We develop conservation laws for coupled hydro-mechanical processes in unsaturated porous media using three-phase continuum mixture theory. From the first law of thermodynamics, we identify energy-conjugate variables for constitutive modeling at macroscopic scale. Energy conjugate expressions identified relate a certain measure of effective stress to the deformation of the solid matrix, the degree of saturation to the matrix suction, the pressure in each constituent phase to the corresponding intrinsic volume change of this phase, and the seepage forces to the corresponding pressure gradients. We then develop strong and weak forms of boundary-value problems relevant for 3D finite element modeling of coupled hydro-mechanical processes in unsaturated porous media. The paper highlights a 3D numerical example illustrating the advances in the solution of large-scale coupled finite element systems, as well as the challenges in developing more predictive tools satisfying the basic conservation laws and the observed constitutive responses for unsaturated porous materials.

Experimental and computational studies were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of an Argon Reservoir (AR). The AR is designed to prevent the ingress of air into the extraction furnace during the insertion and removal of the extraction basket, which contains Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rods. Computational computer code studies were performed to evaluate the AR design concept. Based on the results of this study it was concluded that the Argon reservoir would be very effective in keeping air and moisture from infiltrating into the furnace module if the reservoir was continuously supplied with make-up argon.

U.S. DOE and National Renewable Energy Laboratory evaluated Norcal Waste Systems liquefied natural gas (LNG) waste transfer trucks. Trucks had prototype Cummins Westport ISXG engines. Report gives final data.

The Mars Hopper is an exploratory vehicle designed to fly on Mars using carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere as a rocket propellant. The propellent gasses are thermally heated while traversing a radioisotope ther- mal rocket (RTR) engine’s core. This core is comprised of a radioisotope surrounded by a heat capacitive material interspersed with tubes for the propellant to travel through. These tubes, or flow channels, can be manu- factured in various cross-sectional shapes such as a special four-point star or the traditional circle. Analytical heat transfer and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) anal- yses were performed using flow channels with either a circle or a star cross- sectional shape. The nominal total inlet pressure was specified at 2,805,000 Pa; and the outlet pressure was set to 2,785,000 Pa. The CO2 inlet tem- perature was 300 K; and the channel wall was 1200 K. The steady-state CFD simulations computed the smooth-walled star shape’s outlet temper- ature to be 959 K on the finest mesh. The smooth-walled circle’s outlet temperature was 902 K. A circle with a surface roughness specification at 0.01 mm gave 946 K and at 0.1 mm yielded 989 K. The The effects of a slightly varied inlet pressure …

Alternative Fuel News, an ongoing quarterly publication for the U.S. Department of Energy. An official publication of the Clean Cities Network and the Alternative Fuels Data Center.

This tri-fold brochure describe the partnering activities of the Office of Industrial Technologies' (OIT) Industries of the Future (IOF) for Chemicals. Information on what works for the Chemicals industry, examples of successful partnerships, and benefits of partnering with OIT are included.

This tri-fold brochure describe the partnering activities of the Office of Industrial Technologies' (OIT) Industries of the Future (IOF) for Forest Products. Information on what works for the Forest Products industry, examples of successful partnerships, and benefits of partnering with OIT are included.

Crosswell seismic acquisition provides an ideal geometry for monitoring travel time changes in the subsurface. Analysis of delay time in terms of a characteristic frequency allows us to estimate optimal acquisition parameters (frequency and distance). We have deployed standard data acquisition equipment for continuous monitoring of crosswell travel time in two separate field experiments, with well spacing of 3 and 30 m. The acquisition hardware used for the field experiments is described, along with environmental effects (such as temperature) that influence the measurements. Two field experiments are described that correlate changes in travel time (and therefore velocity) with changes in barometric pressure. The results from the two field sites show a pressure sensitivity for velocity of 10{sup -6}/Pa to 10{sup -8}/Pa.

This sourcebook on building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is intended for architects and designers interested in learning more about today's sustainable solar buildings. The booklet includes 16 design briefs describing actual structures; they illustrate how electricity-generating BIPV products (such as special roofing systems, vertical-wall systems, skylights, and awnings, all of which contain PV cells, modules, and films) can be integrated successfully into many different kinds of buildings. It also contains basic information about BIPV technologies, an overview of US product development activities and development programs, descriptions of major software design tools, and a bibliography.

The Compressed Air Challenge, initiated by DOE, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and the Energy Center for Wisconsin, is in keeping with OIT's mission of partnering with industry, and other government and non-governmental organizations, to significantly improve the resource efficiency and competitiveness of the materials and process industries. They are working to improve the efficiency and reliability of industrial compressed air systems, and in the process help industry realize reduced operating costs and increased production.

In today's competitive world markets, the success of U.S. industry hinges on technological advances. Financial Assistance helps technology innovators develop and deliver clean, energy-saving technologies to the marketplace. Two Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) programs Inventions and Innovation and NICE3 provide independent inventors, technology developers, and industry with easy access to a flexible package of services. Together, these programs issue 35 to 40 new grants each year to address pressing energy and environmental issues. Financial Assistance focuses specifically on technologies that can potentially improve energy efficiency, reduce wastes, and enhance productivity.

The Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) Technical Assistance Program provides the tools and assistance to help manufacturers identify their best energy-efficient, pollution-preventing options, from a systems and life-cycle cost approach. Technical Assistance focuses on five key opportunities for energy efficiency and waste reduction: electric motors, steam, compressed air, combined heat and power, and the Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs). By promoting the use of available technologies, Technical Assistance helps industry immediately impact its bottom-line performance and build its position in global markets.

The US Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) provides a one-stop-shop information clearinghouse that manufacturers can use to help make their businesses more productive, competitive, and efficient. The fact sheet describes these sources of information, which include software and databases, a technical newsletter, technical publications, and access to a comprehensive Web site that lists OIT programs, training opportunities, and links to other pertinent sites.

This OIT fact sheet describes how your company can realize savings in its electric motor, compressed air, and steam systems, in the form of reduced electrical bills and improved efficiency.

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Human exploitation of pinnipeds has considerable antiquity but shows increasing impacts on population numbers in the Holocene. Pinnipeds are a rich source of fat as well as protein. A few well-documented cases of regional extirpation of seals and sea lions by non-industrial peoples exist. The northeastern Pacific region, from southern California to Alaska, has yielded archaeological evidence for distributions and abundances of eared seals that differs markedly from historically documented biogeography. This is especially true of the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus), among the most common pinnipeds in many archaeological sites from the Santa Barbara Channel area through to Kodiak Islands. This chapter reviews contemporary eared seal biogeography, evidence for the earlier timing and extent, of occurrence of northern fur seals along the northeastern Pacific coast, zooarchaeological and isotopic evidence for their foraging and probable maintenance of rookeries in lower latitudes, and for their disappearance from the southernmost part of their ancient distribution well before European contact. It also reviews ongoing debates over the behavioral ecology of ancient fur seals and over humans role in contributing to their disappearance.

Although intensely colored, even the largest colloidal gold particles are not, on their own, sufficiently colored for routine use as a light microscopy stain: only with very abundant antigens or with specialized illumination methods can bound gold be seen. Colloidal gold probes were developed primarily as markers for electron microscopy, for which their very high electron density and selectivity for narrow size distributions when prepared in different ways rendered them highly suited. The widespread use of gold labeling for light microscopy was made possible by the introduction of autometallographic enhancement methods. In these processes, the bound gold particles are exposed to a solution containing metal ions and a reducing agent; they catalyze the reduction of the ions, resulting in the deposition of additional metal selectively onto the particles. On the molecular level, the gold particles are enlarged up to 30-100 nm in diameter; on the macroscale level, this results in the formation of a dark stain in regions containing bound gold particles, greatly increasing visibility and contrast. The applications of colloidal gold have been described elsewhere in this chapter, we will focus on the use of covalently linked cluster complexes of gold and other metals. A gold cluster complex is …

Cometabolic bioremediation is probably the most under appreciated bioremediation strategy currently available. Cometabolism strategies stimulate only indigenous microbes with the ability to degrade the contaminant and cosubstrate e.g. methane, propane, toluene and others. This highly targeted stimulation insures that only those microbes that can degrade the contaminant are targeted, thus reducing amendment costs, well and formation plugging, etc. Cometabolic bioremediation has been used on some of the most recalcitrant contaminants, e.g. PCE, TCE, MTBE, TNT, dioxane, atrazine, etc. Methanotrophs have been demonstrated to produce methane monooxygense, an oxidase that can degrade over 300 compounds. Cometabolic bioremediation also has the advantage of being able to degrade contaminants to trace concentrations, since the biodegrader is not dependent on the contaminant for carbon or energy. Increasingly we are finding that in order to protect human health and the environment that we must remediate to lower and lower concentrations, especially for compounds like endocrine disrupters, thus cometabolism may be the best and maybe the only possibility that we have to bioremediate some contaminants.

This is a report on the comebiotic bioremediation which is the most under-appreciated strategy currently available.

In situ groundwater bioremediation of hydrocarbons has been used for more than 40 years. Most strategies involve biostimulation; however, recently bioaugmentation have been used for dehalorespiration. Aquifer and contaminant profiles are critical to determining the feasibility and strategy for in situ groundwater bioremediation. Hydraulic conductivity and redox conditions, including concentrations of terminal electron acceptors are critical to determine the feasibility and strategy for potential bioremediation applications. Conceptual models followed by characterization and subsequent numerical models are critical for efficient and cost effective bioremediation. Critical research needs in this area include better modeling and integration of remediation strategies with natural attenuation.

In this chapter we review the spectroscopic data for actinide molecules and the reaction dynamics for atomic and molecular actinides that have been examined in the gas phase or in inert cryogenic matrices. The motivation for this type of investigation is that physical properties and reactions can be studied in the absence of external perturbations (gas phase) or under minimally perturbing conditions (cryogenic matrices). This information can be compared directly with the results from high-level theoretical models. The interplay between experiment and theory is critically important for advancing our understanding of actinide chemistry. For example, elucidation of the role of the 5f electrons in bonding and reactivity can only be achieved through the application of experimentally verified theoretical models. Theoretical calculations for the actinides are challenging due the large numbers of electrons that must be treated explicitly and the presence of strong relativistic effects. This topic has been reviewed in depth in Chapter 17 of this series. One of the goals of the experimental work described in this chapter has been to provide benchmark data that can be used to evaluate both empirical and ab initio theoretical models. While gas-phase data are the most suitable for comparison with theoretical calculations, …

An account of alternative fuel vehicle usage and success highlighting three major airports.

Radiological sampling and analyses are performed to collect data for a variety of specific reasons covering a wide range of projects. These activities include: Effluent monitoring; Environmental surveillance; Emergency response; Routine ambient monitoring; Background assessments; Nuclear license termination; Remediation; Deactivation and decommissioning (D&D); and Waste management. In this chapter, effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance programs at nuclear operating facilities and radiological sampling and analysis plans for remediation and D&D activities will be discussed.

This tri-fold brochure describe the partnering activities of the Office of Industrial Technologies' (OIT) Industries of the Future (IOF) for Aluminum. Information on what works for the Aluminum industry, examples of successful partnerships, and benefits of partnering with OIT are included.