Science and technology for industrial ecology (open access)

Science and technology for industrial ecology

Scientific and technological communities have a significant role to play and responsibility for the evolution of global sustainability (continuously improving quality of life into the indefinite future). Sustainability is not possible without a substantially improved science and technology basis for industrial ecology. Society needs data and understanding of complex ecological issues to govern itself in a sustainable manner. We should: support and develop multi-disciplinary programs which create the scientific basis for understanding natural and anthropogenic complex systems and for developing environmentally and economically efficient technology; demonstrate a systems-based approach to science and technology issues which is life-cycle comprehensive, integrates environmental considerations, and promotes conservation of natural resources; and encourage development of responsible, technically and scientifically valid, cost-effective environmental laws and practices.
Date: July 10, 1996
Creator: Gilmartin, T. J. & Allenby, B.R.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
BASIN ANALYSIS AND PETROLEUM SYSTEM CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING, INTERIOR SALT BASINS, CENTRAL AND EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO (open access)

BASIN ANALYSIS AND PETROLEUM SYSTEM CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING, INTERIOR SALT BASINS, CENTRAL AND EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO

The principal research effort for Year 2 of the project has been data compilation and the determination of the burial and thermal maturation histories of the North Louisiana Salt Basin and basin modeling and petroleum system identification. In the first nine (9) months of Year 2, the research focus was on the determination of the burial and thermal maturation histories, and during the remainder of the year the emphasis has basin modeling and petroleum system identification. Existing information on the North Louisiana Salt Basin has been evaluated, an electronic database has been developed, regional cross sections have been prepared, structure and isopach maps have been constructed, and burial history, thermal maturation history and hydrocarbon expulsion profiles have been prepared. Seismic data, cross sections, subsurface maps and related profiles have been used in evaluating the tectonic, depositional, burial and thermal maturation histories of the basin. Oil and gas reservoirs have been found to be associated with salt-supported anticlinal and domal features (salt pillows, turtle structures and piercement domes); with normal faulting associated with the northern basin margin and listric down-to-the-basin faults (state-line fault complex) and faulted salt features; and with combination structural and stratigraphic features (Sabine and Monroe Uplifts) and monoclinal …
Date: May 10, 2005
Creator: Mancini, Ernest A.; Goddard, Donald A. & Zimmerman, Ronald K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
THE TUBE STRESS-STRAIN PROPERTIES OF BRITTLE MATERIALS TO 5000 F. Sixth Monthly Report (open access)

THE TUBE STRESS-STRAIN PROPERTIES OF BRITTLE MATERIALS TO 5000 F. Sixth Monthly Report

Additional furnace work using the 25-kw induction power supply indicated reliable long-time performance at 4500 deg F. The detailed check out of the prototype, flat, gas bearing was completed. Bearing operatlon was very stable at 0.0005-in. gap. The design of the spherical bearing was begun. The grips were checked with a single graphite specimen and indicated satisfactory performance with specimen failure at the anticipated ultimate stress. The loading system was assembled, aligned, and operational check out completed. Design study of the optical strain analyzer was continued. (auth)
Date: November 10, 1960
Creator: Pears, C.D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Final Report to the Subsurface Science Program - Impact of Measurement Instrument and Conceptual Model on Analysis of Subsurface Heterogeneity (open access)

Final Report to the Subsurface Science Program - Impact of Measurement Instrument and Conceptual Model on Analysis of Subsurface Heterogeneity

This final report covers results of research initially focused on particle transport and then extended to study of measurement scale and scaling. Experimental, numerical, and theoretical findings were published in the areas of hydraulics in heterogeneous media, particle-chemical-microbial transport in heterogeneous media, sampling design, stochastics and wellhead protection. This work has resulted in 17 journal publications, a number of conference presentations, two Ph.D. dissertations, two Master's theses, and two manuscripts upon which undergraduate students have been co-authors.
Date: January 10, 2003
Creator: Silliman, Stephen E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The RHIC and RHIC Pre-Injectors Controls Systems: Status and Plans (open access)

The RHIC and RHIC Pre-Injectors Controls Systems: Status and Plans

For the past twelve years experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have recorded data from collisions of heavy ions and polarized protons, leading to important discoveries in nuclear physics and the spin dynamics of quarks and gluons. BNL is the site of one of the first and still operating alternating gradient synchrotrons, the AGS, which first operated in 1960. The accelerator controls systems for these instruments span multiple generations of technologies. In this report we will describe the current status of the Collider-Accelerator Department controls systems, which are used to control seven different accelerator facilities and multiple science programs (high energy nuclear physics, high energy polarized proton physics, NASA programs, isotope production, and multiple accelerator research and development projects). We will describe the status of current projects, such as the just completed Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS), our R&D programs in superconducting RF and an Energy Recovery LINAC (ERL), innovations in feedback systems and bunched beam stochastic cooling at RHIC, and plans for future controls system developments.
Date: October 10, 2011
Creator: Brown, K. A.; Altinbas, Z.; Aronson, J.; Binello, S.; Campbell, I.; Costanzo, M. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository From a Corrosive Perspective (open access)

The Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository From a Corrosive Perspective

The proposed Yucca Mountain Repository presents a familiar materials performance application that is regularly encountered in energy, transportation and other industries. The widely accepted approach to dealing with materials performance is to identify the performance requirements, to determine the operating conditions to which materials will be exposed and to select materials of construction that perform well in those conditions. A special feature of the proposed Repository is the extremely long time frame of interest, i.e. 10,000's of years and longer. Thus, the time evolution of the environment in contact with waste package surfaces and the time evolution of corrosion damage that may result are of primary interest in the determination of expected performance. Researchers at Case are part of a Department of Energy Corrosion and Materials Performance Cooperative. This team of leading scientists/engineers from major universities and national laboratories is working together to further enhance the understanding of the role of engineered barriers in waste isolation. The team is organized to address important topics: (1) Long-term behavior of protective, passive films; (2) Composition and properties of moisture in contact with metal surfaces; and (3) Rate of penetration and extent of corrosion damage over extremely long times. The work will also …
Date: February 10, 2006
Creator: Payer, Joe H.; Agarwal, Arun S.; Landau, Uziel; Liu, C. C.; Pharkya, Pallavi; Shan, Xi et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of ArF Excimer Irradiation on Multi-Energy Ge and Se Ion Implanted Silica (open access)

Effects of ArF Excimer Irradiation on Multi-Energy Ge and Se Ion Implanted Silica

None
Date: January 10, 2001
Creator: Magruder, R. H., III
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Rapid Method for Ra-226 and Ra-228 in Water Samples (open access)

Rapid Method for Ra-226 and Ra-228 in Water Samples

The measurement of radium isotopes in natural waters is important for oceanographic studies and for public health reasons. Ra-226 (1620 year half-life) is one of the most toxic of the long-lived alpha emitters present in the environment due to its long life and its tendency to concentrate in bones, which increases the internal radiation dose of individuals. The analysis of radium-226 and radium-228 in natural waters can be tedious and time-consuming. Different sample preparation methods are often required to prepare Ra-226 and Ra-228 for separate analyses. A rapid method has been developed at the Savannah River Environmental Laboratory that effectively separates both Ra-226 and Ra-228 (via Ac-228) for assay. This method uses MnO{sub 2} Resin from Eichrom Technologies (Darien, IL, USA) to preconcentrate Ra-226 and Ra-228 rapidly from water samples, along with Ba-133 tracer. DGA Resin{reg_sign} (Eichrom) and Ln-Resin{reg_sign} (Eichrom) are employed in tandem to prepare Ra-226 for assay by alpha spectrometry and to determine Ra-228 via the measurement of Ac-228 by gas proportional counting. After preconcentration, the manganese dioxide is dissolved from the resin and passed through stacked Ln-Resin-DGA Resin cartridges that remove uranium and thorium interferences and retain Ac-228 on DGA Resin. The eluate that passed through this …
Date: February 10, 2006
Creator: Maxwell, Sherrod, L., III
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Solar Radiation and Induction of DNA Damage, Mutations and Skin Cancers. (open access)

Solar Radiation and Induction of DNA Damage, Mutations and Skin Cancers.

An understanding of the effects of sunlight on human skin begins with the effects on DNA and extends to cells, animals and humans. The major DNA photoproducts arising from UVB (280-320 nm) exposures are cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers. If unrepaired, they may kill or mutate cells and result in basal and squamous cell carcinomas. Although UVA (320-400 nm) and visible wavelengths are poorly absorbed by DNA, the existing data indicate clearly that exposures to these wavelengths are responsible, in an animal model, for {approx}95 % of the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). Six lines of evidence, to be discussed in detail, support the photosensitizing role of melanin in the induction of this cancer. They are: (1) Melanomas induced in backcross hybrids of small tropical fish of the genus Xiphophorus, exposed to wavelengths from 302-547 nm, indicate that {approx}95% of the cancers induced by exposure to sunlight would arise from UVA + visible wavelengths; (2) The action spectrum for inducing melanin-photosensitized oxidant production is very similar to the spectrum for inducing melanoma; (3) Albino whites and blacks, although very sensitive to sunburn and the sunlight induction of non-CMM, have very low incidences of CMM; (4) The incidence of CMM as a …
Date: May 10, 2007
Creator: Setlow, Richard. B.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Corrosion of delta plutonium in Rocky Flats tap water (open access)

Corrosion of delta plutonium in Rocky Flats tap water

Corrosion rates were established by measuring the weight loss of a sample completely immersed in tap water for specified periods of time. Tests were conducted for periods ranging from 21 to 1824 hours at ambient temperature in sealed 125-ml containers. The weight changes observed revealed that the corrosion of delta plutonium by tap water in a closed system occurs through two separate processes. Each results in a different average corrosion rate. Initially a typical diffusion-controlled surface reaction was observed which resulted in an average corrosion rate of 0.264 mg(cm/sup 2/.h). The second corrosion process begins when cracking and flaking of the corrosion product layer occurs. This results in an increase in the corrosion rate to 0.52 mg/(cm/sup 2/.h). 3 figures, 2 tables.
Date: September 10, 1979
Creator: Hodges, A. E., III; Reynolds, J. J. & Haschke, J. M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Statistical Hot Spot Model for Explosive Detonation (open access)

Statistical Hot Spot Model for Explosive Detonation

The Non-local Thermodynamic Equilibrium Statistical Hot Spot Model (NLTE SHS), a new model for explosive detonation, is described. In this model, the formation, ignition, propagation, and extinction of hot spots is explicitly modeled. The equation of state of the explosive mixture is treated with a nonlocal equilibrium thermodynamic assumption. A methodology for developing the parameters for the model is discussed, and applied to the detonation velocity diameter effect. Examination of these results indicates where future improvements to the model can be made.
Date: May 10, 2004
Creator: Nichols, A. L., III
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Age-related changes in the plasticity and toughness of human cortical bone at multiple length-scales (open access)

Age-related changes in the plasticity and toughness of human cortical bone at multiple length-scales

The structure of human cortical bone evolves over multiple length-scales from its basic constituents of collagen and hydroxyapatite at the nanoscale to osteonal structures at nearmillimeter dimensions, which all provide the basis for its mechanical properties. To resist fracture, bone’s toughness is derived intrinsically through plasticity (e.g., fibrillar sliding) at structural-scales typically below a micron and extrinsically (i.e., during crack growth) through mechanisms (e.g., crack deflection/bridging) generated at larger structural-scales. Biological factors such as aging lead to a markedly increased fracture risk, which is often associated with an age-related loss in bone mass (bone quantity). However, we find that age-related structural changes can significantly degrade the fracture resistance (bone quality) over multiple lengthscales. Using in situ small-/wide-angle x-ray scattering/diffraction to characterize sub-micron structural changes and synchrotron x-ray computed tomography and in situ fracture-toughness measurements in the scanning electron microscope to characterize effects at micron-scales, we show how these age-related structural changes at differing size-scales degrade both the intrinsic and extrinsic toughness of bone. Specifically, we attribute the loss in toughness to increased non-enzymatic collagen cross-linking which suppresses plasticity at nanoscale dimensions and to an increased osteonal density which limits the potency of crack-bridging mechanisms at micron-scales. The link between these …
Date: August 10, 2011
Creator: Zimmermann, Elizabeth A.; Schaible, Eric; Bale, Hrishikesh; Barth, Holly D.; Tang, Simon Y.; Reichert, Peter et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
On the effect of x-ray irradiation on the deformation and fracture behavior of human cortical bone (open access)

On the effect of x-ray irradiation on the deformation and fracture behavior of human cortical bone

In situ mechanical testing coupled with imaging using high-energy synchrotron x-ray diffraction or tomography imaging is gaining in popularity as a technique to investigate micrometer and even sub-micrometer deformation and fracture mechanisms in mineralized tissues, such as bone and teeth. However, the role of the irradiation in affecting the nature and properties of the tissue is not always taken into account. Accordingly, we examine here the effect of x-ray synchrotron-source irradiation on the mechanistic aspects of deformation and fracture in human cortical bone. Specifically, the strength, ductility and fracture resistance (both work-of-fracture and resistance-curve fracture toughness) of human femoral bone in the transverse (breaking) orientation were evaluated following exposures to 0.05, 70, 210 and 630 kGy irradiation. Our results show that the radiation typically used in tomography imaging can have a major and deleterious impact on the strength, post-yield behavior and fracture toughness of cortical bone, with the severity of the effect progressively increasing with higher doses of radiation. Plasticity was essentially suppressed after as little as 70 kGy of radiation; the fracture toughness was decreased by a factor of five after 210 kGy of radiation. Mechanistically, the irradiation was found to alter the salient toughening mechanisms, manifest by the …
Date: January 10, 2010
Creator: Barth, Holly D.; Launey, Maximilien E.; McDowell, Alastair A.; Ager, Joel W., III & Ritchie, Robert O.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
How Tough is Human Cortical Bone? In-Situ Measurements on Realistically Short Cracks (open access)

How Tough is Human Cortical Bone? In-Situ Measurements on Realistically Short Cracks

Bone is more difficult to break than to split. Although this is well known, and many studies exist on the behavior of long cracks in bone, there is a need for data on the orientation-dependent crack-growth resistance behavior of human cortical bone which accurately assesses its toughness at appropriate size-scales. Here we use in-situ mechanical testing in the scanning electron microscope and x-ray computed tomography to examine how physiologically-pertinent short (<600 mu m) cracks propagate in both the transverse and longitudinal orientations in cortical bone, using both crack-deflection/twist mechanics and nonlinear-elastic fracture mechanics to determine crack-resistance curves. We find that after only 500 mu m of cracking, the driving force for crack propagation was more than five times higher in the transverse (breaking) direction than in the longitudinal (splitting) direction due to major crack deflections/twists principally at cement sheathes. Indeed, our results show that the true transverse toughness of cortical bone is far higher than previously reported. However, the toughness in the longitudinal orientation, where cracks tend to follow the cement lines, is quite low at these small crack sizes; it is only when cracks become several millimeters in length that bridging mechanisms can develop leading to the (larger-crack) toughnesses …
Date: May 10, 2008
Creator: Ritchie, Robert O.; Koester, K. J.; Ager, J. W., III & Ritchie, R. O.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Focused ion beam damage to MOS integrated circuits (open access)

Focused ion beam damage to MOS integrated circuits

Commercial focused ion beam (FIB) systems are commonly used to image integrated circuits (ICS) after device processing, especially in failure analysis applications. FIB systems are also often employed to repair faults in metal lines for otherwise functioning ICS, and are being evaluated for applications in film deposition and nanofabrication. A problem that is often seen in FIB imaging and repair is that ICS can be damaged during the exposure process. This can result in degraded response or out-right circuit failure. Because FIB processes typically require the surface of an IC to be exposed to an intense beam of 30--50 keV Ga{sup +} ions, both charging and secondary radiation damage are potential concerns. In previous studies, both types of effects have been suggested as possible causes of device degradation, depending on the type of device examined and/or the bias conditions. Understanding the causes of this damage is important for ICS that are imaged or repaired by a FIB between manufacture and operation, since the performance and reliability of a given IC is otherwise at risk in subsequent system application. In this summary, the authors discuss the relative roles of radiation damage and charging effects during FIB imaging. Data from exposures of …
Date: May 10, 2000
Creator: Fleetwood, D. M.; Campbell, Ann N.; Hembree, Charles E.; Tangyunyong, Paiboon; Jessing, Jeffrey R. & Soden, Jerry M.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sequestering Carbon Dioxide in Coalbeds (open access)

Sequestering Carbon Dioxide in Coalbeds

The authors' long-term goal is to develop accurate prediction methods for describing the adsorption behavior of gas mixtures on solid adsorbents over complete ranges of temperature, pressure and adsorbent types. The originally-stated, major objectives of the current project are to (1) measure the adsorption behavior of pure CO{sub 2}, methane, nitrogen, and their binary and ternary mixtures on several selected coals having different properties at temperatures and pressures applicable to the particular coals being studied, (2) generalize the adsorption results in terms of appropriate properties of the coals to facilitate estimation of adsorption behavior for coals other than those studied experimentally, (3) delineate the sensitivity of the competitive adsorption of CO{sub 2}, methane and nitrogen to the specific characteristics of the coal on which they are adsorbed; establish the major differences (if any) in the nature of this competitive adsorption on different coals, and (4) test and/or develop theoretically-based mathematical models to represent accurately the adsorption behavior of mixtures of the type for which measurements are made. As this project has developed, an important additional objective has been added to the above original list. Namely, we have been encouraged to interact with industry and/or governmental agencies to utilize our expertise …
Date: March 10, 2003
Creator: Gasem, K. A. M.; Robinson, R. L., Jr. & Radovic, L. R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Direct catalytic conversion of methane and light hydrocarbon gases. Quarterly report No. 9, October 1--December 31, 1988 (open access)

Direct catalytic conversion of methane and light hydrocarbon gases. Quarterly report No. 9, October 1--December 31, 1988

The goal of this research is to develop catalysts that directly convert methane and light hydrocarbons to intermediates that later can be converted to either liquid fuels or value-added chemicals, as economics dictate. During this reporting period, we completed our IR spectroscopic examination of the Ru{sub 4}/MgO and FeRu{sub 3}/MgO systems under nitrogen and methane by examining FeRu{sub 3}/MgO under methane. This system behaved quite differently than the same system under nitrogen. Under methane, only one very broad peak is observed at room temperature. Upon heating, the catalyst transformed so that by 300{degrees}C, the spectrum of FeRu{sub 3}/MgO under methane was the same as that of Ru{sub 4}/MgO. This suggests that methane promotes the segregation of the metals in the mixed metal system. The differences in catalytic activity between the FeRu{sub 3}/MgO and Ru{sub 4}/MgO systems may then be due to the presence of IR transparent species such as iron ions which cause different nucleation in the ruthenium clusters. We examined several systems for activity in the methane dehydrogenation reaction. Focusing on systems which produce C{sub 6} hydrocarbons since this is the most useful product. These systems all displayed low activity so that the amount of hydrocarbon product is very …
Date: March 10, 1989
Creator: Wilson, R. B., Jr.; Posin, B. M. & Chan, Yee Wai
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Plutonium analysis in spiked bovine tissues: an interlaboratory study (open access)

Plutonium analysis in spiked bovine tissues: an interlaboratory study

One of the more useful tools to assure the reliability of results from analytical procedures is the interlaboratory comparison method. The present exercise was undertaken primarily to obtain a measure of the reliability of analyses performed by several laboratories on autopsy samples in support of the United States Transuranium Registry (USTR). The results of these and other leading laboratories which routinely conduct similar analyses will be presented and compared. Three types of bovine tissue were prepared for distribution at three levels of plutonium concentration near the detection level normally encountered in autopsy samples.
Date: August 10, 1977
Creator: Thomas, V. W., Jr.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Experimental Gas Cooled Reactor. Final Hazards Summary Report. Volume I. Description and Hazards Evaluation (Book 1 and Book 2) (open access)

Experimental Gas Cooled Reactor. Final Hazards Summary Report. Volume I. Description and Hazards Evaluation (Book 1 and Book 2)

A detailed piant description including layout drawings is presented. The results obtained in analysis of credible accidents and the associated hazards are also given. (J.R.D.)
Date: October 10, 1962
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library