutation frequencies at the thymidine kinase (TK) locus. Results at the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) locus were inconclusive. A mutant fraction for TK6‑Bcl-xL gly-159-ala clone #38 cells exposed to 150cGy of 160kVp x-rays was also calculated. Exposure to x-irradiation increased the mutant fraction of TK6‑Bcl-xL gly-159-ala clone #38 cells.

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) offer a promising route to low cost photovoltaic (PV) technology that can be inexpensively manufactured on a large scale for use in power generation and commercial products. Solar power conversion efficiencies of laboratory scale OPV devices have recently reached ~5%; however, projected efficiencies of at least 10% will be required for commercialization. An analogous approach that has arisen recently that can potentially increase efficiencies employs metal oxide semiconductors as the electron acceptor, creating a hybrid organic-inorganic device. This approach offers the advantage that the conduction band of the oxide can be tuned in a systematic way through doping, thus potentially achieving higher photovoltages in the device. Additionally, nanostructures of these materials can be easily grown from precursor solutions, providing a technique to precisely control the nanoscale geometry. This work focuses on using ZnO, which is known to have high electron mobility (>100 cm2/Vs), as the electron acceptor. Nanofibers of ZnO can be grown from precursors such as zinc acetate or zinc nitrate to form arrays of nanofibers into which a conjugated polymer can be intercalated to form a composite PV device. The morphology of the nanofiber array is critical to the performance of the device, but current …

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are species of interest for atmospheric modeling, worker chemical exposure and medical studies. Sometimes the required detection limits for these compounds is below the capability of existing real-time instrumentation. Preconcentrators have been implemented as an inexpensive way to amplify chemical signals and improve detection limits. Proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) has been used as a tool for studying low concentrations of VOCs, but it lacks the capability to differentiate chemical signal contributions from isobaric compounds. In this work, behavior of a newly designed Tenax TA preconcentrator when coupled with a PTRMS is characterized. This novel preconcentrator design allows rapid temperature cycling, maintaining near real-time response. The preconcentrator was exposed to a sample gas of toluene in varying concentrations and loading times between and then thermally desorbed for analysis by PTR-MS. The effects of preconcentrating multiple analytes simultaneously were also investigated as well as the chromatographic effects of the preconcentrator. A linear behavior was observed when the integrated ion count rates (ICPS) from thermal desorption peaks were regressed against both varying loading times at a constant toluene concentration and varying concentrations with constant loading times. From these trends, it is possible to determine the concentration of a VOC …

Photovoltaic devices are rated in terms of their power output or efficiency with respect to a specific spectrum, total irradiance, and temperature. In order to rate photovoltaic devices, a reference detector whose response is linear with total irradiance is needed. This procedure documents a procedure to determine if a detector is linear over the irradiance range of interest. Testing the short circuit current versus the total irradiance is done by illuminating a reference cell candidate with two lamps that are fitted with programmable filter wheels. The purpose is to reject nonlinear samples as determined by national and international standards from being used as primary reference cells. A calibrated linear reference cell tested by the two lamp method yields a linear result.

The calculation of the magnetic flux given an assumed value for the current profile in axisymmetric toroidal plasmas is essential in studying the effects of various magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities upon controlled fusion. To this end, an iterative, modular algorithm coupled with a fast, direct elliptic solver for the Grad-Shafranov equation has been used to reconstruct the desired free-boundary equilibrium solution. This free-boundary Grad-Shafranov (FBGS) equilibrium algorithm is modified with the application of the von Hagenow method for determining the flux on the computational boundary, greatly reducing the time cost from O(N3) to O(N2 ln N) machine operations as compared to current Green’s function methods. The inherent variance in implementing the von Hagenow method gives a mean error bound of 0.1 percent with respect to the normal Green’s method. The improvements will allow the grid resolution to be increased efficiently and automatically to reduce the maximum Grad-Shafranov error to values needed for accurate stability calculations on a more effective time scale.

Along with other desirable properties, the ability of silicon carbide (SiC) to retain high strength after elevated temperature exposures to neutron irradiation renders it potentially applicable in fusion and advanced fission reactors. However, properties of the material such as room temperature fracture toughness must be thoroughly characterized prior to such practical applications. The objective of this work is to investigate the dependence of fracture toughness on crystallographic orientation for single-crystalline β-SiC. X-ray diffraction was first performed on the samples to determine the orientation of the crystal. Nanoindentation was used to determine a hardness of 39.1 and 35.2 GPa and elastic modulus of 474 and 446 GPa for the single-crystalline and polycrystalline samples, respectively. Additionally, crack lengths and indentation diagonals were measured via a Vickers micro-hardness indenter under a load of 100 gf for different crystallographic orientations with indentation diagonals aligned along fundamental cleavage planes. Upon examination of propagation direction of cracks, the cracks usually did not initiate and propagate from the corners of the indentation where the stresses are concentrated but instead from the indentation sides. Such cracks clearly moved along the {1 1 0} family of planes (previously determined to be preferred cleavage plane), demonstrating that the fracture toughness …

Fuel cell technology is receiving attention due to its potential to be a pollution free method of electricity production when using renewably produced hydrogen as fuel. In a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell H2 and O2 react at separate electrodes, producing electricity, thermal energy, and water. A key component of the PEM fuel cell is the membrane that separates the electrodes. DuPont’s Nafion® is the most commonly used membrane in PEM fuel cells; however, fuel cell dehydration at temperatures near 100°C, resulting in poor conductivity, is a major hindrance to fuel cell performance. Recent studies incorporating heteropoly acids (HPAs) into membranes have shown an increase in conductivity and thus improvement in performance. HPAs are inorganic materials with known high proton conductivities. The primary objective of this work is to measure the conductivity of Nafion, X-Ionomer membranes, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Developed Membranes that are doped with different HPAs at different concentrations. Four-point conductivity measurements using a third generation BekkTech conductivity test cell are used to determine membrane conductivity. The effect of multiple temperature and humidification levels is also examined. While the classic commercial membrane, Nafion, has a conductivity of approximately 0.10 S/cm, measurements for membranes in this …

Acetone is a component in many inhalants that have been widely abused. While other solvents have addictive potential, such as toluene, it is unclear whether acetone alone contains addictive properties. The locomotor, relative glucose metabolism and abusive effects of acetone inhalation were studied in animals using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm and [18F]2-fluorodeoxy-D-glucose (18FDG) imaging. The CPP apparatus contains two distinct conditioning chambers and a middle adaptation chamber, each lined with photocells to monitor locomotor activity. Adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats (n=16; 90-110 g) were paired with acetone in least preferred conditioning chamber, determined on the pretest day. The animals were exposed to a 10,000 ppm dose for an hour, alternating days with air. A CPP test was conducted after the 3rd, 6th and 12th pairing. In these same animals, the relative glucose metabolism effects were determined using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with 18FDG. Following the 3rd pairing, there was a significant aversion to the acetone paired chamber (190.9 ± 13.7 sec and 241.7 ± 16.9 sec, acetone and air, respectively). After the 6th pairing, there was no significant preference observed with equal time spent in each chamber (222 ± 21 sec and 207 ± 20 sec, acetone and air-paired, …

Stripe phases, in which doped charges are localized along domain walls between antiferromagnetic insulating regions, provide a framework for the electronic structure of doped antiferromagnets such as the superconducting layered copper-oxides. Layered nickel-oxides, such as Nd2–χSrχNiO4, though non-superconducting, exhibit stripe phases in which charges are more localized, resulting in higher charge density modulation amplitudes than their cuprate analogs, thus are more amenable for experimental investigations. We study the magnetic and electric-transport properties of a Nd5/3Sr1/3NiO4+δ single crystal by means of magnetic susceptibility, isothermal magnetization, and electric resistivity measurements. We observe a transition of the magnetic susceptibility with applied field parallel to the c-axis at T ≈ 15 K, which is due to the long-range ordering of Nd3+ magnetic moments. A transition of the in-plane resistivity (ρab) is observed at T ≈ 230 K, which indicates the charge stripe ordering that has also been observed in La2–χSrχNiO4 at about the same temperature. The out-of-plane resistivity (ρc) exhibits a milder transition at T ≈ 200 K. After the stripe phase transition takes place, the electronic transport exhibits variable range hopping behavior. The resistivity anisotropy (ρc /ρab) shows a sharp drop at the ρab transition temperature with decreasing temperature, which indicates the strong …

Todays fossil fuels are becoming harder to obtain, creating pollution problems, and posing hazards to people’s health. One alternative to fossil fuels is hydrogen, capable of serving as a clean and efficient energy carrier. Certain semiconductors are able to harness the energy of photons and direct it into water electrolysis in a process known as photoelectrochemical water splitting. Triple junction devices integrate three semiconductors of different band gaps resulting in a monolithic material that absorbs over a broader spectrum. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is one such material that, when stacked in tandem, possesses water-splitting capabilities. Even though a-Si is capable of splitting water, it is an unstable material in solution and therefore requires a coating to protect the surface from corrosion. A stable, transparent material that has the potential for corrosion protection is silicon nitride. In this study, silicon nitride thin films were grown using DC magnetron sputtering with varying amounts of argon and nitrogen added to the system. X-ray diffraction indicated amorphous silicon nitride films. Current as a function of potential was determined from cyclic voltammetry measurements. Mott-Schottky analysis showed n-type behavior with absorption and transmission measurements indicated variation in flatband potentials. Variation in band gap values ranging from 1.90 …

Composite cathode materials in lithium ion batteries have become the subject of a great amount of research recently as cost and safety issues related to LiCoO2 and other layered structures have been discovered. Alternatives to these layered materials include materials with the spinel and olivine structures, but these present different problems, e.g. spinels have low capacities and cycle poorly at elevated temperatures, and olivines exhibit extremely low intrinsic conductivity. Previous work has shown that composite structures containing spinel and layered materials have shown improved electrochemical properties. These types of composite structures have been studied in order to evaluate their performance and safety characteristics necessary for use in lithium ion batteries in portable electronic devices, particularly hybrid-electric vehicles. In this study, we extended that work to layered-olivine and spinel-olivine composites. These materials were synthesized from precursor salts using three methods: direct reaction, ball-milling, and a coreshell synthesis method. X-ray diffraction spectra and electrochemical cycling data show that the core-shell method was the most successful in forming the desired products. The electrochemical performance of the cells containing the composite cathodes varied dramatically, but the low overpotential and reasonable capacities of the spinel-olivine composites make them a promising class for the next generation …

ABSTRAC T Henslow’s Sparrows are endangered prairie birds, and Grasshopper Sparrows are considered rare prairie birds. Both of these birds were abundant in Illinois, but their populations have been declining due to loss of the grasslands. This begins an ongoing study of the birds’ habitat so Fermilab can develop a land management plan for the Henslow’s and Grasshoppers. The Henslow’s were found at ten sites and Grasshoppers at eight sites. Once the birds were located, the vegetation at their sites was studied. Measurements of the maximum plant height, average plant height, and duff height were taken and estimates of the percent of grass, forbs, duff, and bare ground were recorded for each square meter studied. The same measurements were taken at ten random grassland sites on Fermilab property. Several t-tests were performed on the data, and it was found that both Henslow’s Sparrows and Grasshopper Sparrows preferred areas with a larger percentage of grass than random areas. Henslow’s also preferred areas with less bare ground than random areas, while Grasshoppers preferred areas with more bare ground than random areas. In addition, Grasshopper Sparrows preferred a lower percentage of forbs than was found in random areas and a shorter average plant …

As part of the BaBar project at SLAC to study the properties of B mesons, we have carried out a study of the exclusive charmless semileptonic decay mode B → ωlν, which can be used to determine the magnitude of the Cabbibo- Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element Vub. Using simulated event samples, this study focuses on determining criteria on variables for selection of B → ωlν signal and suppression of background from other types of BB events and continuum processes. In addition, we determine optimal cuts on variables to ensure a good neutrino reconstruction. With these selection cuts, we were able to achieve a signal-to-background ratio of 0.68 and a signal efficiency of the order of 1%. Applying these cuts to a sample of 83 million BB events recorded by BaBar in e+e– collisions at the (4S) resonance, we obtain a yield of 115 ± 19 B → ωlν decays.

Chemical processes taking place in indoor environments can significantly alter the nature and concentrations of pollutants. Exposure to secondary contaminants generated in these reactions needs to be evaluated in association with many aspects of buildings to minimize their impact on occupant health and well-being. Focusing on indoor ozone chemistry, we describe alternatives for improving indoor air quality by controlling chemical changes related to building materials, ventilation systems, and occupant activities.

As workforce development becomes more of a critical component for an expanding renewable energy economy, new training opportunities are on the increase for practitioners interested in either getting into the renewable energy trades or upgrading their professional skills. This paper will report on the new trends in training and show how the instruction has become more highly developed. In many cases, curricula are now designed to provide teaching that leads to defined workplace knowledge, skills, and abilities. Private and academic training programs are becoming accredited specifically to renewable energy standards. Community colleges and technical schools are responding to local jobs by offering more and more renewable energy trades courses. And classes are expanding from 3 to 5 day workshops to semester-long courses resulting in one-year certificate and two-year associate degree programs at Community Colleges.

U.S. solar installations by technology are detailed for 1998–2005. The growth and state distribution of installations are different for the three primary solar sectors: • photovoltaics, • solar water heating and space heating, and • solar pool heating. Photovoltaic installations have grown steadily. Since 2001, grid-connected installations grew at an average rate of 52%. California has 79% of the installations, with Arizona, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Oregon accounting for most of the remaining installations. The offgrid growth has been steady, but significantly lower. Solar water heating and solar space heating installations have shown little growth since 1997. Hawaii dominates, with 41% of the market. Other states with a large number of installations include Puerto Rico, California, Florida, and Arizona. Solar pool heating accounts for the largest number of installations and has grown at an average rate of 13% since 1997. Installations in California and Florida are 75% of the pool heating market.

Over three hundred buildings have been certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for sustainable commercial buildings as of January 2006. This paper explores the modeled and actual energy performance of a sample of 21 of these buildings that certified under LEED between December 2001 and August 2005, including how extensively the design teams pursued LEED energy-efficiency credits, the modeled design and baseline energy performance, and the actual energy use during the first few years of operation. We collected utility billing data from 2003-2005 and compared the billed energy consumption with the modeled energy use. We also calculated Energy Star ratings for the buildings and compared them to peer groups where possible. The mean savings modeled for the sample was 27% compared to their modeled baseline values. For the group of 18 buildings for which we have both modeled and billed energy use, the mean value for actual consumption was 1% lower than modeled energy use, with a wide variation around the mean. The mean Energy Star score was 71 out of a total of 100 points, higher than the average score of 50 but slightly below the Energy Star award threshold of 75 points. …

Historically, the absence of interconnection standards has been one of the primary barriers to the deployment of distributed generation (DG) in the United States. Although significant progress in the development of interconnection standards was achieved at both the federal and state levels in 2005, interconnection policy and net-metering policy continue to confound regulators, lawmakers, DG businesses, clean-energy advocates and consumers. For this reason it is critical to keep track of developments related to these issues. The North Carolina Solar Center (NCSC) is home to two Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) projects -- the National Interconnection Project and the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE). This paper will present the major federal and state level policy developments in interconnection and net metering in 2005 and early 2006. It will also present conclusions based an analysis of data collected by these two projects.

This paper describes a joint effort of the Institute for Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IEE), and the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to support China's rural electrification program. This project developed a design tool that provides guidelines both for off-grid renewable energy system designs and for cost-based tariff and finance schemes to support them. This tool was developed to capitalize on lessons learned from the Township Electrification Program that preceded the Village Electrification Program. We describe the methods used to develop the analysis, some indicative results, and the planned use of the tool in the Village Electrification Program.

This paper provides an overview of the Tevatron Run II luminosity progress and plans, including SC magnet measurements and modeling of field errors in view of the LHC operation. It also discusses antiproton production, stacking and cooling.