10 MW Supercritical CO2 Turbine Test (open access)

10 MW Supercritical CO2 Turbine Test

The Supercritical CO2 Turbine Test project was to demonstrate the inherent efficiencies of a supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO2) power turbine and associated turbomachinery under conditions and at a scale relevant to commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) projects, thereby accelerating the commercial deployment of this new power generation technology. The project involved eight partnering organizations: NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, Echogen Power Systems, Abengoa Solar, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Electric Power Research Institute, Barber-Nichols, and the CSP Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. The multi-year project planned to design, fabricate, and validate an s-CO2 power turbine of nominally 10 MWe that is capable of operation at up to 700°C and operates in a dry-cooled test loop. The project plan consisted of three phases: (1) system design and modeling, (2) fabrication, and (3) testing. The major accomplishments of Phase 1 included: Design of a multistage, axial-flow, s-CO2 power turbine; Design modifications to an existing turbocompressor to provide s-CO2 flow for the test system; Updated equipment and installation costs for the turbomachinery and associated support infrastructure; Development of simulation tools for the test loop itself and for more efficient cycle designs that are of greater commercial interest; Simulation of s-CO2 power cycle …
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Turchi, Craig
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effect of Phosphate, Fluoride, and Nitrate on Gibbsite Dissolution Rate and Solubility (open access)

Effect of Phosphate, Fluoride, and Nitrate on Gibbsite Dissolution Rate and Solubility

Laboratory tests have been completed with simulated tank waste samples to investigate the effects of phosphate, fluoride, and nitrate on the dissolution rate and equilibrium solubility of gibbsite in sodium hydroxide solution at 22 and 40{degrees}C. Results are compared to relevant literature data and to computer model predictions. The presence of sodium nitrate (3 M) caused a reduction in the rate of gibbsite dissolution in NaOH, but a modest increase in the equilibrium solubility of aluminum. The increase in solubility was not as large, though, as the increase predicted by the computer model. The presence of phosphate, either as sodium phosphate or sodium fluoride phosphate, had a negligible effect on the rate of gibbsite dissolution, but caused a slight increase in aluminum solubility. The magnitude of the increased solubility, relative to the increase caused by sodium nitrate, suggests that the increase is due to ionic strength (or water activity) effects, rather than being associated with the specific ion involved. The computer model predicted that phosphate would cause a slight decrease in aluminum solubility, suggesting some Al-PO4 interaction. No evidence was found of such an interaction.
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Herting, Daniel L.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
A flexible method to calculate the distributions of discretization errors in operator-split codes with stochastic noise in problem data (open access)

A flexible method to calculate the distributions of discretization errors in operator-split codes with stochastic noise in problem data

None
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Chen, X; Connors, J M & Tong, C H
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fourier-transform Inelastic X-ray Scattering from time and Momentum Dependent Phonon-phonon Correlations (open access)

Fourier-transform Inelastic X-ray Scattering from time and Momentum Dependent Phonon-phonon Correlations

None
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Trigo, M.; Fuchs, M.; Chen, J.; Jiang, M. P.; Kozina, M. E.; Ndabashimiye, G. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mobility of Source Zone Heavy Metals and Radionuclides: The Mixed Roles of Fermentative Activity on Fate and Transport of U and Cr. Final Report (open access)

Mobility of Source Zone Heavy Metals and Radionuclides: The Mixed Roles of Fermentative Activity on Fate and Transport of U and Cr. Final Report

Various U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) low and medium-level radioactive waste sites contain mixtures of heavy metals, radionuclides and assorted organic materials. In addition, there are numerous sites around the world that are contaminated with a mixture of organic and inorganic contaminants. In most sites, over time, water infiltrates the wastes, and releases metals, radionuclides and other contaminants causing transport into the surrounding environment. We investigated the role of fermentative microorganisms in such sites that may control metal, radionuclide and organics migration from source zones. The project was initiated based on the following overarching hypothesis: Metals, radionuclides and other contaminants can be mobilized by infiltration of water into waste storage sites. Microbial communities of lignocellulose degrading and fermenting microorganisms present in the subsurface of contaminated DOE sites can significantly impact migration by directly reducing and immobilizing metals and radionuclides while degrading complex organic matter to low molecular weight organic compounds. These low molecular weight organic acids and alcohols can increase metal and radionuclide mobility by chelation (i.e., certain organic acids) or decrease mobility by stimulating respiratory metal reducing microorganisms. We demonstrated that fermentative organisms capable of affecting the fate of Cr6+, U6+ and trinitrotoluene can be isolated from organic-rich …
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Gerlach, Robin; Peyton, Brent M. & Apel, William A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Novel Heavy Quark Phenomena in QCD (open access)

Novel Heavy Quark Phenomena in QCD

None
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Brodsky, Stanley J.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
SciDAC Institute: Combinatorial Scientific Computing and Petascale Simulations (CSCAPES). Final Report (open access)

SciDAC Institute: Combinatorial Scientific Computing and Petascale Simulations (CSCAPES). Final Report

Final project report
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Catalyurek, Umit V.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Shock and ramp compression experiments: recent developments (open access)

Shock and ramp compression experiments: recent developments

None
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Eggert, J H
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Submission of Final Scientific/Technical Report [Solar Avoided Cost Solution: SunShot 6 Final Report] (open access)

Submission of Final Scientific/Technical Report [Solar Avoided Cost Solution: SunShot 6 Final Report]

The core objectives of this project were two separate but integrated products, collectively providing game-changing Avoided Cost capabilities. • The first was a kit of avoided cost tools and data that any solar provider can use a-lacarte or as a whole. It’s open and easily accessible nature allows the rapid and accurate calculation of avoided cost in whatever context and software that make sense (“Typical and Avoided Cost Tools”). This kit includes a dataset of typical energy rates, costs and usage that can be used for solar prospecting, lead generation and any situation where data about an opportunity is missing or imperfect. • The second is a web application and related APIs specifically built for solar providers to radically streamline their lead-to-sale process (“Solar Provider Module”). The typical and Avoided Cost tools are built directly into this, and allow for solar providers to track their opportunities, collaborate with their installers and financiers, and close more sales faster.
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Danziger, Eric
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Summary and Preliminary Interpretation of Tritium and Dissolved Noble Gas Data from Site 300 (open access)

Summary and Preliminary Interpretation of Tritium and Dissolved Noble Gas Data from Site 300

None
Date: January 29, 2014
Creator: Visser, A; Singleton, M; Madrid, V & Esser, B
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Consistent Multigroup Theory Enabling Accurate Course-Group Simulation of Gen IV Reactors (open access)

Consistent Multigroup Theory Enabling Accurate Course-Group Simulation of Gen IV Reactors

The objective of this proposal is the development of a consistent multi-group theory that accurately accounts for the energy-angle coupling associated with collapsed-group cross sections. This will allow for coarse-group transport and diffusion theory calculations that exhibit continuous energy accuracy and implicitly treat cross- section resonances. This is of particular importance when considering the highly heterogeneous and optically thin reactor designs within the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) framework. In such reactors, ignoring the influence of anisotropy in the angular flux on the collapsed cross section, especially at the interface between core and reflector near which control rods are located, results in inaccurate estimates of the rod worth, a serious safety concern. The scope of this project will include the development and verification of a new multi-group theory enabling high-fidelity transport and diffusion calculations in coarse groups, as well as a methodology for the implementation of this method in existing codes. This will allow for a higher accuracy solution of reactor problems while using fewer groups and will reduce the computational expense. The proposed research represents a fundamental advancement in the understanding and improvement of multi- group theory for reactor analysis.
Date: November 29, 2013
Creator: Rahnema, Farzad; Haghighat, Alireza & Ougouag, Abderrafi
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Innovative and Advanced Coupled Neutron Transport and Thermal Hydraulic Method (Tool) for the Design, Analysis and Optimization of VHTR/NGNP Prismatic Reactors (open access)

Innovative and Advanced Coupled Neutron Transport and Thermal Hydraulic Method (Tool) for the Design, Analysis and Optimization of VHTR/NGNP Prismatic Reactors

This project will develop a 3D, advanced coarse mesh transport method (COMET-Hex) for steady- state and transient analyses in advanced very high-temperature reactors (VHTRs). The project will lead to a coupled neutronics and thermal hydraulic (T/H) core simulation tool with fuel depletion capability. The computational tool will be developed in hexagonal geometry, based solely on transport theory without (spatial) homogenization in complicated 3D geometries. In addition to the hexagonal geometry extension, collaborators will concurrently develop three additional capabilities to increase the code’s versatility as an advanced and robust core simulator for VHTRs. First, the project team will develop and implement a depletion method within the core simulator. Second, the team will develop an elementary (proof-of-concept) 1D time-dependent transport method for efficient transient analyses. The third capability will be a thermal hydraulic method coupled to the neutronics transport module for VHTRs. Current advancements in reactor core design are pushing VHTRs toward greater core and fuel heterogeneity to pursue higher burn-ups, efficiently transmute used fuel, maximize energy production, and improve plant economics and safety. As a result, an accurate and efficient neutron transport, with capabilities to treat heterogeneous burnable poison effects, is highly desirable for predicting VHTR neutronics performance. This research project’s …
Date: November 29, 2013
Creator: Rahnema, Farzad; Garimeela, Srinivas; Ougouag, Abderrafi & Zhang, Dingkang
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
AB INITIO PHASE STABILITY AT HIGH TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURES IN THE V-Cr SYSTEM (open access)

AB INITIO PHASE STABILITY AT HIGH TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURES IN THE V-Cr SYSTEM

None
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Landa, A; Soderlind, P & Yang, L H
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defining And Characterizing Sample Representativeness For DWPF Melter Feed Samples (open access)

Defining And Characterizing Sample Representativeness For DWPF Melter Feed Samples

Representative sampling is important throughout the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) process, and the demonstrated success of the DWPF process to achieve glass product quality over the past two decades is a direct result of the quality of information obtained from the process. The objective of this report was to present sampling methods that the Savannah River Site (SRS) used to qualify waste being dispositioned at the DWPF. The goal was to emphasize the methodology, not a list of outcomes from those studies. This methodology includes proven methods for taking representative samples, the use of controlled analytical methods, and data interpretation and reporting that considers the uncertainty of all error sources. Numerous sampling studies were conducted during the development of the DWPF process and still continue to be performed in order to evaluate options for process improvement. Study designs were based on use of statistical tools applicable to the determination of uncertainties associated with the data needs. Successful designs are apt to be repeated, so this report chose only to include prototypic case studies that typify the characteristics of frequently used designs. Case studies have been presented for studying in-tank homogeneity, evaluating the suitability of sampler systems, determining factors that …
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Shine, E. P. & Poirier, M. R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evolution of a Pump and Treat Remediation System at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California (open access)

Evolution of a Pump and Treat Remediation System at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California

None
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Umezaki, C. David; Moes, Michael; Ng, Adam & Harbaugh, Dwight
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Free Energy vs Sasaki-Einstein Volume for Infinite Families of M2-Brane Theories (open access)

Free Energy vs Sasaki-Einstein Volume for Infinite Families of M2-Brane Theories

None
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Amariti, Antonio & Franco, Sebastian
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Functional Bounding Content Envelope for Gamma and Neutron Emitting Isotopes in the Model 9977 Packaging (open access)

Functional Bounding Content Envelope for Gamma and Neutron Emitting Isotopes in the Model 9977 Packaging

None
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Sitaraman, S.; Kim, S. & Anderson, B.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Human Capital Development (open access)

Human Capital Development

N/A
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: S., Pepper
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Improving Top Quark Induced Charge Asymmetries at the LHC using Ttbar Tranverse Momentum (open access)

Improving Top Quark Induced Charge Asymmetries at the LHC using Ttbar Tranverse Momentum

None
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Alvarez, Ezequiel
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Isotopes and Applications Working Group: Report update October 2013 (open access)

Isotopes and Applications Working Group: Report update October 2013

None
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Stoyer, M A; Ressler, J J; Sherrill, B; Lapi, S; Peaslee, G; Couture, A et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
KINETIC STUDY OF COAL AND BIOMASS CO-PYROLYSIS USING THERMOGRAVIMETRY (open access)

KINETIC STUDY OF COAL AND BIOMASS CO-PYROLYSIS USING THERMOGRAVIMETRY

The objectives of this study are to investigate thermal behavior of coal and biomass blends in inert gas environment at low heating rates and to develop a simplified kinetic model using model fitting techniques based on TGA experimental data. Differences in thermal behavior and reactivity in co-pyrolysis of Powder River Basin (PRB) sub-bituminous coal and pelletized southern yellow pine wood sawdust blends at low heating rates are observed. Coal/wood blends have higher reactivity compared to coal alone in the lower temperature due to the high volatile matter content of wood. As heating rates increase, weight loss rates increase. The experiment data obtained from TGA has a better fit with proposed two step first order reactions model compared single first order reaction model.
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Wang, Ping; Hedges, Sheila; Chaudharib, Kiran & Turtonb, Richard
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer FY2013 Annual Report (open access)

Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer FY2013 Annual Report

Executive Summary The Lead Slowing Down Spectrometry (LSDS) project, funded by the Materials Protection And Control Technology campaign, has been evaluating the feasibility of using LSDS techniques to assay fissile isotopes in used nuclear fuel assemblies. The approach has the potential to provide considerable improvement in the assay of fissile isotopic masses in fuel assemblies compared to other non-destructive techniques in a direct and independent manner. This report is a high level summary of the progress completed in FY2013. This progress included: • Fabrication of a 4He scintillator detector to detect fast neutrons in the LSDS operating environment. Testing of the detector will be conducted in FY2014. • Design of a large area 232Th fission chamber. • Analysis using the Los Alamos National Laboratory perturbation model estimated the required number of neutrons for an LSDS measurement to be 10 to the 16th source neutrons. • Application of the algorithms developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to LSDS measurement data of various fissile samples conducted in 2012. The results concluded that the 235U could be measured to 2.7% and the 239Pu could be measured to 6.3%. Significant effort is yet needed to demonstrate the applicability of these algorithms for used-fuel assemblies, …
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Warren, Glen A.; Kulisek, Jonathan A.; Gavron, Victor A.; Danon, Yaron; Weltz, Adam; Harris, Jason et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Particle Simulation of High-Intensity X-Ray Laser Interaction (open access)

Particle Simulation of High-Intensity X-Ray Laser Interaction

None
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: More, R M
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Saltstone 2QCY13 TCLP Results (open access)

Saltstone 2QCY13 TCLP Results

A Saltstone waste form was prepared in the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) from a Tank 50H sample and Z-Area premix material for the second quarter of calendar year 2013 (2QCY13). After a 49 day cure, samples of the saltstone were collected, and the waste form was shown to meet the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (SCHWMR) R.61-79.261.24 and R.61-79.268.48(a) requirements for a nonhazardous waste form with respect to RCRA metals and underlying hazardous constituents. These analyses met all quality assurance specifications of USEPA SW-846.
Date: October 29, 2013
Creator: Reigel, M. M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library