This RD&D project is a multi-institutional effort to develop a hybrid solar lighting (HSL) system that transports daylight from a paraboloidal dish concentrator to a luminaire via a bundle of polymer fiber optics. The luminaire can be a device to distribute sunlight into a space for the production of algae for CO{sub 2} sequestration or it can be a device that is a combination of daylighting and electric lighting for space/task lighting. In this project, the sunlight is collected using a one-meter paraboloidal concentrator dish with two-axis tracking. For the third generation (beta) system, the secondary mirror is an ellipsoidal mirror that directs the visible light into a bundle of 3 mm diameter fibers. The IR spectrum is filtered out to minimize unnecessary heating at the fiber entrance region. This report describes the major achievements from this research that began in August 2001.

The Illinois State Geological Survey and the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium are conducting CO{sub 2} sequestration and enhanced oil recovery testing at six different sites in the Illinois Basin. The capital and operating costs for equipment to capture and liquefy CO{sub 2} from ethanol plants in the Illinois area were evaluated so that ethanol plants could be considered as an alternate source for CO{sub 2} in the event that successful enhanced oil recovery tests create the need for additional sources of CO{sub 2} in the area. Estimated equipment and operating costs needed to capture and liquefy 68 metric tonnes/day (75 tons/day) and 272 tonnes/day (300 tons/day) of CO{sub 2} for truck delivery from an ethanol plant are provided. Estimated costs are provided for food/beverage grade CO{sub 2} and also for less purified CO{sub 2} suitable for enhanced oil recovery or sequestration. The report includes preliminary plant and equipment designs and estimates major capital and operating costs for each of the recovery options. Availability of used equipment was assessed.

In order to assess the effect of extended curing times at elevated temperatures on saltstone containing Tank 48H waste, saltstone samples prepared as a part of a separate study were analyzed for benzene using a modification of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) method 1311 Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). To carry out TCLP for volatile organic analytes (VOA), such as benzene, in the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) shielded cells (SC), a modified TCLP Zero-Headspace Extractor (ZHE) was developed. The modified method was demonstrated to be acceptable in a side by side comparison with an EPA recommended ZHE using nonradioactive saltstone containing tetraphenylborate (TPB). TCLP results for all saltstone samples tested containing TPB (both simulant and actual Tank 48H waste) were below the regulatory limit for benzene (0.5 mg/L). In general, higher curing temperatures corresponded to higher concentrations of benzene in TCLP extract. The TCLP performed on the simulant samples cured under the most extreme conditions (3000 mg/L TPB in salt and cured at 95 C for at least 144 days) resulted in benzene values that were greater than half the regulatory limit. Taking into account that benzene in TCLP extract was measured on the same order of …

High performance computational science and engineering simulations have become an increasingly important part of the scientist's problem solving toolset. A key reason is the development of widely used codes and libraries that support these applications, for example, Netlib, a collection of numerical libraries [33]. The term community codes refers to those libraries or applications that have achieved some critical level of acceptance by a user community. Many of these applications are on the high-end in terms of required resources: computation, storage, and communication. Recently, there has been considerable interest in putting such applications on-line and packaging them as network services to make them available to a wider user base. Applications such as data mining [22], theorem proving and logic [14], parallel numerical computation [8][32] are example services that are all going on-line. Transforming applications into services has been made possible by advances in packaging and interface technologies including component systems [2][6][13][28][37], proposed communication standards [34], and newer Web technologies such as Web Services [38]. Network services allow the user to focus on their application and obtain remote service when needed by simply invoking the service across the network. The user can be assured that the most recent version of the …

Results are reported on the reaction {gamma}p {yields} p{bar p}p with beam energy in the range 4.8-5.5 GeV. The data were collected at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in CLAS experiment E01-017(G6C). The focus of this study is an understanding of the mechanisms of photoproduction of proton-antiproton pairs, and to search for intermediate resonances, both narrow and broad, which decay to p{bar p}. The total measured cross section in the photon energy range 4.8-5.5 GeV is {sigma} = 33 {+-} 2 nb. Measurement of the cross section as a function of energy is provided. An upper limit on the production of a narrow resonance state previously observed with a mass of 2.02 GeV/c{sup 2} is placed at 0.35 nb. No intermediate resonance states were observed. Meson exchange production appears to dominate the production of the proton-antiproton pairs.

In support of technology development to utilize coal for efficient, affordable, and environmentally clean power generation, the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF), located in Wilsonville, Alabama, routinely demonstrates gasification technologies using various types of coal. The PSDF is an engineering scale demonstration of key features of advanced coal-fired power systems, including a Transport Gasifier, a hot gas particulate control device (PCD), advanced syngas cleanup systems, and high-pressure solids handling systems. This report summarizes the results of the first demonstration of the Transport Gasifier following significant modifications of the gasifier configuration. This demonstration took place during test campaign TC20, occurring from August 8 to September 23, 2006. The modifications proved successful in increasing gasifier residence time and particulate collection efficiency, two parameters critical in broadening of the fuel operating envelope and advancing gasification technology. The gasification process operated for over 870 hours, providing the opportunity for additional testing of various gasification technologies, such as PCD failsafe evaluation and sensor development.

Venoco Inc, intends to re-develop the Monterey Formation, a Class III basin reservoir, at South Ellwood Field, Offshore Santa Barbara, California. Well productivity in this field varies significantly. Cumulative Monterey production for individual wells has ranged from 260 STB to over 10,000,000 STB. Productivity is primarily affected by how well the well path connects with the local fracture system and the degree of aquifer support. Cumulative oil recovery to date is a small percentage of the original oil in place. To embark upon successful re-development and to optimize reservoir management, Venoco intended to investigate, map and characterize field fracture patterns and the reservoir conduit system. In the first phase of the project, state of the art borehole imaging technologies including FMI, dipole sonic, interference tests and production logs were employed to characterize fractures and micro faults. These data along with the existing database were used in the construction of a new geologic model of the fracture network. An innovative fracture network reservoir simulator was developed to better understand and manage the aquifer’s role in pressure maintenance and water production. In the second phase of this project, simulation models were used to plan the redevelopment of the field using high angle …

The initial scope of work for this project included: 1) Improving the FEM3A advanced turbulence closure module, 2) Adaptation of FEM3A for more general applications, and 3) Verification of dispersion over rough surfaces, with and without obstacle using the advanced turbulence closure module. These work elements were to be performed by Chemical Hazards Research Center (CHRC), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas as a subcontractor to Gas Technology Institute (GTI). The tasks for GTI included establishment of the scientific support base for standardization of the FEM3A model, project management, technology transfer, and project administration. Later in the course of the project, the scope of work was modified by the National Energy Technology Laboratories (NETL) to remove the emphasis on FEM3A model and instead, develop data in support of NETL’s FLUENT modeling. With this change, GTI was also instructed to cease activities relative to FEM3A model. GTI’s technical activities through this project included the initial verification of FEM3A model, provision of technical inputs to CHRC researchers regarding the structure of the final product, and participation in technical discussion sessions with CHRC and NETL technical staff. GTI also began the development of a Windows-based front end for the model but the …

The evolution of our understanding of the behavior of oxide nanostructures depends heavily on the structural information obtained from a wide range of physical methods traditionally used in solid state physics, surface science and inorganic chemistry. In this chapter, we describe several techniques that are useful for the characterization of the structural properties of oxide nanostructures: X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scattering, X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The ultimate goal is to obtain information about the spatial arrangement of atoms in the nanostructures with precise interatomic distances and bond angles. This may not be possible for complex systems and one may get only partial information about the local geometry or morphology.

Modeling of the alpha, beta, and gamma dose from spent fuel as a function of particle size and fuel to water ratio was examined. These doses will be combined with modeling of G values and interactions to determine the concentration of various species formed at the fuel water interface and their affect on dissolution rates.

Flue gas desulphurization (FGD) materials are produced in abundant quantities by coal burning utilities. Due to environmental restrains, flue gases must be ''cleaned'' prior to release to the atmosphere. They are two general methods to ''scrub'' flue gas: wet and dry. The choice of scrubbing material is often defined by the type of coal being burned, i.e. its composition. Scrubbing is traditionally carried out using a slurry of calcium containing material (slaked lime or calcium carbonate) that is made to contact exiting flue gas as either a spay injected into the gas or in a bubble tower. The calcium combined with the SO{sub 2} in the gas to form insoluble precipitates. Some plants have been using dry injection of these same materials or their own Class C fly ash to scrub. In either case the end product contains primarily hannebachite (CaSO{sub 3} {center_dot} 1/2H{sub 2}O) with smaller amounts of gypsum (CaSO{sub 4} {center_dot} 2H{sub 2}O). These materials have little commercial use. Experiments were carried out that were meant to explore the feasibility of using blends of hannebachite and fly ash mixed with concentrated sodium hydroxide to make masonry products. The results suggest that some of these mixtures could be used …

In May 2002, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) signed Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC09-02CH11109 with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to support the Environmental Biosciences Program (EBP). This funding instrument replaces DOE Assistance Instrument Number DE-FC02-98CH10902. EBP is an integrated, multidisciplinary scientific research program, employing a range of research initiatives to identify, study and resolve environmental health risks. These initiatives are consistent with the MUSC role as a comprehensive state-supported health sciences institution and with the nation's need for new and better approaches to the solution of a complex and expansive array of environment-related health problems. The intrinsic capabilities of a comprehensive health sciences institution enable MUSC to be a national resource for the scientific investigation of environmental health issues. EBPs success as a nationally prominent research program is due, in part, to its ability to task-organize scientific expertise from multiple disciplines in addressing these complex problems. Current research projects have focused EBP talent and resources on providing the scientific basis for risk-based standards, risk-based decision making and the accelerated clean-up of widespread environmental hazards. These hazards include trichloroethylene and low-dose ionizing radiation. A project is also being conducted in the use of geographical information system technology …

The post-genomic era presents new opportunities for manipulating plant chemistry for improvement of plant traits such as disease and stress resistance and nutritional qualities. This conference will provide a setting for developing multidisciplinary collaborations needed to unravel the dynamic complexity of plant metabolic networks and advance basic and applied research in plant metabolic engineering. The conference will integrate recent advances in genomics, with metabolite and gene expression analyses. Research discussions will explore how biosynthetic pathways interact with regard to substrate competition and channeling, plasticity of biosynthetic enzymes, and investigate the localization, structure, and assembly of biosynthetic metabolons in native and nonnative environments. The meeting will develop new perspectives for plant transgenic research with regard to how transgene expression may influence cellular metabolism. Incorporation of spectroscopic approaches for metabolic profiling and flux analysis combined with mathematical modeling will contribute to the development of rational metabolic engineering strategies and lead to the development of new tools to assess temporal and subcellular changes in metabolite pools. The conference will also highlight new technologies for pathway engineering, including use of heterologous systems, directed enzyme evolution, engineering of transcription factors and application of molecular/genetic techniques for controlling biosynthetic pathways.

Machida found in tracking studies [Shinji Machida, presentation at the FFAG05 Workshop, Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, Osaka, Japan, 5-9 December 2005] that the time of flight in a linear non-scaling FFAG depended on the transverse amplitude of the particles. I compute a relationship between the transverse amplitude dependence of the time of flight and the variation of tune with energy and explain its physical origin.

Electro Energy, Inc. conducted a research project to develop an energy efficient and environmentally friendly bipolar Ni-MH battery for distributed energy storage applications. Rechargeable batteries with long life and low cost potentially play a significant role by reducing electricity cost and pollution. A rechargeable battery functions as a reservoir for storage for electrical energy, carries energy for portable applications, or can provide peaking energy when a demand for electrical power exceeds primary generating capabilities.

The FFAG05 workshop at KEK is one in a series of important annual gatherings of scientists working in the area of fixed field alternating gradient accelerators (FFAGs). At this workshop, we heard of many FFAG designs that are in operation, under construction, and in the planning stages. These machines are being used for a wide variety of applications. We also had a great deal of discussion of some of the theoretical aspects of FFAG design. This paper attempts to give a coherent summary of the workshop, and hopefully serves as an introduction to the more detailed papers in the workshop proceedings.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a ground-based telescope currently under development, will allow a thorough study of dark energy by measuring, more completely and accurately than previously, the rate of expansion of the universe and the large-scale structure of the matter in it. The telescope utilizes a broadband photometric system of six wavelength bands to measure the redshifts of distant objects. The earth's atmosphere makes it difficult to acquire accurate data, since some of the light passing through the atmosphere is scattered or absorbed due to Rayleigh scattering, molecular absorption, and aerosol scattering. Changes in the atmospheric extinction distribution due to each of these three processes were simulated by altering the parameters of a sample atmospheric distribution. Spectral energy distributions of standard stars were used to simulate data acquired by the telescope. The effects of changes in the atmospheric parameters on the photon flux measurements through each wavelength band were observed in order to determine which atmospheric conditions must be monitored most closely to achieve the desired 1% uncertainty on flux values. It was found that changes in the Rayleigh scattering parameter produced the most significant variations in the data; therefore, the molecular volume density (pressure) must be measured …

The reservoir characterization and investigation of the benefits of horizontal wells in the East Binger Unit miscible nitrogen flood as been completed. A significant work program was implemented from 2002 to 2005 in an effort to reduce gas cycling and economically increase ultimate oil recovery. Horizontal and vertical infill wells were drilled and existing producers were converted to injection. Due to successful infill drilling based on the improved flow characterization, more drilling was done than originally planned, and further drilling will occur after the project is completed. Through the drilling of wells and reservoir characterization work, it was determined that poor areal sweep efficiency is the primary factor causing nitrogen cycling and limiting oil recovery. This is in contrast to the perception prior to the initiation of development, which was that gravity segregation was causing poor vertical sweep efficiency. Although not true of all infill wells, most were drilled in areas with little sweep and came online producing gas with much lower nitrogen contents than previously drilled wells in the field and in the pilot area. Seven vertical and three horizontal wells were drilled in the pilot area throughout the project. As previously reported, the benefits of horizontal drilling were …

A pilot carbon dioxide miscible flood was initiated in the Lansing Kansas City C formation in the Hall Gurney Field, Russell County, Kansas. The reservoir zone is an oomoldic carbonate located at a depth of about 2900 feet. The pilot consists of one carbon dioxide injection well and two production wells on about 10 acre spacing. Continuous carbon dioxide injection began on December 2, 2003. By the end of June 2005, 16.19 MM lb of carbon dioxide were injected into the pilot area. Injection was converted to water on June 21, 2005 to reduce operating costs to a breakeven level with the expectation that sufficient carbon dioxide has been injected to displace the oil bank to the production wells by water injection. Wells in the pilot area produced 100% water at the beginning of the flood. Oil production began in February 2004, increasing to an average of about 3.78 B/D for the six month period between January 1 and June 30, 2005 before declining. By June 30, 2006, 41,566 bbls of water were injected into CO2I-1 and 2,726 bbl of oil were produced from the pilot. Injection rates into CO2I-1 declined with time, dropping to an unacceptable level for the …

The Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) initially installed in the Instrumented Flux Return (IFR) of the BABAR particle detector have proven unreliable and inefficient for detecting muons and neutral hadrons. In the summer of 2004, the BABAR Collaboration began replacing the RPCs with Limited Streamer Tubes (LSTs). LST operation requires a mixture of very pure gases and an operating voltage of 5500 V to achieve maximum efficiency. In the past, the gas supplies obtained by the BABAR Collaboration have contained contaminants that caused the efficiency of the IFR LSTs to drop from approximately 90% to approximately 60%. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a method for testing this gas for contaminants. An LST test system was designed and built using two existing LSTs, one placed 1 cm above the other. These LSTs detect cosmic muons in place of particles created during the BABAR experiment. The effect of gas contamination was mimicked by reducing the operating voltage of the test system in order to lower the detection efficiency. When contaminated gas was simulated, the coincidence rate and the percent coincidence between the LSTs in the test system dropped off significantly, demonstrating that test system can be used as an indicator of gas …

We revisit the estimation of the power deposited by the electron cloud (EC) in the arc dipoles of the LHC by means of simulations. We adopt, as simulation input, a set of electron-related parameters closely resembling those used in recent simulations at CERN [1]. We explore values for the bunch population Nb in the range 0.4 x 10^11 <= Nb <=1.6 x 10^11, peak secondary electron yield (SEY) delta max in the range 1.0 <= delta max <= 2.0, and bunch spacing tb either 25 or 75 ns. For tb=25 ns we find that the EC average power deposition per unit length of beam pipe, dPbar/dz, will exceed the available cooling capacity, which we take to be 1.7 W/m at nominal Nb [2], if delta max exceeds ~1.3, but dPbar/dz will be comfortably within the cooling capacity if delta max <= 1.2. For tb =75 ns dPbar/dz exceeds the cooling capacity only when delta max > 2 and Nb > 1.5 x 10^11 taken in combination. The rediffused component of the secondary electron emission spectrum plays a significant role: if we artificially suppress this component while keeping delta max fixed, dPbar/dz is roughly cut in half for most values of …

An evaluation has been made for using the Oxide Washer to wash water-soluble materials out of impure Pu oxide. It is found that multiple washes are needed to reduce the water-soluble materials to very low levels in the impure Pu oxides. The removal of the wash water from the Oxide Washer is accompanied by particulates of the impure Pu oxide, which subsequently need to be filtered out. In spite of the additional filtration needed, the overall level of manpower required for processing is still only about one third of that for an all-manual operation.

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For two decades, extensive hydrologic investigations have been conducted for geologic disposal of high-level radioactive waste in fractured volcanic tuffs at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Extensive field and laboratory geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical testing has provided a large amount of data for developing the conceptual understanding of these processes and parameters for quantifying these processes. A suite of sophisticated numerical models has been developed to assess the long-term performance of the natural barrier of unsaturated zone (UZ) and saturated zone (SZ) to flow of groundwater and transport of radionuclides released from the repository. This work focuses on characterizing surface and subsurface processes of climate change, infiltration, percolation in the UZ and groundwater flow in the SZ, as well as on predicting hydrologic responses of the natural system to the emplacement of waste packages in drifts, including seepage of water into emplacement drifts and radionuclide transport in the UZ and SZ. These models are then abstracted into a total system performance assessment (TSPA) model. The TSPA integrates these natural attributes with features of engineered systems, and through systematic stochastic analyses involving Monte Carlo simulations, predicts the dose consequences and groundwater concentrations for at least 10,000 years for various future climate conditions, waste …