By combining thermodynamic database mining with first principles density functional theory and phonon lattice dynamics calculations, a theoretical screening methodology to identify the most promising CO2 sorbent candidates from the vast array of possible solid materials has been proposed and validated. The ab initio thermodynamic technique has the advantage of allowing identification of thermodynamic properties of CO2 capture reactions without any experimental input beyond crystallographic structural information of the solid phases involved. For a given solid, the first step is to attempt to extract thermodynamic properties from thermodynamic databases and the available literatures. If the thermodynamic properties of the compound of interest are unknown, an ab initio thermodynamic approach is used to calculate them. These properties expressed conveniently as chemical potentials and heat of reactions, which obtained either from databases or from calculations, are further used for computing the thermodynamic reaction equilibrium properties of the CO2 absorption/desorption cycles. Only those solid materials for which lower capture energy costs are predicted at the desired process conditions are selected as CO2 sorbent candidates and are further considered for experimental validations. Solid sorbents containing alkali and alkaline earth metals have been reported in several previous studies to be good candidates for CO2 sorbent …

Mixed Electron and Carbonate ion Conductor (MECC) membranes have been proposed as a means to separate CO{sub 2} from power plant flue gas. Here a modified MECC CO{sub 2} capture process is analyzed that supplements retentate pressurization and permeate evacuation as a means to create a CO{sub 2} driving force with a process assisted by the catalytic combustion of syngas on the permeate side of the membrane. The combustion reactions consume transported oxygen, making it unavailable for the backwards transport reaction. With this change, the MECC capture system becomes exothermic, and steam for electricity production may be generated from the waste heat. Greater than 90% of the CO{sub 2} in the flue gas may be captured, and a compressed CO{sub 2} product stream is produced. A fossil-fueled power plant using this process would consume 14% more fuel per unit electricity produced than a power plant with no CO{sub 2} capture system, and has the potential to meet U.S. DOE's goal that deployment of a CO{sub 2} capture system at a fossil-fueled power plant should not increase the cost of electricity from the combined facility by more than 30%.

The main goal (long term) of this work is to perform computational dynamics analysis and quantify uncertainty from vector fields computed directly from measured data. Global analysis based on observed spatiotemporal evolution is performed by objective function based on expected physics and informed scientific priors, variational optimization to compute vector fields from measured data, and transport analysis proceeding with observations and priors. A mathematical formulation for computing flow fields is set up for computing the minimizer for the problem. An application to oceanic flow based on sea surface temperature is presented.

The goal of this study is to demonstrate how a DPSS laser beam's quality parameters can be simultaneously optimized through pump current tuning. Two DPSS lasers of the same make and model were used where the laser diode pump current was first varied to ascertain the lowest RMS noise region. The lowest noise was found to be 0.13% in this region and the best M{sup 2} value of 1.0 and highest laser output power were simultaneously attained at the same current point. The laser manufacturer reported a M{sup 2} value of 1.3 and RMS noise value of .14% for these lasers. This study therefore demonstrates that pump current tuning a DPSS laser can simultaneously optimize RMS Noise, Power and M{sup 2} values. Future studies will strive to broaden the scope of the beam quality parameters impacted by current tuning.

The discovery of bright gamma-ray emission coincident with supernova remnant (SNR) W51C is reported using the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. W51C is a middle-aged remnant ({approx}10{sup 4} yr) with intense radio synchrotron emission in its shell and known to be interacting with a molecular cloud. The gamma-ray emission is spatially extended, broadly consistent with the radio and X-ray extent of SNR W51C. The energy spectrum in the 0.2-50 GeV band exhibits steepening toward high energies. The luminosity is greater than 1 x 10{sup 36} erg s{sup -1} given the distance constraint of D > 5.5 kpc, which makes this object one of the most luminous gamma-ray sources in our Galaxy. The observed gamma-rays can be explained reasonably by a combination of efficient acceleration of nuclear cosmic rays at supernova shocks and shock-cloud interactions. The decay of neutral p mesons produced in hadronic collisions provides a plausible explanation for the gamma-ray emission. The product of the average gas density and the total energy content of the accelerated protons amounts to {bar n}{sub H} W{sub p} {approx_equal} 5 x 10{sup 51} (D/6 kpc){sup 2} erg cm{sup -3}. Electron density constraints from the radio and X-ray bands …

Observations by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi mission of diffuse {gamma}-rays in a mid-latitude region in the third quadrant (Galactic longitude l from 200{sup o} to 260{sup o} and latitude |b| from 22{sup o} to 60{sup o}) are reported. The region contains no known large molecular cloud and most of the atomic hydrogen is within 1 kpc of the solar system. The contributions of {gamma}-ray point sources and inverse Compton scattering are estimated and subtracted. The residual {gamma}-ray intensity exhibits a linear correlation with the atomic gas column density in energy from 100 MeV to 10 GeV. The measured integrated {gamma}-ray emissivity is (1.63 {+-} 0.05) x 10{sup -26} photons s{sup -1}sr{sup -1} H-atom{sup -1} and (0.66 {+-} 0.02) x 10{sup -26} photons s{sup -1}sr{sup -1} H-atom{sup -1} above 100 MeV and above 300 MeV, respectively, with an additional systematic error of {approx}10%. The differential emissivity from 100 MeV to 10 GeV agrees with calculations based on cosmic ray spectra consistent with those directly measured, at the 10% level. The results obtained indicate that cosmic ray nuclei spectra within 1 kpc from the solar system in regions studied are close to the local interstellar spectra inferred from …

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Surface adsorption represents a competition between collision and scattering processes that depend on surface energy, surface structure and temperature. The surface reactivity of the actinides can add additional complexity due to radiological dissociation of the gas and electronic structure. Here we elucidate the chemical bonding of gas molecules adsorbed on Pu metal and oxide surfaces. Atmospheric gas reactions were studied at 190 and 300 K using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Evolution of the Pu 4f and O 1s core-level states were studied as a function of gas dose rates to generate a set of Langmuir isotherms. Results show that the initial gas dose forms Pu{sub 2}O{sub 3} on the Pu metal surface followed by the formation of PuO{sub 2} resulting in a layered oxide structure. This work represents the first steps in determining the activation energy for adsorption of various atmospheric gases on Pu.

The physics of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) emitted by ultra-relativistic electron bunches, known since the last century, has become increasingly important with the development of high peak current free electron lasers and shorter bunch lengths in storage rings. Coherent radiation can be described as a low frequency part of the familiar synchrotron radiation in bending magnets. As this part is independent of the electron energy, the fields of different electrons of a short bunch can be in phase and the total power of the radiation will be quadratic with the number of electrons. Naturally the frequency spectrum of the longitudinal electron distribution in a bunch is of the same importance as the overall electron bunch length. The interest in the utilization of high power radiation from the terahertz and far infrared region in the field of chemical, physical and biological processes has led synchrotron radiation facilities to pay more attention to the production of coherent radiation. Several laboratories have proposed the construction of a facility wholly dedicated to terahertz production using the coherent radiation in bending magnets initiated by the longitudinal instabilities in the ring. Existing synchrotron radiation facilities also consider such a possibility among their future plans. There is …

The difficulty to directly detect plutonium in spent nuclear fuel due to the high Compton background of the fission products motivates the design of a Gamma detector with improved sensitivity at low energies. We have built such a detector by operating a thin high-purity Ge detector with a large scintillator Compton veto directly behind it. The Ge detector is thin to absorb just the low-energy Pu radiation of interest while minimizing Compton scattering of high energy radiation from the fission products. The subsequent scintillator is large so that forward scattered photons from the Ge detector interact in it at least once to provide an anti-coincidence veto for the Ge detector. For highest sensitivity, additional material in the line-of-sight is minimized, the radioactive sample is kept thin, and its radiation is collimated. We will discuss the instrument design, and demonstrate the feasibility of the approach with a prototype that employs two large CsI scintillator vetoes. Initial spectra of a thin Cs-137 calibration source show a background suppression of a factor of {approx}2.5 at {approx}100 keV, limited by an unexpectedly thick 4 mm dead layer in the Ge detector.

As facilities look for permanent storage of toxic materials, they are forced to address the long-term impacts to the environment as well as any individuals living in affected area. As these materials are stored underground, modeling of the contaminant transport through the ground is an essential part of the evaluation. The contaminant transport model must address the long-term degradation of the containment system as well as any movement of the contaminant through the soil and into the groundwater. In order for disposal facilities to meet their performance objectives, engineered and natural barriers are relied upon. Engineered barriers include things like the design of the disposal unit, while natural barriers include things like the depth of soil between the disposal unit and the water table. The Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina is an example of a waste disposal unit that must be evaluated over a timeframe of thousands of years. The engineered and natural barriers for the SDF allow it to meet its performance objective over the long time frame. Some waste disposal facilities are required to meet certain standards to ensure public safety. These type of facilities require an engineered containment system …

We report the results from a study of the full sample of {approx}6.031 x 10{sup 7} K{sup {+-}} {yields} {pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0} decays recorded by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS. As first observed in this experiment, the {pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0} invariant mass (M{sub 00}) distribution shows a cusp-like anomaly in the region around M{sub 00} = 2m{sub +}, where m{sub +} is the charged pion mass. This anomaly has been interpreted as an effect due mainly to the final state charge exchange scattering process {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0} in K{sup {+-}} {yields} {pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} decay. Fits to the M{sub 00} distribution using two different theoretical formulations provide the presently most precise determination of a{sub 0} - a{sub 2}, the difference between the {pi}{pi} S-wave scattering lengths in the isospin I = 0 and I = 2 states. Higher-order {pi}{pi} rescattering terms, included in the two formulations, allow also an independent, though less precise, determination of a{sub 2}.

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We report the detection of {gamma}-ray pulsations ({ge}0.1 GeV) from PSR J2229+6114 and PSR J1048-5832, the latter having been detected as a low-significance pulsar by EGRET. Data in the {gamma}-ray band were acquired by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, while the radio rotational ephemerides used to fold the {gamma}-ray light curves were obtained using the Green Bank Telescope, the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank, and the Parkes Telescope. The two young radio pulsars, located within the error circles of the previously unidentified EGRET sources 3EG J1048-5840 and 3EG J2227+6122, present spin-down characteristics similar to the Vela pulsar. PSR J1048-5832 shows two sharp peaks at phases 0.15 {+-} 0.01 and 0.57 {+-} 0.01 relative to the radio pulse confirming the EGRET light curve, while PSR J2229+6114 presents a very broad peak at phase 0.49 {+-} 0.01. The {gamma}-ray spectra above 0.1 GeV of both pulsars are fit with power laws having exponential cutoffs near 3 GeV, leading to integral photon fluxes of (2.19 {+-} 0.22 {+-} 0.32) x 10{sup -7} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} for PSR J1048-5832 and (3.77 {+-} 0.22 {+-} 0.44) x 10{sup -7} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} for PSR J2229+6114. The first …

The first results from observations of the high-mass X-ray binary LS 5039 using the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope data between 2008 August and 2009 June are presented. Our results indicate variability that is consistent with the binary period, with the emission being modulated with a period of 3.903 {+-} 0.005 days; the first detection of this modulation at GeV energies. The light curve is characterized by a broad peak around superior conjunction in agreement with inverse Compton scattering models. The spectrum is represented by a power law with an exponential cutoff, yielding an overall flux (100 MeV-300 GeV) of 4.9 {+-} 0.5(stat) {+-} 1.8(syst) x 10{sup -7} photon cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, with a cutoff at 2.1 {+-} 0.3(stat) {+-} 1.1(syst) GeV and photon index {Gamma} = 1.9 {+-} 0.1(stat) {+-} 0.3(syst). The spectrum is observed to vary with orbital phase, specifically between inferior and superior conjunction. We suggest that the presence of a cutoff in the spectrum may be indicative of magnetospheric emission similar to the emission seen in many pulsars by Fermi.

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Implanted medical devices such as pacemakers and neural prosthetics require that the electronic components that power these devices are protected from the harsh chemical and biological environment of the body. Typically, the electronics are hermetically sealed inside a bio-compatible package containing feedthroughs that transmit electrical signals, while being impermeable to particles or moisture. We present a novel approach for fabricating one of the highest densities of biocompatible hermetic feedthroughs in alumina (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}). Alumina substrates with laser machined vias of 200 {mu}m pitch were conformally metallized and lithographically patterned. Hermetic electrical feedthroughs were formed by extruding metal studbumps partially through the vias. Hermeticity testing showed leak rates better than 9x10{sup -10} torr-l/s. Based on our preliminary results and process optimization, this extruded metal via approach is a high-density, low temperature, cost-effective, and robust method of miniaturizing electrical feedthroughs for a wide range of implantable bio-medical device applications.

Following the recent discovery of {gamma} rays from the radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy PMN J0948+0022 (z = 0.5846), we started a multiwavelength campaign from radio to {gamma} rays, which was carried out between the end of 2009 March and the beginning of July. The source displayed activity at all the observed wavelengths: a general decreasing trend from optical to {gamma}-ray frequencies was followed by an increase of radio emission after less than two months from the peak of the {gamma}-ray emission. The largest flux change, about a factor of about 4, occurred in the X-ray band. The smallest was at ultraviolet and near-infrared frequencies, where the rate of the detected photons dropped by a factor 1.6-1.9. At optical wavelengths, where the sampling rate was the highest, it was possible to observe day scale variability, with flux variations up to a factor of about 3. The behavior of PMN J0948+0022 observed in this campaign and the calculated power carried out by its jet in the form of protons, electrons, radiation, and magnetic field are quite similar to that of blazars, specifically of flat-spectrum radio quasars. These results confirm the idea that radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies host relativistic jets with …

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While current viral sensing methods are extremely sensitive, there is still a need for platforms capable of detecting engineered viruses and being integrated into device architectures for point-of-care assessments. Nanopores could provide a single pathway to achieve these goals.