The assessment of caprocks for geologic CO{sub 2} storage is a multi-scale endeavor. Investigation of a regional caprock - the Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin, USA - at the pore-network scale indicates high capillary sealing capacity and low permeabilities. Core and wellscale data, however, indicate a potential seal bypass system as evidenced by multiple mineralized fractures and methane gas saturations within the caprock. Our interpretation of {sup 4}He concentrations, measured at the top and bottom of the caprock, suggests low fluid fluxes through the caprock: (1) Of the total {sup 4}He produced in situ (i.e., at the locations of sampling) by uranium and thorium decay since deposition of the Kirtland Formation, a large portion still resides in the pore fluids. (2) Simple advection-only and advection-diffusion models, using the measured {sup 4}He concentrations, indicate low permeability ({approx}10-20 m{sup 2} or lower) for the thickness of the Kirtland Formation. These findings, however, do not guarantee the lack of a large-scale bypass system. The measured data, located near the boundary conditions of the models (i.e., the overlying and underlying aquifers), limit our testing of conceptual models and the sensitivity of model parameterization. Thus, we suggest approaches for future studies to better assess the …

The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCXI) generates high intensity ion beams to explore Warm Dense Matter physics. A {approx}150 kV, {approx}500 ns modulating voltage pulse is applied to a {approx}300 kV, 5-10 {mu}s, 25 mA K+ ion beam across a single induction gap. The velocity modulated beam compresses longitudinally during ballistic transport along a space charge neutralizing plasma transport line, resulting in {approx}3A peak current with {approx}2-3 ns pulse durations (FWHM) at the target plane. Transverse final focusing is accomplished with a {approx}8 T, 10 cm long pulsed solenoid magnet. Time-dependent electrostatic focusing in the induction gap, and chromatic aberrations in the final focus optics limit the peak fluenceat the target plane for the compressed beam pulse. We report on time-dependent phase space measurements of the compressed pulse in the ballistic transport beamline, and measurement of the time-dependent radial impulses derived from the interaction of the beam and the induction gap voltage. We present results of start-to-end simulations to benchmark the experiments. Fast correction strategies are discussed with application to both NDCX-I and the soon to be commissioned NDCX-II accelerators.

Aggressive engine downsizing, variable compression ratio and use of the Atkinson cycle are being combined to improve fuel economy by up to 40 percent relative to port fuel injected gasoline engines, while maintaining full engine power. Approach Engine downsizing is viewed by US and foreign automobile manufacturers as one of the best options for improving fuel economy. While this strategy has already demonstrated a degree of success, downsizing and fuel economy gains are currently limited. With new variable compression ratio technology however, the degree of engine downsizing and fuel economy improvement can be greatly increased. A small variable compression ratio (VCR) engine has the potential to return significantly higher vehicle fuel economy while also providing high power. Affordability and potential for near term commercialization are key attributes of the Envera VCR engine. VCR Technology To meet torque and power requirements, a smaller engine needs to do more work per stroke. This is typically accomplished by boosting the incoming charge with either a turbo or supercharger so that more energy is present in the cylinder per stroke to do the work. With current production engines the degree of engine boosting (which correlates to downsizing) is limited by detonation (combustion knock) at …

Sulfate reducing bacteria are physiologically important given their nearly ubiquitous presence and have important applications in the areas of bioremediation and bioenergy. This chapter provides details on the steps used for homologous-recombination mediated chromosomal manipulation of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, a well-studied sulfate reducer. More specifically, we focus on the implementation of a 'parts' based approach for suicide vector assembly, important aspects of anaerobic culturing, choices for antibiotic selection, electroporation-based DNA transformation, as well as tools for screening and verifying genetically modified constructs. These methods, which in principle may be extended to other sulfate-reducing bacteria, are applicable for functional genomics investigations, as well as metabolic engineering manipulations.

OpenMP [13] is the dominant programming model for shared-memory parallelism in C, C++ and Fortran due to its easy-to-use directive-based style, portability and broad support by compiler vendors. Similar characteristics are needed for a programming model for devices such as GPUs and DSPs that are gaining popularity to accelerate compute-intensive application regions. This paper presents extensions to OpenMP that provide that programming model. Our results demonstrate that a high-level programming model can provide accelerated performance comparable to hand-coded implementations in CUDA.

The ASC Exascale Hardware Architecture working group is challenged to provide input on the following areas impacting the future use and usability of potential exascale computer systems: processor, memory, and interconnect architectures, as well as the power and resilience of these systems. Going forward, there are many challenging issues that will need to be addressed. First, power constraints in processor technologies will lead to steady increases in parallelism within a socket. Additionally, all cores may not be fully independent nor fully general purpose. Second, there is a clear trend toward less balanced machines, in terms of compute capability compared to memory and interconnect performance. In order to mitigate the memory issues, memory technologies will introduce 3D stacking, eventually moving on-socket and likely on-die, providing greatly increased bandwidth but unfortunately also likely providing smaller memory capacity per core. Off-socket memory, possibly in the form of non-volatile memory, will create a complex memory hierarchy. Third, communication energy will dominate the energy required to compute, such that interconnect power and bandwidth will have a significant impact. All of the above changes are driven by the need for greatly increased energy efficiency, as current technology will prove unsuitable for exascale, due to unsustainable power …

The NPDES permit issued to the Savannah River Site (SRS) in 2003 contained copper limits as low as six micrograms per liter. It also contained compliance schedules that provided SRS with anywhere from three to five years to select and implement projects that would enable compliance at several outfalls. Some outfall problems were much more difficult to correct than others. SRS personnel implemented several innovative projects in order to meet compliance schedule deadlines as inexpensively as possible. One innovation, constructing a humic acid feed system to increase effluent dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content, has proven to be very successful.

The Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) complex located on the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) site in Niskayuna, New York, was constructed in the late 1940s to research the chemical separation of plutonium and uranium (Figure A-1). SPRU operated as a laboratory scale research facility between February 1950 and October 1953. The research activities ceased following the successful development of the reduction oxidation and plutonium/uranium extraction processes. The oxidation and extraction processes were subsequently developed for large scale use by the Hanford and Savannah River sites (aRc 2008a). Decommissioning of the SPRU facilities began in October 1953 and continued through the 1990s.

Technetium is among the key risk drivers at the Saltstone Facility. The way that it is immobilized in this cementitious waste form is by converting its highly mobile Tc(VII) form to a much less mobile Tc(IV) form through reduction by the cement's blast furnace slag. This report includes a review of published data and experimental results dealing with Tc leaching from Portland cement waste forms. The objectives for the literature study were to document previous reports of Tc interactions with slag-containing cementitious materials. The objectives for the laboratory study were to measure Tc-saltstone Kd values under reducing conditions. From the literature it was concluded: (1) Spectroscopic evidence showed that when Tc(IV) in a slag-cement was exposed to an oxidizing environment, it will convert to the more mobile Tc(VII) species within a short time frame, 2.5 years. (2) SRS saltstone will reduce Tc(VII) in the absence of NaS or sodium dithionite in a reducing atmosphere. (3) Only trace concentrations of atmospheric oxygen (30 to 60 ppm O{sub 2}; Eh 120 mV) at the high pH levels of cementitious systems is required to maintain Tc as Tc(VII). (4) Experimental conditions must be responsible for wide variability of measured K{sub d} values, such …

The deflagration behavior of thermally damaged HMX-based materials will be discussed. Strands of material were burned at pressures ranging from 10-300 MPa using the LLNL high pressure strand burner. Strands were heated in-situ and burned while still hot; temperatures range from 90-200 C and were chosen in order to allow for thermal damage of the material without significant decomposition of the HMX. The results indicate that multiple variables affect the burn rate but the most important are the polymorph of HMX and the nature and thermal stability of the non-HE portion of the material. Characterization of the strands indicate that the thermal soak produces significant porosity and permeability in the sample allowing for significantly faster burning due to the increased surface area and new pathways for flame spread into the material. Specifically, the deflagration rates of heated PBXN-9, LX-10, and PBX-9501 will be discussed and compared.

The conductive and capacitive material properties of the subsurface can be quantified through the frequency-dependent complex resistivity. However, the routine three-dimensional (3D) interpretation of voluminous induced polarization (IP) data sets still poses a challenge due to large computational demands and solution nonuniqueness. We have developed a flexible methodology for 3D (spectral) IP data inversion. Our inversion algorithm is adapted from a frequency-domain electromagnetic (EM) inversion method primarily developed for large-scale hydrocarbon and geothermal energy exploration purposes. The method has proven to be efficient by implementing the nonlinear conjugate gradient method with hierarchical parallelism and by using an optimal finite-difference forward modeling mesh design scheme. The method allows for a large range of survey scales, providing a tool for both exploration and environmental applications. We experimented with an image focusing technique to improve the poor depth resolution of surface data sets with small survey spreads. The algorithm's underlying forward modeling operator properly accounts for EM coupling effects; thus, traditionally used EM coupling correction procedures are not needed. The methodology was applied to both synthetic and field data. We tested the benefit of directly inverting EM coupling contaminated data using a synthetic large-scale exploration data set. Afterward, we further tested the monitoring …

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Global climate models require accurate and rapid computation of the radiative transfer through the atmosphere. Correlated-k methods are often used. One of the approximations used in correlated-k models is the weakline approximation. We introduce an approximation T/sub g/ which reduces to the weak-line limit when optical depths are small, and captures the deviation from the weak-line limit as the extinction deviates from the weak-line limit. This approximation is constructed to match the first two moments of the gamma distribution to the k-distribution of the transmission. We compare the errors of the weak-line approximation with T/sub g/ in the context of a water vapor spectrum. The extension T/sub g/ is more accurate and converges more rapidly than the weak-line approximation.

Precipitation-dissolution reactions are important for a number of applications such as isotopic tracer transport in the subsurface. Analytical solutions have been developed for tracer transport in both single-fracture and multiple-fracture systems associated with these reactions under transient and steady-state transport conditions. These solutions also take into account advective transport in fractures and molecular diffusion in the rock matrix. For studying distributions of disturbed tracer concentration (the difference between actual concentration and its equilibrium value), effects of precipitation-dissolution reactions are mathematically equivalent to a 'decay' process with a decay constant proportional to the corresponding bulk reaction rate. This important feature significantly simplifies the derivation procedure by taking advantage of the existence of analytical solutions for tracer transport associated with radioactive decay in fractured rock. It is also useful for interpreting tracer breakthrough curves, because the impact of a decay process is relatively easy to analyze. Several illustrative examples are presented, which show that the results are sensitive to fracture spacing, matrix diffusion coefficient (fracture surface area), and bulk reaction rate (or 'decay' constant), indicating that the relevant flow and transport parameters may be estimated by analyzing tracer signals.